Jay and I were able to hit the water last night for a beautful evening of walleye fishing.  As you see we had some great luck.  We caught all of our fish in shallow water, less then 7 feet.   We caught all of them on live bait (leeches, minnows).  

I am finally back home and on the fish.  This is one of three nice fish Nig and I caught last night in an hour.  This fish went 22 1/2" in length and fell victim to a jig and leech combination.  We were also catching a few fish on crankbaits in less than 6 feet of water.  We spent the first hour of the evening fishing (catching) crappies.  I think I was able to catch a crappie on 3 out of 4 casts.  It was a ton of fun!  The average size was a bit small but it still made for a fun night. 

As for opening weekend, it was a bit tough to say the least.  I spent Friday night with Walser, Okie and Jay fishing Gull and got skunked.  We tried some shallow crankbaits as well as some bobber fishing and ended up cold and back at the cabin.  Saturday morning I spent some time in shallow waters looking for walleyes and found lots of nice bass instead.   Saturday evening I went fishing on Serpent lake in Deerwood, MN for the first time ever.  I went over there to take Betsy and her brothers out fishing.  Upon arrival I was told by the whole family that there weren't any fish in the lake and they each bet me 5 dollars I would not catch anything.  We went out in the evening to fish a few reefs but had no luck and at dark we tried fishing crankbaits but still had no luck.  It was very windy, rainy, and as the sun went down snowy.  Now that I had multiple excuses for not catching anything....I still couldn't bring myself to give up.  My hard work eventually paid off, and I was able to catch a nice 18" walleye on a crankbait right at dark.  Moments later I hooked up on another nice walleye only to lose it boatside while trying to net it.  At this point the wind and rain had gotten the best of me and I had to go in and warm up.  My work was done; I had proven there were walleyes in Serpent Lake and they will bite if you have the right presentation.  I will fish this lake again before summer is over and hope to continue to learn more about it.  Will be on the water the next few evenings with clients and will report back soon. 

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.