Walleyes showed up for opening weekend on Upper Red Lake and Mille Lacs, but gusty winds and cold water temperatures flattened results in other popular basins, according to summaries provided by state conservation officers.
Fishing was so-so even on Lake of the Woods, where officer Eric Benjamin reported that most walleye chasers in the Warroad area came up short. Further east on the big lake and on the Rainy River, officer Jeremy Woinarowicz said success was very dependent on location and getting to your spot early in the morning.
Ice disappeared from Lake of the Woods just in time for the opener, Benjamin said. But there were reports along the North Shore that some inland lakes were still frozen.
"Numerous anglers were disappointed to find their destination lakes still mostly frozen, but with not enough to ice fish on,'' officer Mary Manning reported from Hovland, about 16 miles south of Grand Portage.
Fishing license sales were off 6% from a year ago. Including sales booked throughout the weekend by the Department of Natural Resources, the number of fishing licenses of all kinds stood at more than 347,000 as of Monday.
The reports from Rainy Lake and lakes around Orr were mixed. Officer Darrin Kittelson in International Falls said lots of people in the region were enjoying time on the water, but that the walleye bite was better on Kabetogama than it was on Rainy Lake. Most people caught a few keepers on Kabetogama, he said. Anglers had to deal with strong winds.
On Lake Vermilion, walleye fishing took a step backward by producing what officer Duke Broughten described as "limited success,'' During last year's opening weekend on Vermilion, the fishing on the eastern portion of the lake was remarkably good.
Bemidji area conservation officer Brice Vollbrecht reported that river anglers did well catching walleyes — especially during the evenings.
