With farmers finally getting a dry spring, planting has been going strong for a month now. Therefore I missed the opportunity to get this posted by opening day. Fear not though, as water temps are cold in deep water, opener for walleye was fairly slow. With high temps in the 80s for this week, next weekend should have the walleye fired up and ready. With Covid hopefully ready to become a thing of the past, I expect summer fishing to be a big draw this year. Anglers will be met with fully stocked lakes and cold beer ready for them in off-sale establishments across the state.
Last year, I tried to preview some of the biggest fishing lakes in the state and I’ll do my best to do that again this year.
- Mille Lacs: I believe the walleye numbers could be down in this lake but you also have to consider this is a huge body of water. Even with numbers down the DNR only allow the harvest of one walleye. That’s no fun, unless you plan on catching your one fish and then getting shit-faced by 10 AM.
- Upper Red Lake: This lake was beyond kind to anglers this winter. In the summer I’d expect the same. Might need to fish a bit longer and sort through the smaller fish. But keeping a limit on walleye should be easily done. Make sure to look at the updated regulations for this lake. Bag limits here are different than most bodies of water in the state.
- Lake of the Woods: I used to love this lake but now I know many bodies of water closer to me that yield the same results. It’s always a fun trip up to this massive body of water to chase the giant pike and walleyes. Make sure to stay on the US side of the lake. Don’t want to get stuck in Canada and putting maple syrup on your walleye while drinking Labatt Blue.
- Cities/Metro Area: You can probably find some fish in this area. But I have zero knowledge here. Better to just ask Bubba. Who knows, maybe he will even join you on the water. Just know, I’ve never fished with the guy so he might use some questionable methods to fish…
- Western MN: This region is my home base. If you have the time I’d check out White Earth Lake, near Waubun. You should be able to find pretty much anything in that lake, even huge crappies. Walleye can be found in nearly every lake around here, just check the DNR Lake Finder Webpage for more stocking info and water depths. If you get there early enough, Big Cormorant holds some monster crappies in the shallow bay waters this time of year.
- North Dakota: Might as well throw this in here for the hell of it. Devils Lake holds a spot in my heart after living there for almost 2 years. A trip here is well worth your time. If you can organize a guys weekend here, you will find walleye all over the waters with white bass and pike mixed in. You might have to sort through the smaller fish here but should have no problem taking home some for your efforts. With water levels down, ask the local bait shops for info on good areas to fish.
Good luck out there and make sure to keep those lines tight! Post of picture of your big catch, as we love to see what everyone has been pulling up this year.