Walleyes take center stage as Minnesota Fishing Opener approaches

Every year since good weather and bad Tim Lyon has tested the waters of Lake of the Woods or Rainy River on the Minnesota Fishing Opener A charter boat driver for Ballard s Resort on the south shore of Lake of the Woods north of Baudette Minn Lyon says he still looks forward to opening day The Rhode Island native started his career as a Lake of the Woods fishing guide at the Northwest Angle before moving to the south end of the lake where he s been a charter boat captain since As the May Minnesota Fishing Opener approaches Lyon says he s optimistic about fishing prospects on the big lake I m dependably optimistic revealed Lyon That s me by nature not me by biology I mean I get to fish in early May I m perpetually excited about that especially when you ve gone through that sort of catharsis of nothing going on over the lesson of the last several weeks While majority of Minnesota lakes are ice-free or will be by the Fishing Opener Lake of the Woods could be an exception As of midweek the U S side of the big lake still had a substantial covering of ice although satellite imagery manifested important areas of open water and cracks Warm weather in the forecast will erode that even more Later ice-out often means lights-out fishing on Lake of the Woods especially for big fish as spawning walleyes linger in the Rainy River and adjacent Four-Mile Bay before returning to the main lake No promises but this could be one of those years I unfailingly look forward to late springs Lyon commented If I don t have to go out on the lake and try to chase fish around out there it s nice to have that first week in the river And I think we ll apparently get that just based on the amount of ice that s still out there The water temperature should be cold enough to still have spawning fish in the river which inevitably throws particular bigger fish into the boat during the curriculum of the opener During years when that happens and stand out in the minds of a great number of anglers Four-Mile Bay and the mouth of the Rainy can be just a frenzy of big fish and likely not that a great number of fish the size you can keep Lyon stated Anglers on Lake of the Woods and Rainy River to the dam at International Falls Minn can keep an aggregate limit of six walleyes and saugers of which no more than four can be walleyes All walleyes from to inches in length must be published and one trophy walleye longer than inches is allowed I m more than happy to fish for ego over eaters Lyon joked So I look at it optimistically Options abound As with previous openers the or so anglers who hit the water for the storied Minnesota Fishing Opener won t lack options whether it s walleyes or other species such as northern pike largemouth bass smallmouth bass panfish or catfish a perennial favorite among anglers who fish the Red River Undated courtesy photo of Marc Bacigalupi Minnesota Department of Natural Information Northwest Region fisheries manager in Bemidji Minnesota s fishing season opens Saturday May Courtesy of Marc Bacigalupi No doubt though walleyes are the stars of the show on opening day Fisheries crews for the Minnesota Department of Natural Tools are wrapping up their annual walleye egg take operations to supply state stocking programs disclosed Marc Bacigalupi Northwest Region fisheries manager for the DNR in Bemidji It ll be a nice two-week period where fish are getting ready to bite again by opening day Bacigalupi declared According to the DNR s spring fishing outlook Lake of the Woods has a strong population of walleyes in the - to -inch range smaller - to -inch fish and a high abundance of walleyes larger than inches Anchoring and jigging with a minnow or frozen shiner is the go-to technique for early season walleyes at least on Lake of the Woods and Rainy River It s hard to stress how little you want to move and how soft that bite is when it s cold Lyon explained Another favorite Upper Red Lake also will be loaded with boats on opening day For this year the DNR upped the walleye limit on Upper Red to five fish with only one over inches allowed In anglers on Upper Red were allowed three walleyes with one over inches from the May opener through June beginning June the limit increased to four walleyes with one over inches allowed The limit remained at four walleyes with one over inches for the winter - fishing season According to Evie Evarts area fisheries supervisor for the DNR in Bemidji this year s increased open water limit reflects a series of latest strong year-classes that has resulted in an abundance of smaller walleyes in the population The summer regulation allows anglers to keep abundant walleyes while maintaining breeding fish at a level that continues to produce flourishing year-classes Evarts announced A year-class refers to fish recruited to the population from a particular year s hatch We ve had good year-classes every couple of years now Evarts declared When we had really high brood stock we weren t seeing the year-classes so we re back to getting good year-classes in there which is invariably good for Red By all indications fishing on the state s -acre portion of Upper Red should be good for the opener The ice on Upper Red was all but gone April with just a small band of shore ice on the south shore of Lower Red all of which is in tribal waters Larger post-spawn walleyes likely will be concentrated on the first shoreline break for the opener so the DNR recommends that anglers have a proper measuring board in the boat to accurately measure the fish they catch Walleyes on Red could be at the tail end of their spawn on the opener Evarts says I think it s going to be good she noted The later the ice goes out on Red the better it is for fishing We re right in that window so it should be good Closer to Bemidji shallower lakes likely will offer the best fishing prospects Evarts says We just lost ice on Lake Bemidji this week I think it s all gone so the water is still going to be pretty cold I think for the opener she noted I would say that any of our shallower lakes like Plantagenet and Blackduck those would all be good starter lakes for the walleye opener Cass Lake because it s larger and deeper generally isn t a destination lake for the fishing opener Evarts says though smaller lakes in the Mississippi River chain such as Kitchi and any of those would be good bets They re pretty shallow and they re in the river chain so they re going to be warmer she commented Walleyes should be even more recovered from the spawn farther south in Minnesota Leech Lake the other large lake in the DNR s Northwest Region also looks promising with walleye numbers within or above various management objectives the DNR disclosed in its preseason outlook Anglers can expect to encounter several year-classes of walleyes ranging from inches to inches in length with the majority being from the year-class fish mainly between and inches long The DNR offers a full statewide fishing opener preview on its website at mndnr gov Steeped in tradition Bacigalupi the Northwest Region fisheries manager says he ll be participating in the Minnesota Governor s Fishing Opener which this year will be held in the Crosslake chain of lakes area near Brainerd As an avid walleye angler he ll be among the contributors taking event participants fishing The Minnesota Fishing Opener is a great tradition Bacigalupi reported It s about fishing but it s also just kind of celebrating the arrival of spring and the tradition of fishing and families having a good excuse to get back together he declared Related Articles Stillwater Lift Bridge opens for the season Skywatch Dippers and bears flying high MN Soundness Department updates fish consumption guidelines for PFAS Interested in remote work The National Park Utility may have a job for you Bluebells and other spring flowers can be nature s antidote to stressful times Maybe the tradition is getting up early or hitting the water at a m when the season officially is underway The Minnesota Fishing Opener is set by statute to open the Saturday two weeks before the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend which this year is May It s something to celebrate Bacigalupi revealed You know our politics are polarized but it s still about people knowing that this is still a great place to come and visit and recreate and for our citizens to enjoy our support that we do work hard at maintaining