Minnesota fishing guide Dustin Monson of Hawg Hunterz Guide Service gives his latest Brainerd Minnesota fishing report on January 13th, 2025.
Brainerd Minnesota Fishing Report: 1-13-25
There is great fishing and big walleyes being caught in the Brainerd Lakes Area of Minnesota right now. The lakes in the area have up to 18 inches of ice. The ice thickness does vary from lake to lake. Make sure you know your ice safety before going out, because some areas have open water near channels and check all pressure ridges before crossing.
Brainerd Minnesota Fishing Report: Panfish
Bluegills can be found on the large weed flats, weedy bays with a moderate depth/deeper holes. Focus on weeds near deep water entering shallow bays. They can also be found in the muddy bottom basins that are under 25ft deep.
Small tungsten jigs tipped with wax worms or euro larva have been working great. Bluegills can be caught all throughout the day.
Anglers can look for crappies in a couple of locations. Weed beds between six and fifteen feet of water are holding crappies on many lakes in the area. The deeper basins also have big schools of fish roaming through them. Look for those fish suspended in depths between twelve and fifteen feet of water. Small spoons are working great. If the fish are finicky switch to a small tungsten jig with either a plastic or wax worm.
Anglers can expect to find northern pike and largemouth bass in the weed beds near the schools of panfish.
The walleye bite has been fantastic. We are seeing a lot of big walleyes being caught. Look for them on sandy bottom areas, bays with sporadic weeds/hard bottom transitions, and weedlines/ flats adjacent to deeper basins. Most of the fish we are seeing are coming in between eighteen and thirty feet of water. Small spoons tipped with minnow heads are working great. Set lines are also producing a number of bites.
