Minnesota fishing report

May 17, 2017 at 1:38AM

Battle Lake area: Walleyes are in the 9-27 feet range along weed lines on Pelican, Ottertail, Rush, and West Battle using jigs with fathead minnows. Sunfish are hitting on wax worms or crappie minnows on area lakes. Northerns are being caught along weed lines at 15-20 feet using sucker minnows.

Big Stone Lake: Anglers are having the best luck catching walleyes in the evenings along shorelines using minnows, small leeches, spinners or crankbaits in the middle of the lake during daytime. Panfish, crappies and bluegills also have been active.

Ely area: Burntside and White Iron lakes produced some good walleye action using a jig and a minnow or small crankbaits along shorelines at shallow depths. Nice-sized lake trout are being caught on Burntside using Shad Raps. Northerns are hitting sucker minnows along weed lines. Crappies have begun their spawning ritual, with some anglers finding them right up in the emergent weeds in as little as two feet of water.

Lake Winnibigoshish: The west side of the lake seemed to provide anglers with the best walleye action using jigs and shiner minnows at about 10 feet. Northerns also are being caught along weed lines using jigs and shiners. Perch can be caught at 13-15 feet using jigs and fathead minnows.

Lake of the Woods: Four Mile Bay and around Pine Island are the best spots for walleye action using a jig and a minnow at 10-20 feet. Some anglers are pulling spinners at 6-12. Perch and northerns are also active along weed lines. Up at the Northwest Angle, good walleye action can be found around the islands, points and reefs using a jig and a minnow.

Lake Minnetonka: Anglers are using Lindy Rigs with shiners at 12-15 feet for walleyes, mostly on the western bays such as Cooks Bay. Bass and northerns are active as well, using spinner baits or small Rapalas. Panfish action also has been excellent.

Minnewaska area: Live baits with spinners produced good walleye action on area lakes such as Reno, Emily and Minnewaska in the 20-, 25-foot range. Sunfish and crappie action is also good on most area lakes.

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