With air temperatures in the 50s, water temperatures in the upper 40s and the occasional wind gust in the 30s we headed out on Lake Bemidji for the 2011 walleye opener.

The morning was spent taking care of a few odds and ends with the truck and the boat, so we didn’t hit the water until later in the afternoon. We stopped in at Taber’s Bait for a couple of scoops of spot tail shiners and to hear the early fishing reports, which were generally favorable, and headed up to the landing to get started. As usual, we had a general idea of where we wanted to fish. The skies were overcast and from the northwest end of the lake we could see that a northeast wind was stirring up a healthy chop across the lake. Perfect. But after we made our way to the area we planned on fishing it became obvious that the wind was going to provide a bit of a challenge. We targeted some shallow areas that hold cabbage in the summer and started with a big point that has a nice sharp drop on the edge. The plan was to stay on top right along that edge and backtroll, but the wind had other ideas. Fighting the wind and trying to feel the jig was a challenge to say the least. Fortunately Junior was focused at the front of the boat and managed to latch into a nice 18 inch male in about 5 feet of water on our first pass. We continued along like this until I gave up on trying to hold any kind of line. Rather than fight the wind we decided to drift over the deeper end of the point to stay along the edge of the heavier weeds. This produced another nice 18 incher, and so we were satisfied that our initial thoughts about this area were correct. So we picked up and moved to area “B”.

Rather than fight the wind again, we opted to buzz up to the north end of the area we were targeting and drift south while controlling our direction with the electric motor. Although it was tough to get any feel for the jig, the couple of fish we did find hammered the jig hard enough that there was little doubt it was a fish. Again, on the first pass Junior got another solid whack and boated a nice little 16 incher for the live well. We were encouraged by the activity and opted to leave the area alone after a couple more passes across.

Rather than fight the wind, we decided to check out a few spots along the north and east parts of the lake. Although is was a bit more peaceful, is was definitely slower, but I did manage to boat and release a nice 20 incher (picture above) while drifting through another area that holds some pretty good cabbage in the summer. We jumped from spot to spot making short passes looking for active fish, but didn’t manage to boat anything the rest of the evening. We headed in with a few fish for the freezer and a rough idea of what we are going to try for the next couple of days. League starts on Tuesday and we are hoping to find a couple of good “go-to” spots to get us on the board early. Hopefully the weather cooperates on Sunday!

The sun finally exerted its will in Northern Minnesota today and warmed us up into the high 50s. After a nice Easter dinner I got the itch to see if there was any spawning action in the area, so Junior and I jumped in the truck with the dogs and made a little 6 mile run down the road to see if the run was getting started.

We live on the Mississippi river very near where it reaches its northern-most point. Six miles down river is a dam that was built in 1907 to provide power to the city of Bemidji. Every year, when water temperatures trigger the annual spawning run, walleyes and suckers gather together below the dam in large numbers. When the run is on cars line the roads as anglers head down to the relatively shallow water to load up on suckers. Unfortunately today was dead quiet, most likely a direct result of the late cold spell and lingering ice.

North end of Lake Andrusia from Power Dam Road

We headed a few more miles east to check out a little creek that runs between Big Lake and Lake Andrusia. Again, quiet, but we did spot a few walleyes hovering in the current on the north side of the road. Another few miles south and back west to check the last bridge before the Mississippi runs into the north end of Wolf Lake and it was more of the same. High, fast water and very few fish. Looks like another week or two before things start to roll.

Things aren’t slow everywhere though. Just 50 miles east of here the Minnesota DNR has the Cutfoot Sioux walleye stripping operation in full swing. The annual ritual takes place near the northeast end of Lake Winnibigoshish. This great video was just posted and illustrates the process very well:

Let’s hope things aren’t too far behind when the season finally opens in a few short weeks.