It’s an exciting time around our house with the addition of another grandchild, as our first granddaughter, Emma Rose, made her entrance into the world on June 16.

I’m sure that Grandma will be doing her best to see to it that she is spoiled properly, and Grandpa will be there to do his part.

I’ve forgotten how exciting it is to welcome a new grandchild into the world. Emma’s brother Dylan was really excited and was getting pretty antsy as he and I awaited her arrival together. He’s a proud brother, which you could tell by the way he beamed when he first laid eyes on her. I have no doubt that he’ll be a good brother to her.

This coming week I plan to head north with the two oldest grandsons to see if we can catch a few fish. I know Trevor and Taylor will be pushing Grandpa to go to as many lakes as possible in the days we are there. I’ve decided that we will have to visit my favorite lake, Spider at least once during this time so that I can justify the new musky lures that mysteriously appeared in my tackle box after the last visit to Fleet Farm.

I didn’t think I’d be buying any more musky lures for awhile but they were on sale and I got what seemed like a deal that was too good to pass up.

We’ll see if the fish think that they are as good as the fisherman does.

A lot of walleye have been caught in the channel between the lakes and last weekend the lake had plenty of boats out there searching for fish. This is good to see and from what I understand the fishing was pretty good overall.

Most of the success seemed to be early morning with leeches fished off the bottom. The people in boats were having luck but the shore fishermen were also doing well.

When I first heard that they were biting I told my Grandson Trevor about it and he was there. He caught a couple of 13-inchers and then didn’t see another. He’s tried it again a couple times after but hasn’t had any luck.

I guess luck’s the key word — fishing in the right place at the right time is what fishing is really all about.

I don’t know for sure about this year but last year the best bite was after 9 p.m. out by New York Point and the Jugland Dam. A jig and a leech is good or trolling Shad Raps after dark along the shoreline worked well last year. I do believe the trusty Little Joe Spinner tipped with a leech; minnow or crawler could also do the trick.

I’ve heard different folks say, “I like to catch ‘em but I won’t eat any fish out of this lake”. I don’t think there is any proof that these fish are anywhere close to being contaminated. All fish have some mercury in them but if you don’t gorge yourself with fish at every meal there isn’t a thing wrong with them. I’ve eaten fish from this lake and they are safe and definitely tasty.

I talked to an old friend recently about the quality of fish in these lakes and why some people don’t eat them We both agreed that we used to think nothing of eating them when we were kids and the only real opposition I ever had was my Mom. She would get a little testy when I came riding home from a day at the lake with a huge stringer of “wooden” bullheads and sunfish that had long since met their demise. Although she never discouraged me from fishing she said we should only eat the ones that seemed fairly fresh. She also said that if I was going to keep any fish she said I’d better make sure they were edible, otherwise don’t keep them.

Now I have to say I wasn’t a quick learner in this area because, as a kid, I always thought it was a sort of a bragging rights thing to show off a big stringer of fish, no matter how stiff they’d become. I guess I finally realized that a fish that you caught in the early morning on a hot August day probably wasn’t going to be the best eating by 3 in the afternoon. I suppose that after spending half the time being dragged from spot to spot around the lake on a bicycle they tended to lose a little appeal.

This was just another of life’s lessons and I don’t really remember when I went from keeping everything to being selective and releasing most of the fish I caught. It made me feel good about myself and the fish always seem to taste better when they are fresh (a revelation).

Here are a few reports from around the state:

BLACKDUCK — We have had a good bite going on Blackduck. A lot of 13-14 inch walleyes, most all catching limits. Some are starting to throw cranks.

There is a really good bite going on Red Lake, jig and minnow up there.

Gull and Island has been OK too. Some panfish reports on Rabideau.

BRAINERD/NISSWA — The area walleye bite is in full swing. Look for active fish on Gull, North Long and Pelican. During windy days and low light periods, look for fish in water as shallow as 3-5 feet. Trolling shallow running crank banks has been producing. Jigging or running a lindy rig tipped with a shiner off the first break has been producing too. Look for fish in 10-18 feet. The crappie bite has been hit or miss. Look for fish up shallow on any of the area lakes. Puddle jumpers or crappie minnows on plain hooks seem to be the ticket. Move around a lot until you find them and sit and enjoy the bite.

LAKE OF THE WOODS — It looks like summer weather is finally here and the fishing just keeps getting better! The hot spots are around Knight and Bridges Islands, or farther north around Garden Island in 22-24 feet of water. For those anglers wanting to stay closer to the south shore, just outside the Lighthouse Gap and around Pine Island is producing huge numbers of walleye. Limits of keepers along with several monster walleye have been reported in the area, anchored and jigging using frozen shiners or minnows is still your best bet, just make sure you’re on the bottom because that’s where the fish are. The Morris Point Gap and Zippel Bay areas are also hot right now, several trophy walleye and big northern are being caught in 16-23 feet of water while anchored and jigging. So basically fishing is hot on the entire Lake of the Woods! Pack up the family and head to the lake!

LEECH LAKE — Leech lake is hot, the fishing is just getting better every day and you do not have to join the line at pine or stony point now either.

The fish are moving out to the bars and reefs, jig and minnows are still the best tactic, but as the water warms leeches and crawler will pick up.

Pike and bass are also falling in line with aggressive bites. So come up to leech and remember there are fish everywhere. So try some new water and enjoy the fishing!

MILLE LACS LAKE —

Anglers are catching lots of fish with a nice slot fish mix. The NE corner is still doing very well. Anglers drifting or trolling from fishers to wilderness have been doing very well dragging lindy rigs tipped with leeches or rainbows. 15’-19’ has been the best depth depending on the sun. Agate bay has also been a good place to bobber fish the evenings with leeches. Start deeper and work towards the top of the reef closer to evening.

The shallow reefs are putting out fish as the north end sand breaks in 16-22 feet. The water temps will be on the rise and I suspect the bite will rise right along with temps. Cloudy breezy days will still be the best fishing and leeches are going strong out in first place for bait choice.

PARK RAPIDS — The walleye action has been the best on Itasca and Fishhook, in about 9-10 feet of water. Guys are using crawlers and shiners and some leeches. The crappie and sunnies are up in the shallows on all area lakes,

Big Man Trap and the Crow Wing chain.

RAINY LAKE — Warmer weather has helped turn on the walleye bite. Rainy Lake anglers have been doing well in 10 to 17 feet of water but are expecting the walleye to head for deeper water as the weather warms more. Right now,

Lost Bay and Black Bay have been the hot spots. Crankbaits and plastics have been working well. Expect the smallmouth bit to start heating up too.

Big pike are being caught in Cranberry Bay. On Rainy River, shiner minnows are working on walleye with the best reports coming from the area below the Ranier Rapids and above the dam.

WINNIBIGOSHISH — This year has been a season of patience with weather and the fishing. Big Winnie has kicked in and the walleyes are biting. The nice thing right now is the diversity of the bite and anglers are catching them several different ways. Rigs and leeches are definitely working well, but the jig and minnow is still bringing most of the walleyes to the boat.

Musky Bay has been excellent in depths of 6-9 feet and look for the Drop (west of Musky Bay) starting to produce. The main bars are giving up limits and look for that bite to just get better. In the evening several fisherman are trolling Shad Raps and X-Raps along the shorelines near Highbanks and

Tamarac Flats with good success. Northern Pike action is slightly better with new weeds coming up, but most of the better pike are coming from deeper structures where apparently there is more forage food available.

Crappie and sunfish are done spawning and retreating from the shallows to set up in their summer locations. The weeds are late in forming so look for depths of 8-15 feet to find hungry panfish. The weather is finally starting to settle down and be more seasonal friendly. Get out and enjoy the moment of good weather and good fishing.

Until next time enjoy the great Minnesota outdoors and let’s go fish’n.

Remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year.