How was your MN walleye opener?

My guess is the majority were from 3 different year classes. I was a little surprised we didn’t get anything over 22″. We knew another boat in the same area we were in, that were slip bobbering that got a couple over 26″.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mojogunter wrote:</div>
Once enough boats had left we switched to crank baits and the bite was much more productive.

That’s a good haul Mojo. You put in a lot of time out there. Looks like most of the fish are of similar size. Do you think they’re mostly from the same year class?

Fished a southern Wright County lake on Saturday. I caught 4 walleyes (14-16”), and my dad in his own boat caught 2. Also caught a couple bass and several pike. I was fishing an orange fireball jig/minnow, he was rigging. All in all it was a beautiful day to be on the water.

ganderpike wrote:

Weather made it hard to find fish that wanted to play ball. Spottails coaxed a few in the boat. Hoped the night bite would produce, never really came together. Going into the access, we turned our headlamps on and were greeted by a half dozen large walleyes in knee deep water. Something to think about for next time.

Got all my walleyes after dark in 5ft or less on Mille Lacs.
10-12 feet in mornings and they moved deeper when the wind died and sun was high.

I think this pics sums it up. 2 walleye, a few pike/bass, and still had a great time!

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Thats a great pic werm! Those slow days are less frustrating when you get a sunset like that.

When I launched sautday morning, I was 4th in line. 2 of these 4 wouldn’t start and they sped off po’d. Both I would say were 2018 or newer.
DT

Went to a small lake hadn’t fished in years. Was real slow at first. Then the 9 year old switched to a pink jig and minnow and found what they wanted in it reeled in super slow right on the bottom. Got 4 walleye 15-18”, some small ones, and some northerns mixed in. Yesterday just panfished
Nothing wild but it seems like
They’re starting to move shallow

Nice reports all! I got a chance to fish with my boys (and their neighbor friends) both days of the weekend. Saturday we just a couple hours off our dock but did manage 3 eater eyes and a 2 eater pike (south zone). Sunday we hit the inland part of p3 (ya know since it was opener weekend and all). Loaded up the toon with kids and trolled around a few hours. Biggest eye was 25″ and we kept 5. It was less fishing and more adventure time, but regardless still fun!

Sunday night we ate the spoils! Kids loved it, I loved it, and the weather was awesome for an opener.

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Fishing Opener is also one of MAYBE 2 chances I get to see 1-3 of my best friends every year (depending on who can make it) – the other being deer hunting. We usually only have one day to fish so we usually play more of a numbers game and chase bass/pike and if we get up there a day early, we’ll try for panfish. We always say we’re going to fish after dark for walleye, but we’re getting older and after a few cold ones with supper, the ambition usually wanes a bit

Caught a few nice bass which aren’t terribly hard to target right now, but it was sure fun. Especially when we were fishing panfish and a fat female largie would grab my crappie jig and take me for a ride.

We did put together a nice stringer of ‘gills and a couple of crappie for a fish fry. No pike though which is REALLY strange – couple of follows and lost a small guy at the boat. Did have about a 45″ Muskie follow my buddy’s bass spinner in about 18″ of water and stop boat-side for a good 15 seconds before swimming off. Really cool to see.

deertracker wrote:

When I launched sautday morning, I was 4th in line. 2 of these 4 wouldn’t start and they sped off po’d. Both I would say were 2018 or newer.
DT

As someone who is not a mechanic, the issues I have witnessed with newer boats can be traced back to the battery, simple things like the kill switch, or the motor being in gear 99% of the time. It is extremely rare that newer boats have some other issue that won’t even let them start. When people are flustered at landings and rush…simple things go overlooked. Last week my wife and some friends wanted to go for a cruise on the tritoon. I backed in, they floated off, I waited for their thumbs up before heading home. Instead they started waiving that it wouldn’t start. After a quick shift to neutral, it fired and they were off.

It’s also crazy how many people won’t touch their batteries to even put a trickle charger on them. I’ve seen it countless times with newer boats where their battery is beyond dead. My boat always has a booster pack on-board to help either myself or someone else.

Pepin Saturday.Lots of short fish but quite a few 16-18″ a few pike,white bass and sheepies,lots of action kept us busy.Pool 3 and St Croix Sunday, a few short fish but quite a few nice 17-18″ eyes and saugers.Couple 17 inchers made it home for dinner.

Fished a dam on a small river at midnight. Caught 1 eye and 1 white crappie. Too many people there to stay much past 1 am.

Went out on my buddy’s boat saturday afternoon; was pretty slow; could see fish swimming out from under the boat shadow in 12-14 foot of water. clear water and no wind will do that I suppose.

Went back out after sundown saturday night and pulled husky jerks shallow. caught about 25 bass/pike and 5 nice walleyes.

Fished Leech this weekend. Managed to get 2 eyes and a few pike during the daylight hours. Weather was so gorgeous it was awesome to be out there floating.

Tried to troll cranks Saturday night and got an eye almost instantly. My lighting in the boat wasn’t working property, so I had to head back in right away. Got it taken care of and looking forward to next time.

Overall slow for us. We could only find one big crappie Friday. Caught a couple eyes right away Saturday morning, then it slowed down and we struggled to find them, but finished up the trip Sunday with a few more and both brought back a meal and had a good time. So it was a good trip.

Came home with a limit, as always. Sent my buddies home with theirs too. Played 18 on a nice course Sunday, had fun at the local watering hole. Overall a great opener as usual. After 3 years of putting in 15-16 hour days on opener I quit chasing the impossible daytime walleyes and had more fun because of it.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
not questioning or arguing about where you fished an water levels there, but when I was up in Itasca county 2 weeks ago the water levels were best I seen in a long time.

Well that’s good, then it’s not down everywhere at least. The general trend has been quite dry though. We could use a good soak.

Yeah, the Southern 2/3 of the state or so did not have a ton of snow this year so everything around here is very low. I was having trouble last summer at a few accesses on small lakes and they have to be far worse now.

After fishing the big lake on Saturday, Ben was the only one who wanted to get up at 0500 Sunday and chase walleyes with Dad.

We had a fun morning, hit the lake for a couple cohos and moved inland for warm water fish. He landed his personal best 22″ walleye along with some shorter eyes and a couple nice bonus pike

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Slow for me on Vermilion. We got a nice 26 incher, and a handful of little guys. Beautiful weekend though so I’m still happy. Better fishing ahead.

Slow for me, but we enjoyed the awesome weather. I was fishing an ultra clear lake and wasn’t sure whether to focus shallower or deeper.

BigWerm wrote:

I think this pics sums it up. 2 walleye, a few pike/bass, and still had a great time!

The nice weather definitely made the slow fishing easier to deal with. That sunset was pretty spectacular!

Its nice to see and read the reports. I wish I could have added to it, which was the plan but unfortunately my dad lost his two year battle to cancer on Monday after being hospitalized Friday. Its was set to be a good one, my brother flew in Thursday from the State of Washington to participate in the festivities but for whatever reason the man upstairs brought my brother home for a different reason. It had been a while since us three were able to share a boat together and didnt get to happen but no doubt he is in a better place crushin with the fishing gods. To say he was good man is an understatment.

Anyway, dont want to steal the thread but just wanted to share “my report”, but back to topic!

Sorry for your loss weedis.

Leech was great this year. Most fish were in shallow 6-9 FOW. Boat traffic was at an all time high, which caused a lot of the schools we scouted with electronics Friday to blow up and spread out. We did our best to fish spots off the boat clusters that had less fish, but due to no pressure and noise they ate great. All fish caught on Saturday were pitching a jig and shiner away from the boat.

Fish Flies were going good Sunday as well, so the bobber leech bite started to turn on too. Good luck out there.

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Had to work the weekend so didn’t get out until Monday and Tuesday. Experienced one of the better walleye bites I’ve ever had. Got lucky and stumbled into a real good spot on a lake we’d never fished. Fish never started biting until 8:30pm. Then from there to whenever we quit it was lights out. 44 in 2.5hrs the first night and 56 in 2hrs the next.

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