WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
June 5, 2008

Another cool week here in the Northland, but the fish continue to eat and many of the area lakes show some movement to that summer deep water. With the water temperatures starting to get in the mid 60's, we have seen some early fly hatches on Mille Lacs, then Winnie, Leech and Bowstring have shown the first signs of life on some of the early deep water structure, yet the shallow water bite is still producing consistent numbers of slot fish.

Pictures of some early season fish:

Dr. Eric with a very healthy Winnie Walleye	Denny with a nice Winnie Female

The jig and minnow bite is still holding up on most of the area lakes but not for long as the fish make that slow transition to deeper water, look for their preference on bait to change. In fact, we did see some fish wanting leeches already in the last week. So, if you are a leech or crawler angler, your time is coming very quickly.

The Winnie shallow water bite is still a good choice. The wind is playing a crucial role in the numbers of fish we are catching in shallow along with where we are fishing. The wind blown shorelines are producing much better with most of the Northshore area along with some west shorelines area holding schools of fish. The shallow water is at times as shallow as 4 feet and as deep as 10 feet. Areas that have new weed growth finally showing up are certainly top attraction sites for pre-and-post spawn shiners and where the shiners are, the walleyes are not far behind. Most of the new weed growth is in the 7-10 feet of water. Keep a watchful eye on the Vexilar or Lowrance and one can spot the small patches of weeds. Most of the weeds are only 6-8 inches in height at this point, but they are holding bait and fish.

A new but old opportunity is coming alive again with Leech lake. We have found Leech to be our home over the last week and the fishing has sure turned the corner. The walleyes seems to be alive and well with a number of fish in all age classes showing up. Here we have found the shallow water to be the most productive, but again on Leech, we will see a transition to deep structure before long. If you have fished Leech in the past and have not been there in the last few years, the lake has regained some life and you might consider heading back to this great walleye fishery. Keep in mind that a four fish limit and an 18-to-26 inch slot is in order. All fish from 18-26 inches most be thrown back.

Pokegama lake is just getting started and I will be calling Pokegama my home from now until the end of June. I will update the Pokegama bite next week. As of this week I have only been thinking about the monster walleyes of Pokegama. If you are heading to Pokegama this week, the bite should be fairly shallow. I typically find the most active walleyes in the 8-14 feet of water. As the evening moves in each night look for the 6-10 feet of water to come alive.

So with so many great fishing opportunities here in the Northland, get out and enjoy some of the best walleye fishing. The weather will warm up at some point, but don't let that hold you back, the fish need to eat and they seem to know that most days.

See you on the water in a LUND boat.

Sean Colter
member of NMGL
seancolter@seancolter.com