Minnesota Opener!! Where will u be?

[night_eyes]

For the guys fishing the Minnesota walleye opener in 2 weeks...i was just curious where you all are going to be starting the season at? I will be on my favorite body of water right at midnight...Madison Lake near Mankato. But the low water might affect my success so i have backup plans to fish Elysian and Tetonka/Sakatah. I'm confident that by sunrise i'll have some nice fish boated...i usually do anyway so i hope things dont change this year.

Thanx

[Grampa_Joe]

Leech lake for me.
Joe

[AquaMan]

It will be an interesting Opener this year. With ice out a few weeks earlier then last year and almost a month earlier then normal, the fish may have spawned weeks before opener and moved into deeper water on some lakes.

I am doing the cabin opener, as most have already seen, at Ottertail. There is plenty of river, river mouth, sandy shallows and drop-offs to get me a wide variety of spots depending on the location of the fish and the weather.

I am a diehard fisherman, but I will sleep in till about 6AM and then hit the water. The midnight thing has never really been my cup-o-coffee. Besides, we work the crappies hard the day before and get rested for a full day of walleye. Who knows, my partner and I might get a wild hair and try it. :-)

Best of luck to you all.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[slick2526]

Hi night eyes, my uncle, his friend, and I rented a cabin on White Earth lake. hope fully we have good luck.

[EAGLE EYES]

I'm doing the cabin opener,just like AquaMan. Only a different lake, Big Pine by Perham. Although it's not very far from AquaMan's Ottertail. Usually pretty good bite that time of year. It would be interesting to compare opening day results with everyone else. I don't go out until Saturday evening. Morning bite never seems to be that great.

[pony!]

I will be on the same body of water i've fished for over 18 years! big winnie! tight lines to everyone!!

[Mongo]

Have to work on Saturday, but on Sunday will be on Lake Shetek in SW MN. Good Luck to all!!!!

[jimbo2]

You'll find me where I always fish opener, Fish Lake, and thats all I'm going to say!!
Good luck to all, and put some back for later!

[A.O.G]

I'll be at mille lacs the day after opener

[Edeye]

Reno. I am continually amazed at the quality of this fishery. Spring, summer, fall, winter. The eyes always seem to be biting on Reno. The amount of pressure concerns me, I just hope the walleyes hold up.

[sawgrass]

The tradition continues on Mille Lacs!

[AquaMan]

Eagle Eyes,

Ever tried Little Pine or MacDonald Lakes? Big Pine is great. I have some friends with houses on that lake. Very pretty lake with excellent structure. They bagged some nice "walters" through the ice up there last winter.

Good luck.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[night_eyes]

Hey Aquaman...you mentioned early ice out and how far ahead of schedule things are. Im not sure they really are that far ahead of schedule. Yeah ice out was earlier..but the cold we had all of March seemed to set things back. I am from around Rochester..and i was fishing a river south of here this last weekend. I was fishing crappies and i caught a 23" walleye that was still plump full of eggs. This is probably the exception..but it might show that things are not quite as far ahead of schedule as they looked like they might be. Anyone else have thoughts on this subject???

[EAGLE EYES]

Yes, I have tried Little Pine a couple of times but never did real well. I know it's capable of producing sometimes. But like I said, I only fished it a couple of times. As for Mcdonald lakes, I have fished Little Mac quite a few times but mostly for Bass. The DNR put an experimental Reg. on Little Mac a couple of years ago. No Eyes between 18-26" can be kept. And I have fished Mcdonald lake quite a few times as well,but once again not for eyes,just for Panfish. As far as Big Mcdonald and Big Mcdonald (West)never fished these two.
AquaMan, Have you ever fished Buchanan Across Hwy.78 from Ottertail?? I heard it has some lengthy Eyes in it.

[Dave in Mpls]

I'll be turkey hunting near Alma, Wisconsin!! I can only hunt till noon, so I'll have the boat in tow to fill my afternoon on the river.

Mille Lacs the following weekend, however...


Regards

[AquaMan]

Is there a public launch on that lake? I thought it was all private. I have heard mixed success from the land owners on the lake and that could be intentional.

Rush lake is the other lake of choice if we get blown off Ottertail and the river is not producing.

Ditto on the panfish on MacDonald. Another good panfish lake is Head Lake and Dead Lake in Richville (Between Ottertail and Perham)

Sounds like we should meet at the Muni sometime and swap info.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[night_eyes]

You guys that are talking about fishing around Ottertail...have you ever fished Stalker Lake? My buddy owns a cabin on that lake and 6 of us are spending the first week of June there.

[AquaMan]

Very true. But like I said, some area lakes may be in that "earlier" situation. We had cool weather, too after ice out that kept water temps cool up until Easter Weekend. Then temps soured to the 60's and 70's and remained. That is above normal and will warm north shors quickly. Especially if they have a darker bottom. But you have to admit, we are warmer then normal for this time of year and some lakes, due to their depth, water source and color, will vary from the norm as a result.

Eitherway, it will be an interesting report come Monday the 15th.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[AquaMan]

Where is Stalker? What town is it near. You have to remember that there are more lakes in Ottertail county then any other county in MN. Sounds like a blast either way.

Have fun and catch fish!

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[EJ]

I'll once again be exploring the southern rocks and reefs of lovely Lake Mille Lacs. Hope to see some of ya on the water! EJ

[TJIGHEAD]

ILL BE IN SOUTH DAKOTA FISHING IN THE PWT LAKE SHARPE.BUT WILL BE BACK HOME THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND AND GOING TO MISSISSIPPI RIVER.HAVE FISHED FOUR TOURNYS THIS YEAR ON THE RIVER.I TO HAVE FISHED PRE SPAWN AND AFTER LAST WEEKEND IM NOT SO SURE THERE ALL DONE. FOUND ALOT OF FISH WITH MILK AND EGGS SO GOOD LUCK YOU GUYS TAKE PICTURES AND LET THE STORIES BE SHORT!!

[EW6]

I plan on being on a shallow central Minnesota lake at 12:01 with a couple of my best friends. I am not exactly a seasoned vetern concerning walleyes and could use a little advice.

We were planning on fishing lighted slip floats along the shallows and near a small outlet, Is this a good technique for this early? And second, would a trolled minnowbait take walleyes this early? The lake I am fishing is big and very shallow so it warms up fast, and I am hoping the walleyes may be in an early summer pattern by then, What do you think?

[Cambo]

I'll be fishing FishHook Lake by Park Rapids. Maybe try Leech Sunday. Good Luck To All!!!

[EAGLE EYES]

AquaMan, Ya! it does sound like we should swap info sometime. You were wondering where Stalker is? It's south of the town of Underwood. I never fished it before either, but like you said Ottertail County has too many to offer.
As for Buchanan, it's not a private lake, it has a public access on the NW side of it. I'm sure the local land owners would like to think so though. I usually start trying other lakes around the area after the spring Walleye fever starts to come back down a little. That fever usually lasts until about mid June. At that point it turns into Venture fever, then late Summer fever, then Fall fever, Then.... I guess Spring fever set in already!!! heh heh heh!

[Badfish]

Same place I've spanked 'em for the couple of years, mouth of the Pigeon River, on the north shore of Winni!

Good luck to the rest of you!

Badfish

PS Actually I'm sneeking out to Big Stone this Saturday for a little early action with the man who got me started in this wonderfully aggrevating sport, my father. I'm looking forward to it because we havn't been in a boat together for almost two years. In another year or two I hope to make it a three generation affair (can't wait).

[night_eyes]

My buddy said the closest town to Stalker is Fergus Falls.

[night_eyes]

Yes fishing outlets this time of year is awesome at night! That is what i concentrate my fishing on and i really do well. You might try casting some shallow running shad raps...big jointed rapalas...and jigs/twisters around. That is what i do when i fish current areas at night.

[AquaMan]

E-mail me. We can try and set something up for that weekend. If you are at Fergus Falls, you are only about 20 minutes from the Otter Inn. Buchanon is only about 3 minutes away and I am about 2 minutes away...hahaha

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[TBO/MN]

I'll be up with Jesse V. on Crane. Have to get the Gov. his first big fish.

TBO/MN

[Xplorer]

Will be taking my father-in-law out on the St Louis River for opener. He's not crazy for going out at midnight, so we'll probably wait till around 5 AM. This years milder spring could make it interesting as I'm guessing the eye's will be scattered more than usual. Good Luck to all!!

[erik]

Rush Lake just north of the twin cities by about an hour. Had decent luck on eyes last year with a bonus 43" Musky on a 1/16th ounce jighead.

[CONIBEAR]

AQUAMAN AND EAGLE EYES,

LITTLE PINE LAKE WILL BE THE PLACE FOR THE OPENER FOR ME. BIG PINE IS AN EXCELLENT LAKE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IT AS WELL. THERE IS SOME BIG CRAPPIES THERE RIGHT NOW THOUGH. RUSH LAKE IS GOOD NEAR THE INLET ON THE NORTH FLAT AT NIGHT THIS TIME OF YEAR.
I PUT MY BOAT IN A DAY BEFORE AND DOCK IT ON THE NORTHEAST SHORE OF LITTLE PINE AT A FRIEND'S CABIN. THAT REDUCES STRESS FOR ME SATURDAY MORNING. CONIBEAR

[irish]

On the big pond chasin de eyes my friends

[RMB]

Lake Vermillion on Saturday and the annual fish fry with the family that evening. Although I've already boated plenty of eyes this year already, I CAN'T WAIT!!!!