Walleye Opener and a Big Laker!

Leading up to walleye season I was putting in as much time as possible going after big lake trout.  Minnitaki lake has a low density population of trophy fish.  I always compare it to muskie fishing - if you get 1 or 2 fish a day you had a good day, but chances are one of them will be big.  That's my style of fishing - hunting hogs rather than going for numbers. 

Friday was a 'textbook' day, one fish and it was big!  37" and probably the biggest lake trout of my life.  This fish hit a blue/silver Rapala J-13, 125-feet behind a planer board. 

Walleye Opener 2011

After finding out the night before opener that my guests had to cancel, I made new plans and fished with a buddy of mine.  We launched the boat at 5:30 am and headed to one of the current areas in SE Lac Seul.  With the late ice out I was anticipating finding the big girls still spawning in the current.  The fish were there, and in good numbers, but the big females have definitely spawned and started to move out.   Only a few of the males were still milty and the girls were skinny after dropping their eggs. 

The numbers - 2 of us landed 80 walleye.  Biggest was 27". 

Lindy jigs and Lindy X-Change jigs tipped with minnows did all the damage. 

Sunday we did some exploring and checked out some post-spawn areas.  We found fish on most of the spots, but not in good numbers yet.  The fish are transitioning from spawning areas and the bite should pick up as the water warms up and fish get more active.