How Minnesota Fishing Is Being Affected by Flooding

Southern and northern Minnesota have each dealt with quite a bit of rain in the past couple weeks.  Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON.  He says many areas south of the Twin Cities and north of the arrowhead are flooded.  Schmitt explains that because of the large amounts of rain there is debris on many northern Minnesota lakes.  He says are section of docks and boats that are floating away.  Schmitt says southern Minnesota rivers are unfishable right now.  He says there are many no wake zones on southern Minnesota lakes and this will likely impact 4th of July weekend.  Schmitt says many boat accesses on southern Minnesota lakes are underwater.

Schmitt says for lakes like Mille Lacs, Gull and Leech they have high water but most of those areas are seeing manageable water level situations. He says Central Minnesota lakes are either at normal water levels or slightly above.  Schmitt indicates there are no current no wake designations in Central Minnesota or 1 to 2 hours north of St. Cloud.  The boundary waters and Grand Marais areas are dealing with the most flooding in northern Minnesota.

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Fishing strategies for this time of the summer have changed slightly.  Schmitt says it is getting tougher to find minnows so many anglers are turning to nightcrawlers and leeches.  He says fish can be found on main lake structures and along weed lines.  Schmitt explains fish are moving a bit deeper.  Other suggestions to catch fish include crank baits, live bait rigs, and spinner rigs.  Schmitt says these methods can help catch aggressive walleye.

Schmitt was out fishing locally and caught a bunch of blue gills.  He says they had eggs in them which tells him they won't pull off a decent spawn this year.  Schmitt says he's been turning to some plastics and gives tackle companies credit for making so many good plastics.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Glen Schmitt, it is available below.