Ice is out later than normal this year. Because of that, and the amount of rain/snow we've gotten this spring, lakes are colder and water is higher than normal. What's this mean? Well according to the Duluth News Tribune, it could mean trouble catching walleyes for fishing opener:
“There’ll probably still be some spawning going on in the northern lakes,” he said. “With this (past) week’s weather on top of a late ice-out, I would expect colder-than-normal water temperatures. I think there’s going to be a lot of waters that are still in the 40s, and that could make for tough fishing.”
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Walleyes should be done spawning in Rainy River, a Lake of the Woods tributary, and the Tamarac River, which flows into Upper Red Lake, Drewes said.
As with most openers, male walleyes will dominate the catch as larger females recover from spawning, he said.
“Whether or not they’re turned on will really depend on that three to five days of weather before the opener,” Drewes said. “Get on a nice warming trend with above-freezing nights — that’s really the trigger. Warm those shallows up and get those fish going.”
Given the conditions, slow presentations will be crucial, especially on rivers such as the Rainy, which is flowing nearly three times faster than it was at this time last year, based on streamflow readings from the U.S. Geological Survey."
Heading North for fishing opener? See what else Brad Dokken had to say about conditions in the Duluth News Tribune.