The 2013 walleye-fishing opener in Minnesota will go down as – if nothing else – one of the most interesting I’ve experienced.
In recent years, my group has gotten into spending the
opener fishing for rainbow trout. The action tends to be better for trout,
given the water’s still relatively cold and the fish are near the surface, and
it’s fun to just troll around aimlessly on Bad Medicine Lake, which is among
the state’s most beautiful waters. Previous to those Bad Medicine trips, I’ve
hit spots like the Upper Red Lake on the year it re-opened to walleye fishing,
and Rainy and Vermilion as part of the Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener.
I’ve had varying degrees of success, but each opener has been cool in its own
way.
Wine and waders. All in all, an odd opener. |
When we awoke Saturday morning, ice still covered perhaps
half the lake. So rather than put the boat in and risk the wind shifting and
pushing a sheet of ice toward us, I went into the woods and did a little deer
scouting, hoping to find a new hunting spot for this fall. I also hoped the sun
and wind would make quick work of the ice. That didn’t happen.
So Brian King and I decided we’d walk down to the river and
fish along its shores from where it entered the lake to the first culvert. The
first thing we saw was the wake of a fish in submerged grass in extraordinarily
shallow water. We never got a good look, but it had to have been a northern
pike. We picked our way through the woods along the river, which isn’t an easy
thing to do when you’re toting tackle boxes, 6-foot fishing rods, and a cooler
(which became lighter the more ground we covered). At some point, we gave up on
fishing and just looked at ducks and deer trails. We wet our boots tramping
through marshy areas, and saw just a few northern pike and suckers. It was
evident the walleyes weren’t in the river.
Fishing at dark at the river mouth. |
The night was so quiet and peaceful that a flopping fish may have ruined it, anyway.