Dennis Anderson: Snow and snappin' walleyes? That'll do

UPPER RED LAKE, MINN. — Nearly lost in the snowstorm that swirled across this lake Saturday morning when the state's 2008 fishing season opened was this news: The walleyes were snappin.'

Mind you, they weren't jumping into the boat. But action was fast enough to keep thousands of anglers on this giant body of water in northwest Minnesota far longer than a rational person might expect.

Sideways, that's how the snow blew, beginning at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday and extending into afternoon.

Then, warming temperatures turned the white stuff into rain.

Still, the lake remained awash in anglers, some popping umbrellas to stay dry, others swaddling themselves in Gore-Tex. Still others resigned themselves to being soaked.

And kept fishing.

Only in Minnesota.

In May.

In my group were 15 other anglers spread among six boats, a couple of 12-year-olds being the youngest. The oldest? No one offered that information.

Regardless, all who bobbed atop this lake Saturday morning instead of staying in bed deserved credit.

Among these were Henry Drewes and Gary Barnard. Drewes is the regional Department of Natural Resources fisheries manager, Barnard the DNR area fisheries manager whose specific charge is Upper Red Lake.

By 11:30 Saturday morning, they had boated 41 walleyes between them, including their individual limits of three walleyes apiece.

"The fishing was good," Drewes said.

Bob Kowalski and I didn't find walleyes with quite that ease.

Bob, of Vadnais Heights, regularly attends our group's opening day festivities, often in the company of his wife, Gina. This year he came alone, and Saturday morning he and I motored out of the harbor at West Wind Resort in Waskish Minn., braced for the worst weather Minnesota can offer.

In May.

Or any month.

Jeff Knopps of Hudson, Wis., and Steve Vilks, Paul Kreutzfeldt, John Weyrauch and Dave Kelley, all of Stillwater, captained the other vessels in our group.

Our hopes were high. Last year we were also on Upper Red on the opener, and we all departed with limits.

"Despite the weather, I think there were more people here this morning than there were in 2006 when we reopened Upper Red to fishing," Drewes said Saturday.

Drewes was referring to the nine-year period during which Upper Red was closed to walleye fishing. Chippewa netters had overharvested Lower Red Lake, which is connected to Upper Red, and sport anglers had taken too many fish, also.

In response, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the DNR shut down the lake to walleye angling. Stocking was accelerated during the period, and the lake recovered relatively quickly.

Now Upper Red is considered once again to be among Minnesota's best walleye lakes.

It's also a pretty good crappie lake -- still.

Friday, six of our group -- Kreutzfeldt and his son, Michael; Steve Vilks and his son, Clint; and John Heroff and his son, Ryan, (the boys are each 14 years old) -- had motored onto Upper Red seeking crappies.

During the time that Upper Red's walleyes had gone missing, crappies reigned supreme here. Now, with walleyes returned, crappies are fewer.

Still, Paul, Steve, John and their boys boated nine slabs Friday evening, each measuring about 14 inches long.

"The problem was, we couldn't keep the walleyes off our crappie jigs," Paul said.

Bob and I began our efforts hoping to be similarly besieged.

We weren't, not at first.

Steve and Paul's boats fared better, probably because they angled in 3 to 5 feet of water, rather than the 7 to 8 that Bob and I fished.

Barnard, of the DNR, said the late spring has pushed the spawn back about 10 days on Upper Red. Meaning most of the lake's walleyes likely are still in shallower water than they typically would be on the season's first day.

Bob and I employed standard walleye attractants: jigs and minnows.

Others on the lake favored slip bobbers. Still others -- my son, Trevor, 14, being one -- opted for artificial baits.

Trevor boated a dozen walleyes Saturday morning casting Northland Tackle jigs baited with Slurpies, also by Northland, and retrieving them slowly.

Further evidence that artificials are fast becoming worthy substitutes for live bait? I hooked one walleye in the early going on a Berkley "Gulp!" grub.

By noon, our little flotilla had returned to the harbor at West Wind Resort. Some of us had limits (keeper walleyes here must be less than 17 inches long), some didn't.

Regardless, everyone wanted dry clothes and hot food.

Most of our bunch were back on the lake by midafternoon.

By then, the snow had changed to a drenching rain.

There was a bright side.

The walleyes were still snappin'.

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com