All eyes on walleyes

[Lee Borgersen]

                All eyes on walleyes

5/3/15


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Early spring means anglers can expect a more typical Minnesota walleye opener this year, but low water could present challenges. The half-million or so anglers venturing out for this year's Minnesota walleye opener will encounter a drastically different fishing scenario than they have the past two years.



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The half-million or so anglers venturing out for this year's Minnesota walleye opener will encounter a drastically different fishing scenario than they have the past two years.

Thanks to an early spring, ice-out on lakes across the state is seven to 10 days earlier than normal, about three weeks earlier than last year, and a full month earlier than 2013.

Big lakes such as Lake of the Woods that were ice-covered the past two openers will be ice-free this year.

Minnesota's pike and walleye season opens Saturday.

"The spawn has really progressed ahead of normal," said Henry Drewes, regional fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Bemidji. Fisheries crews across the region have finished collecting walleye eggs for state stocking programs, and Drewes says water temperatures on many bodies of water should be pushing 50 degrees come opening day.

With the early spring, walleyes also should be cooperative for anglers who find them, Drewes said.

"I expect fish to be recovered from the spawn, so there will probably be a few more large fish showing up," he said. "When you have a normal or late spring, walleyes tend to be dominated by males and few fish over 23 inches, but I would expect we would see a little higher representation of those larger fish."

There's a fair chance, though, that those walleyes will be in different opening-day locations than anglers would expect most years, especially the previous two openers. Walleyes that spawn in rivers likely will have headed back downstream into the lakes, Drewes said, so current areas might not be the fish magnets they would be during a more typical opener.

"Fish should be out of the rivers, so I wouldn't look there," Drewes said. "Inlets and outlets will still hold fish but not like a normal spring."

Instead, he said, walleyes likely will be in places more typically associated with Memorial Day, such as shallow weedlines and rock bars in 4 feet to 10 feet of water. Shallow lakes that warm first likely will provide the best action.

            :fishing2:
Good bets:     

For anglers targeting big water, traditional walleye hot spots such as Lake of the Woods, Upper Red Lake and Leech Lake all have strong walleye populations, Drewes said. Unlike the previous two years, though, anglers fishing Lake of the Woods may not find as many walleyes in the Rainy River or Four-Mile Bay and instead will have to look on the lake itself.

Ditto for Upper Red, he said, where walleyes may have moved away from the mouth of the Tamarack River, which draws anglers by the hundreds most openers.

"Lake of the Woods has a little gap in that 17- to 19-inch range, but a lot of quality fish above the (19½- to 28-inch) slot and a lot of those fish under the slot," Drewes said. "Red is going to be very good, but it may not be as easy if it warms up and fish move away from the mouth."

Leech has above-average walleye numbers in a variety of sizes, Drewes said, while Cass is slightly below the 10-year average in terms of walleye abundance.

Secondary walleye lakes across the region such as Lake Bemidji, Cormorant Lake, Otter Tail Lake and Big and Little Pine lakes also have abundant walleye populations, Drewes said.

Low water is going to pose access problems on some lakes, though, he cautions.

"I would say our natural lakes will be down a foot to a foot and a half, which can make getting a boat off a bunk trailer almost impossible on a lot of these lakes," Drewes said. "If you've got a big boat in the smaller lakes, check out the accesses before you go."

The good news, Drewes said, is that the early ice-out gives DNR Trails and Waterways staff plenty of time to check accesses and install docks. Still, he said, boaters should carry a pair of waders just in case getting into the water becomes necessary.

Backing off the base of a boat ramp's concrete slab can result in axle damage.

"Normally, you don't have to worry about it, but in a year like this, you just don't want to do that," Drewes said.

If the walleyes don't cooperate, northern pike could provide a worthy alternative, Drewes said--especially this year. With the early spring, anglers potentially could encounter larger pike that most years don't turn on until closer to Memorial Day.

A two-week, catch-and-release season for largemouth and smallmouth bass that's now on the books further expands anglers' options, he said.

"If things are slow on the main lake, a guy can switch to spinnerbaits, go back into some boggy bays and get a little action that adds to the boutique," Drewes said.





Minnesota Fishing Facts:


Some facts and figures about fishing in Minnesota as compiled by the Department of Natural Resources:


Anglers and waters:

• There are about 1.5 million licensed anglers in Minnesota.

• About 500,000 people are expected to fish on Saturday's opening day of walleye and northern pike season.

• Minnesota has 11,842 lakes, 5,400 of which are managed by the Department of Natural Resources' Section of Fisheries. There are 18,000 miles of fishable rivers and streams, including 3,800 miles of trout streams.

• Average annual expenditure per angler is about $1,500.*

• Although not every kind of fish lives everywhere, 162 species of fish can be found in Minnesota waters.


Participation and the economy:

• Fishing contributes $2.4 billion to the state's economy in direct retail sales, ranking Minnesota fourth in the nation for angler expenditures.*

• Fishing supports 35,400 Minnesota jobs.*

• Minnesota ranks second in resident fishing participation at 32 percent, second only to Alaska.*

• Minnesota is the third most-popular inland fishing destination in the country.*

• Minnesota ranks sixth among states with the highest number of anglers. The top three states are Florida, Texas and Michigan.*

Who goes fishing:

• Most resident anglers--855,000 of them, in fact--are from urban areas. The remaining 474,000 resident anglers live in greater Minnesota.*

• Men account for 66 percent of resident anglers. Women account for 34 percent.*

Fishing habits:

• Significantly more time is spent fishing on lakes than in rivers and streams.*

• The average Minnesota angler spends 15 days fishing each year, with 84 percent of resident anglers never fishing anywhere else but in Minnesota.*

• The most sought-after fish species, in order of preference, are crappie, panfish, walleye and northern pike.*

Tips for releasing fish:

Some tips for successfully releasing fish:

• Play fish quickly to minimize their exhaustion.

• Wet your hands before touching a fish to prevent removal of their protective slime coat.

Rubberized nets help, too.

• Unhook and release the fish while it is still in the water, if possible, and support its weight with both hands or with a net when removed from the water. Never lift them vertically

from the water.

• Hold a fish firmly but gently. Don't drop it. And don't hold a fish by the eyes.

• Do not place fish you plan to release on a stringer or in a live well.

• Revive a fish by cradling it under the belly and gently moving it back and forth in the water until it swims away.

• Do not release a fish that can be legally kept if it is bleeding heavily or can't right itself.