Minnesota fishing guide Dustin Monson of Hawg Hunterz Guide Service gives his latest Brainerd fishing report on May 16th, 2024.
Brainerd Fishing Report: 5-16-24
This past weekend we celebrated the 2024 Minnesota Fishing Opener in the Brainerd Lakes Area. We caught multiple species of quality fish and the bite should only get better.
We targeted walleyes in four to sixteen feet of water on large sand or gravel flats, current areas ,and first breaks near spawning areas. We also found schools of walleyes near developing weeds.
Walleyes can be caught on 1/8-ounce jigs paired with minnows. We also caught fish trolling the Smithwick Rattlin’ Floating Rogue or Perfect 10 Rogue depending on the depth we saw fish roaming.
Pitching a lipless crankbait such as a Booyah One Knocker, or ripping a hair jig with a rip/pause/lift/slow drop retrieve is another way to tigger some bites.
Panfish: Brainerd Fishing Report
Panfish continue roaming shallow weed flats, channels, bays and areas near pencil reeds in three to thirteen feet of water. There is some crappie spawning activity occurring right now.
We’ve had a lot of success using Lindy Fatboy Tungsten Jigs and Mister Twister Sassy Stingum plastics or Lindy Hair Jigs to catch our fish on most outings.
We found crappies near the warmest water in the bodies of water we fished near wood or pencil reeds and sunfish weren’t far away. Move the bobber slightly to elicit bites! If they are present, but finicky, try using a small tungsten jig tipped with wax worms. Crappie minnows can be a good option for finicky crappies as well.
Catfish: Brainerd Fishing Report
Anglers are still catching channel catfish in the Brainerd Lakes Area from shore and boats.
The best areas to catch channel catfish are below the Brainerd Dam/Potlatch, French Rapids, Green Point, Kiwanis Park, or Sylvan Dam on the Crow Wing River.
The best way to catch them has been a 1-ounce sliding weight about one or two feet above the hook. Pair that with either worms/nightcrawlers, cutbait, deadbait, sucker minnows or chicken liver on about a 1/0 octopus hook. This method works both from shore and in a boat.
When shore fishing, I will often use a medium-heavy spinning rod with a medium to large sized spinning reel spooled with thirty to fifty pound braided line.
In a boat, you can often jig for them vertically in holes and behind slack-water breaks in current. I’ll usually let the current determine my jig weight but 1/2-ounce is a good starting point.
