‘Keeper’ walleyes becoming more common in area

Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 7, 2003

This past weekend I was able to try a little walleye fishing in the Waterville area. I fished on Lake Tetonka with my brother-in-law Mike and some other friends from Best Point where I, until this year, had a permanent camp spot.

The fishing wasn’t too bad. Although the average size of the walleyes wasn’t all that big, there were plenty caught. The number of &uot;eaters&uot; seems to have increased a little over the past few years. These are walleye in the 14-19 inch range, which in the past few years have been scarce. This lake always seems to have more than its share of small walleyes that have you saying &uot;not yet, but wait until next year.&uot;

I talked to some of the other campers that had gone to German-Jefferson and they said they had good luck on panfish and there were some nice northern caught, but German is pretty weedy for this early in the year.

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When mentioning northern I have to bring up the latest adventure of our friend Larry. Larry and his friend Paul were fishing in a boat just a few feet from us. Paul gets a nice fish on and Larry goes to net it, but as he dips into the water the net falls into about three pieces. They finally did land the fish, about a 5-pound northern.

It seems Larry has a nice place to store his landing net. It sits straight up in the air at the back of the boat. I know that any of us that have spent time on the water have all seen this before. I guess nobody told Larry that you have to take it out of the holder if you are cranking the boat up on a lift with a cover on it.

I don’t know for sure but I was told that he had crushed the thing more than once. The net will be cheaper to replace than the trolling motor he broke in half last year. He always has a tendency to keep things interesting around the campground.

On Sunday my son Brian took his family fishing on Katherine Island. I had fun showing the boys some of the spots where I used to catch fish when I was a kid. I practically lived on the shores of Fountain Lake as I was growing up and most of the things that worked then still work today. I guess the fish still hang out in the same spots as they did years ago.

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than fishing with your family on one of the area lakes that we have available to us right here at home?

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Here are a few reports from guides and bait shops about the fishing from around the state:

Alexandria – The walleyes are still biting on Mary and Reno, with the most action coming in about 15 feet of water. Shiners and leeches are the two best baits when tipped on either jigs or Lindy rigs. The crappies are biting in the shallows. But some are just starting to move to the first breakline. Bass fishing has been pretty good in the shallows out to about eight feet. Most of the action is on jigs. The northern are biting in around 10 feet.

Battle Lake – Walleye action has been good on West Battle Lake, with most anglers now using leeches. They are also still getting a lot of ‘eyes on Ottertail, but shiners are working the best on that lake. Most of the action has been in 14 to 16 feet, with a lot for smaller fish. Crappies are biting very well on Clitheral. A black or pink flu-flu fished in eight to ten feet seems to be the best bet. Sunfish have been biting very well on Star and Deer. And the bass are very good everywhere Lake Anne produced the biggest fish on spinner baits.

Hackensack- Shiners and rainbows are still the bait of choice, however several individuals say they took a few on crawlers. For those lakes that leeches work well on this time of year stick with it. The fish are still not in their full spring pattern yet. The smaller the jig the better, for those that jig fish. Light bites are common. Winnie and Cass are still the most productive. Leech has been slow but fish are being caught in the normal spring places (Goose Island, Hardwoods, and up in Portage Bay).

Kabetogama/Namakan – This past week was a mixed bag of weather, fishing and successful techniques. Many walleyes are in the shallows and in the weeds chomping on baitfish, primarily shiners, which are spawning. Anglers report the majority of shallow walleyes being caught are over the slot size. The slot fish and saugers are being caught in the nearest deep water to the baitfish supply. Jig and minnow, lindy rig and minnow or leech seem most effective. Slow presentation very important. Northern pike and smallmouth action is picking up. Northern hitting spoons, spinnerbaits and minnows near the weed edges in bays like Mud, Daily, Nebraska and Blind Ash. Smallmouth hitting on spinners and crayfish crankbaits. Shallow water near rock beds and ledges working the best. Crappie action never did take off and remains very spotty.

Rainy River – River temperature 64 degrees, still low levels and slow current. Anglers have been catching small walleyes and sauger along with numerous northern pike. Pike have been averaging from “snake” size to 9 pounders. We had anglers in search of smallies with no luck. Water temperature needs to warm up a little before smallie action starts.

Gun Flint Trail Area – Fished up and down the trail the last 10 days. Had great fishing for trout and smallies. Eyes where going good on Devil Track but the size was small. But the splake, rainbows and lakers where just going off. 75 to 100 trout caught a day at least. Caught them in the float tube fly-fishing or throwing spoons and trolling in the boat. I would recommend a trip up there.

Mankato – Lake Washington continues to produce crappies in four to 10 feet, as well as a lot of small walleyes. For an evening bite head out to Madison and you can expect to find some good shallow water crappie fishing. Jefferson continues to give up some nice panfish also, along with good northern along the weed-edges.

Until next time, Good Luck and Good Fishin.’

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