Cass Lake — Perch Tighten Up, Walleyes Go Deep for the Scopers

I own a depth finder that mostly tells me the lake exists. This week on Cass, the folks with the fancy screens are winning, and I’d like to formally congratulate them from the back of the line.

Walleyes: deeper, and pickier about who finds them

Per the Oct. 7 Bemidji Pioneer weekly (Sunset Cove Resort is the Cass contact), “scopers,” meaning anglers using forward-facing sonar, are catching most of the walleyes. Their setup: big minnows on jigs in 18 to 25 feet on Wolf Lake and Cass.

Last week’s card had a day-minnows-in-16-to-22 and night-cranks-shallow split. This week’s note only talks about the deep daytime lane and doesn’t mention the night bite at all. That doesn’t mean night fishing died. It just means nobody reported on it, so we won’t guess.

If you don’t have a scope, our guess (labeled as a guess): slow down on those same 18–25 foot edges and let the big minnow do the walking.

Perch: the band got narrower

Perch are still going strong but in a tighter range, 6 to 8 feet, at:

• Lake Andrusia
• Pike Bay
• Allen’s Bay or the Stoney Point area on Cass

That’s down from the 6–12 feet we passed along on Oct. 1. Fewer feet to search. Your cooler appreciates the efficiency.

Muskies

Bucktails keep raising muskies around 10- to 12-foot points and flats all over Cass. Raising one isn’t the same as landing one, as every muskie angler’s blood pressure can confirm.

A kindness note on crappies

Column-wide, Beardsley says crappies on most area lakes have slid out to their deep winter spots, and fish pulled from that depth don’t survive being let go. His ask: once you’ve got a meal or your limit, leave that area alone. It’s a small thing that keeps fish around for the kids learning to fish next year.

He also mentions some area lakes are turning over, which can make the bite tough for a couple of days. That’s regional, not a confirmed Cass report.

Fine print

One weekly roundup, grouping Cass with nearby water. No counts or water temps given, and we aren’t adding any. Confirm current MN DNR regs before harvest.

Sources

• Weekly Fishing Report: October brings hungry fish, quiet lakes, Dick Beardsley, Bemidji Pioneer (Oct. 7, 2026)
• Prior card: Cass Lake — Perch Going Crazy, Day Minnows / Night Cranks