outdoors

One of the state's earliest springs launched a fishing season that will be remembered for hot weather and some sizzling angling.

Though there were finicky fish in some lakes and the usual midsummer doldrums, by most accounts anglers around Minnesota found good to exceptional fishing.

"I think it's been one of best fishing seasons in a long, long time,'' said Tim Goeman, Department of Natural Resources regional fisheries manager in Grand Rapids. The ice left many lakes in record-early fashion, which meant warmer spring waters and pleasant weather, helping jump-start the season.

"People got out,'' Goeman said. "And the fishing was good early. I haven't had a single complaint. The silence is deafening. People are catching fish.''

Tom Neustrom of Grand Rapids, who regularly guides on a handful of northern Minnesota lakes, agreed.

"Overall, it was a very, very good season,'' he said. "Especially on Winnie [Lake Winnibigoshish]. I think Winnie was the hottest walleye lake in the state all year.''

Neustrom said anglers there found lots of keeper-size walleyes in the 14- to 16-inch range, as well as larger fish they had to release.

"Sand and Bowstring lakes also were very good,'' he said. And the bass and panfish bite was solid, too, he said.

At Leech Lake, walleye anglers found early success. "It was good until about the middle of July, then it really petered out on us,'' said Jack Shriver, a guide and bait shop owner in Walker. He expects good fishing this fall. "The walleye bite should come around when the water temperatures drop,'' he said.

Meanwhile, muskie fishing at Leech has been good, Shriver said. "It's been one of the better years of the last four. Last Thursday, we caught three and lost two.''

At Mille Lacs -- the state's most popular walleye lake -- the fishing has been considerably better than last year, based on creel surveys. Anglers harvested 215,000 pounds through the end of July compared with 141,000 pounds for all of last year, said Rick Bruesewitz, DNR area fisheries manager at Aitkin.

"It was pretty decent fishing,'' he said. Fishing slowed in August, as it usually does, he said.

Some muskie anglers have done well on the big lake, based on anecdotal accounts, Bruesewitz said. "Muskie fishing has been better this year than the last couple of years,'' he said. "There's been some really big fish taken.''

As for smallmouth bass: "The bass fishing has been the best we've ever seen it,'' he said. More anglers are targeting bass -- and finding them. "The populations definitely are solid,'' Bruesewitz said.

Meanwhile, the walleye bite at Lake of the Woods has been, well, torrid.

"We've had a really consistent [walleye] bite all summer long,'' said Phil Talmage, DNR area fisheries manager in Baudette. "There were lots of nice eaters in the 16- to 18-inch range. We have a healthy walleye fishery.'' More anglers are targeting -- and catching -- sauger, he said. "The sauger population is really high.''

But unlike the weather, the fishing hasn't been blistering everywhere.

"I'd say the fishing was a little slower than usual,'' said Joe Geis, DNR area fisheries manager in Tower. "I'm not sure why. Some people did good at times. But overall I heard was it was tougher fishing on a number of area lakes, including Vermilion.''

Ditto for Upper Red Lake.

"It was slow this year, and we're off quite a bit on our harvest,'' said Gary Barnard, DNR area fisheries manager in Bemidji. "The fish weren't biting, and the pressure fell off rather quickly.''

But other lakes in his area, including the Cass Lake chain, Bemidji and Plantagenet, have been good, he said.

Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com