A walleye revival on Leech Lake

LEECH LAKE -- Four-foot waves whipped to a white frenzy by a northwest wind rocked our boat. ¶ "This is nuts," I said to my fishing partner as I braced myself and lowered my line into the turbulent emerald water. ¶ It was 6:30 a.m., and the sun already shone brightly in an azure sky. Not 10 minutes later came the cry: "Fish on!" exclaimed Jack Rendulich of Duluth, his rod bent in half.

I picked up the net and watched him battle what clearly was a large fish. After a short fight, he reeled a big walleye to the churning surface. Bobbing in the waves, I twice missed the fish, then scooped it from the water on my third try.

"Nice fish," Rendulich said, as he unhooked the 26¼-inch shimmering green torpedo with an alabaster belly. "I thought it was a snag." A few minutes later, I set the hook on a 24-incher.

We were happy to be catching big walleyes, of course, but the real news about Leech Lake occurred much later with our six other fishing partners. That evening, as the wind still blew, our group caught eight walleyes from 11 to 16 inches. Those fish are the direct result of excellent walleye reproduction in 2005, '06 and '07 -- when officials began stocking the huge lake with walleye fry, started killing thousands of fish-eating cormorants and launched regulations protecting 18- to 26-inch walleyes.

After several years of dismal walleye fishing, the word is out: Leech Lake is back.

"The fishing is way back -- and it's a blast," said Jack Shriver, a fishing guide who also runs Shriver's Bait Co. baitshop in Walker. "It's nice to see people coming in with smiles on their faces again. It's phenomenal."

Creel surveys of anglers hint that this fishing season could be one of the best ever.

"We have three strong year classes in a row, two of which are harvestable sizes and the third will be getting there soon. We are firing on all cylinders. I don't see it getting better than where we're at right now."

Temper the excitement

Pardon Roy Huddle if he doesn't sound as excited as those who are claiming the fishing is the best it's been in decades. Huddle, 71, has lived on the lake all his life. He and his wife, Kay, operate Huddle's Resort, which his family began 81 years ago. He's seen the ebb and flow of fishing over the years.

"The walleye fishing is on its way back -- it's on the road to recovery, but it's not back to what I can remember was the very best of Leech Lake fishing," he said the other day. "But it's definitely better than it has been in five years or more."

When we arrived at his resort, I told Huddle that if anyone could put the kibosh on good fishing, it would be an outdoor writer. Fishing always seems to go south when we show up, and that's exactly what happened. Over three days of fishing, our group caught six walleyes from 22 to 26 inches, landed a handful of nice eatin' size 15 to 17 inchers and caught a bunch of 11- and 12-inch slivers. We also caught a few 24 to 36-inch northerns -- including one that managed to swallow the jigs of both anglers fishing from the same boat.

But overall, the fishing was slow. We tried minnows and leeches and various jigs and rigs at different depths and locations. But strong winds hampered our efforts, and an unstable weather system likely hurt the bite. (At least that's my excuse.) We saw others land fish, but we didn't see any limits caught.

"I think the weather was a factor," Huddle said. "We were still catching fish, but it was not a red-hot time. Consistency of wind is a big factor."

Still, Huddle is pleased with the revived fishing. Business is up. And he expects it to get better as word of the improved angling spreads. Last week, the DNR surveyed 43 anglers who had caught 209 walleyes -- about 4.8 apiece.

"We're feeling really happy with what's going on," Huddle said.

Why the rebound?

An ongoing study indicate that walleyes made up less than 1 percent of their diet, with yellow perch the main meal. The results could raise questions on whether the cormorants indeed hurt the walleye population.

"I think they did have an impact," said Henry Drewes, DNR regional fisheries manager. He believes they likely hurt the walleye population both directly and indirectly.

"They blasted the perch population," he said, and walleyes depend on small perch for food. And Drewes said he believes that the 2001 crop of walleyes may have been decimated by cormorants.

One thing is clear: The perch population also has increased since the culling began, and unlike walleyes, that has occurred without any stocking.

Meanwhile, the DNR stocked 7 million walleye fry in 2005, 23 million in 2006, 7.5 million in 2007 -- and those fish clearly filled a void and all are flourishing. Three consecutive good "year classes" are rare. And a lake can only support so many fish. What's uncertain, Drewes said, is whether those stocked fish boosted the population, or whether they simply replaced fish that would have been produced naturally.

Lastly, walleye regulations imposed beginning in 2005 provide for an 18- to 26-inch protected slot, with one fish over 26 allowed in a four-fish bag limit. The goal was to reduce harvest of brood stock fish, and that clearly has happened. We released some nice walleyes.

Visitors to Leech Lake don't seem to mind the restrictions, Huddle said -- as long as they catch fish.

"If they go out and catch some fish, release a few and have a couple to eat, most people are pretty happy," he said.