The nice weather this past weekend gave Betsy, Matt Rauenhorst, and I a chance to get on the water and chase some panfish on Minnetonka.  Betsy was able to land this "giant" largemouth bass while fishing for crappies.  She also learned how to bait her own hook and take fish off.  We will see how well she does this weekend with fish that have teeth.  It was a good day on the water.  We caught in up wards of 75 plus crappies, a bunch of sunnies, and a few bass.  If we are lucky we will have photos with a few walleyes from this coming weekend.         

Walleye season is approaching ever so fast.  Groves of Minnesotans will take to there favorite fishing hole for the weekend.  That is if the ice is out!  With the lakes in the north half of the state still ice covered it is hard to think that we are supposed to be in a boat this weekend.  Unfortunately many resorts had to cancel this coming weekends business due to ice.  The ice will not stop guys from going fishing they will just choose other lakes to fish if there favorite is still iced over. 

The walleye season opener is a great tradition here in MN.  For the lakes that are all clear of ice the fishing should be good.  The walleyes should be ever so hungry after a long winter and spring.  They should be all done spawning and be ready to eat what you have to offer.....that is if you offer the right bait.  My plans for the weekend involve a handful of lakes.  I will start on Gull and from there head to Serpent and will finish back here in the metro.  Keep your eyes and ears here for the latest on the adventures.  Good luck to all!     

On Saturday Pete, Gunner, and Myself bundled up and headed for the river.  Felt great to get back on the water and in the boat again.  We struggled to locate fish for the first few hours.  So we continued to change areas and baits until we finally found a presentation they would eat.  We finished the day with about 25 walleyes, some rough fish, white bass, smallmouth, and one northern. 

The biggest key to our success was finding "clean" water.  The river is ripping with heavy current right now and has clouded up bad.  The fish can not bite something they don't see....  Once we found some cleaner water we started catching fish pretty consistently.  The biggest fish went about 4 pounds with most in the 2 pound range.  They are all spawned out and have started to venture back to some of there summer areas.  With temps climbing into the 70's this week, I hope to be on the lakes around here in the next week or so.  Stay tuned for more pictures and updates soon.    

The nice weather on Saturday finally gave me a chance to get my boat out and chase some walleyes on the river!  This was one of only two walleyes I was able to boat on Saturday evening.  Never the less it was great to get on open water again and great to get the summer rods out.  Almost missed the first bite due to the fact that I forgot that I am supposed to set the hook when I feel a tick at the end of my rod!  Mizy was my fishing partner for the evening and was not able to put any walleyes in the boat...oops did I say that out loud!  He was able to catch a crappie so he didn't go totally skunked.  As soon as the weather comes back around I will be at it again.