Fishing Destination | Brainerd, Grand Rapids, Lake Winnie Area | Joe Billiar, Crooked Hat Guide Service

Jeff Sundin May 5, 2025 "Preparing For The MN Fishing Opener" | Joe Billiar, Crooked Hat Guide Service

In north central Minnesota, the weather turned warm on Sunday, the breezes calmed down, and the stage was set for a beautiful day of preparation. Folks were out on lakes in the region, some fishing, others testing their boats, some just enjoyning the day.

For I and the Hippie Chick, that day of preparation came in the form of a pre-fish trip with Joe Billiar on a Hackensack area lake. Billiar, “Crooked Hat Guide Service”, is a frequent contributor of fishing reports from the Brainerd, Lake Winnie, and other north central Minnesota lakes. Billiar is among the trusted few fishing guides on “Sundin’s Short List of Guides”.  He often lends a helping arm when customers request dates when I can’t be available, or to accommodate folks who want to the Brainerd region, outside of my typical service area.

Joe reminds me of me. He began fishing at about 6 months old, when hi parents brought him fishing in a baby car seat. Growing up fishing frequently, he picked up his first used boat at the age of 14 and set his sights on fishing for a living. After college, he worked for a variety of companies but never lost sight of his dream. He began offering guided fishing trips on weekends and holidays, then after a few years decided he needed more fishing. Now, at age 28, he’s chosen to go all in, and fish full-time for a living.

The business name, “Crooked Hat” comes from his grandpa, who fished a lot, and brought the family together on fishing trips to the Grand Rapids area, long before Joe was born. “Grandpa always showed up with his hat tilted a little bit to the side, so I decided to use the name for my guide service, Billiar says.” If you ask me, that’s a heck of a good way to get a business name!

Our day wasn’t about catching fish as much as it was for us all to know each other better. But scanning the perimeter of the lake, Joe did find us some entertainment, scattered schools of sunfish milling around the shallow weed edges. For a while, we poked around, trying to decide which lures and baits worked the best for catching them. A 1/16-ounce VMC bucktail jig, tipped with a small night crawler probably worked the best. Sunfish also struck leeches, and to an extent, small plastics too.

We spent a good amount of time talking about plans for the walleye opener next Saturday. Like always, the conversation turned toward preferred walleye lures and baits. Joe asked me what I planned to differently this summer than in past seasons. My answer, “to find some plastic lures that work as well for my customers as they do for me”, piqued his interest. That led to a long talk about artificial lures for walleyes.

Apparently he’s experienced the same scenario I see play out in my boat. We experiment with a given lure, figure out that the walleyes are striking it, then we share it with our customers. The problem is that many struggle to get the cadence, or speed, or some other part of the presentation “just right” to trigger walleyes to strike them. “I’ll always have live bait in the boat, but these days the live bait is the backup plan, not the primary presentation”, Billiar says. Lures like the ones you see pictured here, are Joe’s go-to presentations for walleyes, especially during the early part of the fishing season.

From left-to-right, Widow Maker tungsten ¼ ounce jig tipped with a 4 inch “Jerk Minnow Junior”. 1/8-ounce BFishN’ tackle H2O Jig, tipped with a 3 inch “Tickle Tail”. A 1/8-ounce Widow Maker tungsten jig, tipped with a 3-inch Berkeley split tail. A ¼ ounce Widow Maker underspin jig, tipped with a variety of soft plastic tails.  Far right, for when live bait is required, Billiar turns most often to bobber presentations, The Thill slip-float setup incorporates either 1/16- or 1/8-ounce jig heads tipped with leeches or lively minnows.

At times, bucktail jigs come into the spotlight. “I can’t explain why, but the sometimes, there are brief periods when walleyes will show intense favoritism toward the bucktails. Sometimes the frenzy only lasts for a few minutes, but when they’re on, they’re on.” Billiar says. The VMC bucktails, similar to the 1/16-ounce size we used to catch sunfish, are one of his top choices in the “hair jig” category.

When sharpshooting, Billiar prefers tungsten jigs not only for the faster fall rate, but also because they show up better on his electronics. Denser than lead, the tungsten jigs provide a better signal return on his FFS, he believes.

“For the most part, my walleye fishing in the Brainerd area lakes will be done in water depths of 12 feet deep, or shallower. “Lots of times walleyes will hold tight positions along, or near weed edges. We often need to drop the lures into small, tightly grouped schools of fish, so casting accuracy is important. It’s important to cast near enough to trigger a strike.” Billiar says.

Okay, there are a lot of fishing guides in Minnesota, and most of them will do a good job. But the “Sundin’s Short List of Fishing Guides” exists for a good reason and it’s not easy to get on it. When folks ask me to refer them to a guide, I want to KNOW, that they’ll be in good hands. Not just that they’ll catch a certain number of fish, but that they’ll have an interesting and memorable experience. For that, you can’t go wrong with Joe, he’s informative, instructive, attentive and beyond all else, happy to be on the lake doing his job.

You don’t have to take my word for it, Hippie Chick’s endorsement might mean more than mine and she says, “Joe doesn’t need to call himself a guide, he is one already. He was born into a family who loves to fish, he was raised by parents and grandparents who love to fish, and it’s obvious that he loves to fish too.”

Oh and by the way, Billiar loves to fish for Muskies too. As that season approaches we’ll talk more about his favorite methods for doing that. You can contact Crooked Hat Guide service here. >> Joe Billiar, 507-469-2714 website >> Crooked Hat Guide Service

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Cutfoot Sioux, Lake Winnibigoshish 2025 Fishing Season Outlook May 4, 2025

"Survey data from MN DNR 2024 Fisheries assessments are in, and this week, Dan Schermerhorn, the large lake specialist for the MN DNR Grand Rapids, MN region, shared his insights into lake data for the Winnie-Cutfoot chain of lakes and flowages.

Walleye anglers will most likely notice a change in the average size of the fish they catch this season. Walleyes from the strong, 2019-year class remain plentiful, and have grown! After analyzing 2024 data, Schermerhorn estimates that the average length of female walleyes will be about 19 inches during spring. Their 2019 male counterparts should measure somewhere between 17-1/2 and 18 inches on opening day.

In 2024, our guests, fishing guides and friends who fish Winnie a lot, reported catching fish from other year classes too. The strong, 2018-year class remains well represented, and there were numerous fish in the 20-to-22-inch size range caught last summer and fall. Those larger, 2018 fish, combined with females from the 2019-year class will offer anglers the opportunity to ..." Read >> Bowen Lodge Cutfoot Sioux, Lake Winnibigoshish 2025 Fishing Season Outlook May 4, 2025

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