The Minnesota Fishing Opener is This Weekend

The Minnesota Fishing Opener is this weekend, and the Minnesota DNR has released its fishing outlook for our region.

Typically, our shallow, turbid lakes are your best bet early in the season because they warm faster and fish become more active. These productive lakes also tend to have greater walleye numbers. Shallow prairie lakes in the western and southern part of the four-county work area would be good options. For example, strong walleye numbers are present in the lakes within the Pomme de Terre River system.

In addition, lakes that winterkilled during the 2022-2023 winter have fast growth rates for fish, and walleye in those lakes should already be harvestable size. Bass and northern pike are most abundant in clear, vegetated lakes, which tend to be in Pope and Douglas counties, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the work area, such as the Alexandria Chain. While many anglers target larger gamefish species during opener, do not forget about the excellent panfish opportunities during this time of year. Most lakes in the area support good populations of black crappie and bluegill.