Fishing in the Ely area remains good through the first 2-weeks of June! Despite some cold weather, Packsack anglers have been having good luck fishing on Fall Lake, Basswood and Newton Lakes!
The walleye bite has continued to be strong as the fish have been roaming to their summer homes. On Fall Lake the power dam is still producing numbers, but lack of size has been the common complaint. Leeches seem to be the trick to catching some larger sized walleyes on Pipestone Bay, several fish in the 21”-26” size have been caught and released back to be caught another day! On Newton Lake walleyes are still biting at the falls.
The smallmouth bass spawn seemed to take forever to kick in due to the colder weather. Now we are seeing bass on their beds. Smallies of all sizes are being caught in shallower water and around rock outcroppings. Anglers are using all sorts of lures to catch fish, from tube jigs to crank baits and from leeches to crawlers it seems to be angler’s choice! During the evening bite as the water is still, throwing a Whopper Plopper just might cause an eruption of Bronze Back action! As the spawn comes to an end, the smallmouth fishing is only going to get better.
Crappies have also been a hot fish to catch. Folks who were catching 1-2 fish randomly throughout the day are now caching size and numbers! The evening bite off our docks has been a popular spot for finding some speckled slabs.
Fishing on some of our paddle lakes has also remained strong, Packsack paddlers on Crooked Lake reported having no problem finding walleyes of size and a giant 42” northern. A fisherwoman caught her first 20” plus walleye while fishing on the Kawishiwi River, and Lake Agnes has been a great lake for fisherman seeking bass.
If you’re coming to the Ely area in the next few weeks, bring some top water lures and be ready for some smallmouth action!