Fishing Report for Boaters 9-29-25

By Dave Coahran

Water temperatures are still in the mid-70’s which is very warm for this time of the year. Walleye are aggressively biting on Green Lake in 20-30 feet on live bait or jigs and plastics. Also on Green, good reports of Walleye hitting shad raps trolled in 12-17 feet on the north side. Good reports of Walleye biting on Lake Florida also. Big Kandiyohi and Long (near Willmar) lakes producing Walleye in 4-7 feet of water.

Lakes with good populations of these species:
Sunfish – for larger sunfish try Diamond (5 per day/20 in possession), Long (near Hawick, 10 per day/20 in possession), Florida (10/20) and Nest (10/20). Daily sunfish bag limits are reduced in these lakes down from the normal 20 sunfish daily limit to maintain quality sizes.

Northern Pike – several area lakes have higher than normal northern pike populations currently. Topping the list are Andrew, Calhoun, Eagle, East Solomon, Florida, Foot/Willmar, Monongalia/Mud north of New London, Nest, Ringo. Remember all Northern Pike between 22 to 26 inches have to be released during the open water season and you can have 10 in possession but no more than 2 can be larger than 26 inches. The DNR is trying to increase the harvest of smaller northern pike. Learn how to fillet the y bones out or try your hand at pickling small northern pike. There are many great online videos teaching you those skills.

Crappie – Diamond Lake holds a tremendous crappie population right now for both numbers and quality sizes. Norway and Willmar/Foot lakes also have abundant populations with keeper sized fish. Limit is 10 in possession for lakes mentioned.

Largemouth Bass – Many lakes in Kandiyohi County offer excellent bass angling. If size matters to you, East Solomon can’t be beat as well as Long/Ringo lakes.

Right now, water temperatures are more like summer than fall. As temperatures cool, some of the best angling of the year can be had. Current technology makes finding fish easier than ever, especially fish in deeper water. Remember, fish caught deeper than 30 feet will likely not survive so the ethical angler will keep those fish towards their limit and switch to shallower waters.