This will probably be our last open water Buzz Bite Report for the year in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Smaller lakes and ponds have some skim ice on them already and judging by the ten day forecast the larger lakes will begin to have skim ice forming on them soon.

Brainerd Lakes Area Buzz Bite Report 11-16-2021

For those anglers that haven’t winterized their boats yet, there is a solid walleye bite happening in sixteen to twenty-four feet of water on some of the larger lakes like Gull, Pelican, and on the Whitefish Chain. Dragging live chubs has been the best method, but a few fish can be caught on a jig and minnow or on a Rapala Jigging Rap.

Anglers can expect to find crappies in twenty to forty feet of water in the main lake basins. Small jigs with plastics or smaller sized jigging raps are a great way to target these fish.

If you do choose to fish for these crappies, catch what you’d like to eat and then move on. Fish caught that deep have a high mortality rate due to Barotrauma and usually don’t survive when released.

You can expect to find some bass and northern pike in the remaining green weed beds or long the deeper weed line. The best tactics have been to slowly work a jig along the bottom or to slowly work a jerk bait and to give it really long pauses. Slowing down your presentation has been the key to getting bit.