Welcome to our Whitefish Chain of Lakes Fishing Home Page
The Whitefish Area of Minnesota features the Whitefish Chain of Lakes, which is a very popular chain of lakes for boating and fishing. There are many resorts here and plenty of places to find a bite to eat. This region is located just north of Brainerd, Minnesota.
Primary Species of Fish
Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike & Walleye
This area is known for its fast action largemouth bass fishing and some solid fishing for pike and walleye. You will find some good-sized fish in the Whitefish Chain, but don’t expect to have all the good fishing spots to yourself. This chain of lakes has a lot of people that fish these waters every summer. It’s a very good fishing destination if you’re looking to catch some fish and have some fun around the water.
Secondary Species of Fish
Smallmouth Bass, Perch, Crappie & Bluegill
There are good numbers of panfish in the chain, however, most anglers come here to target the largemouth bass, pike and walleye. If you want to fish for panfish, you should be able to do well. Bluegill and other sunfish are here in good numbers if you want to target them. Smallies are here in lower numbers, but you may end up catching some of these bass too.
Fishing the Bays
There are plenty of bays on the chain and these bays will hold plenty of fish. The weeds will hold panfish, largemouth bass, some northern pike and some walleye too. The bays can hold a lot of fish early in the year as fish move into the shallows to spawn. Once the water temperatures warm up, the fish will usually head out to deeper water for the summer. This chain has such a strong largemouth bass fishery that many of these bays will have good weed growth and you can find some largemouth here through the entire summer. The fall brings some fish back into the bays with the cooler water temperatures, so make sure to hit the bays again as the fall bite gets good.
Fishing the Channels
Some anglers report some good fishing in the channels on the chain. Depending on which spot you are fishing and whether or not boats are moving through or not, you may be able to fish some of these areas or you may not. Bass and panfish will often be found in these areas with some other fish mixed in occasionally too.
Clear Water Fishing
The water clarity is pretty good on this chain of lakes. It does vary from lake to lake, but for the most part, plan on fishing some fairly clear water while fishing this chain of lakes. Fluorocarbon line or at least a fluorocarbon leader, will definitely help you get more bites on the clearer lakes in the chain. You may want to downsize your fishing line as well, however, since there are a lot of pike in these waters, you can only downsize so much without getting bit off by northern pike. With the heavy boat traffic in the summer and the clear water, anglers usually report some of the best fishing coming from deeper water during the summer months.
Fishing the Drop-offs
The drop-offs will hold most of the better quality fish from summer through fall. There are a lot of weeds on the chain, so target the deeper weed edges when the fish go deep and you can catch walleye, pike, bass and panfish.
Fishing the Islands
There are some islands out on the chain and these islands will hold a variety of fish. Many anglers fish the islands and do quite well targeting bass, walleye, pike and panfish.
Fishing the Points
There are a lot of points throughout the chain and fish will relate to these points throughout the year. Find the points with nice drop-offs and some good weed growth and you will have better odds of finding larger numbers of fish and quality fish too.
Fishing the Rocks
There are some rock bars, humps and reefs throughout the chain. These are spots where you will usually find walleye and an occasional smallmouth bass here too. Northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish will move onto these spots too, so don’t be shocked if you get a mixed bag by targeting the rocks.
Fishing the Weeds
There is a lot of vegetation on this chain of lakes. From spring through fall, you can just focus on the weeds on the chain and have success all year. Most anglers will be fishing the deeper weed edges for walleye and the shallow stuff for pike and largemouth bass, however, if you consistently fish the weed edges and focus on the some of the deeper stuff too, you will run into just about everything that swims in the lake. You may catch largemouth bass, pike, walleye, perch, crappie, bluegill and other sunfish too.
