Fishing Report

Find out where fish are biting and bait to use in the area fishing report each week. Get Hooked in Detroit Lakes will give you an inside look from fishing guides on which area lakes are best bets for the fish you’re out to catch and the bonus experiences of being out on the water.

This is the area fishing report for Tuesday, December 30, 2025, sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

As 2025 comes to a close, the fishing is heating up!  Ice conditions are variable in the 412 area, with drifts forming in spots. Ice thickness ranges from 12”-15” on all lakes I’ve fished the past week. Little Detroit Lake has 15” and it is still very accessible, with both cars and trucks entering and exiting the lake. Bluegills, pike and bass are biting from 9-4 pm near weedlines in 10’-12’, but ‘gills have also been schooling deeper in 16’-26’. Crappies can be found along weedlines too, and suspended above deeper holes on some lakes.  t’s been a 30-90 minute “flash bite” for both crappies and walleyes in the evenings, but the timing has changed, from day to day. Your best bet is 4:00-7:30 for crappies, and 5-9 pm for walleye. Wax worms on a small jig and fathead minnows on a small hook and splitshot have brought fish through ice in our houses. Good luck to all of you anglers, and Happy New Year!

Brady Baxter
Owner and Fishing Guide
Baxstar Fishing LLC
baxstarfishing.com
brady@baxstarfishing.com
701-261-3703