WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
April 16, 2008

Sorry this report is a day early, but I won't be able to send a report tomorrow night as I usually do. I hope everyone survived the Winter and you're ready as ever to get in the boat. The time is nearly here and I'm already having sleepless nights thinking about those Walleyes!

Heavy snow last week and now 60 degree temperatures. I think it might be safe to say that Spring is finally here in the northland. As the warm temps and high winds restart the Spring thaw, the area lakes are continually becoming less safe and a week from now, I would expect most of the ice fishing opportunities to be over for this year. Ice conditions change rapidly this time of the year and if you plan on heading out in the near future, please use extreme caution.

So now that I feel comfortable with the Spring season upon us, and one week closer to opening day 2008, it proves to be a good time to discuss some of the hot lakes for the first few weekends.

Lake Winnie certainly is the top choice of many anglers, including me. Winnie provides numerous opportunities for a number of species including perch, pike and crappies. Attached to Cutfoot, even days with high winds, one can find action out of the wind in Cutfoot. Typically a jig and minnow bite provides the needed action for the first few weeks, and the endless shorelines of Winnie typically will hold large schools of Walleyes. If the water is cold, look for the active fish in deeper water, if the water temps are 40-50 degrees, look for that 6-8 feet of water to be active.

Bowstring and Sand lake are both good Walleye lakes for those first few weeks. Both of these lakes offer a good jig and minnow bite shallow and the action from the Northern pike will certainly make for a rod-bending day.

Mille Lacs and Red Lake are both lakes that produce large numbers, but here wind conditions can hamper any outing. Look for the sand on the North and East sides of Mille Lacs to hold large concentrations of fish. Each year a number of big fish are caught in the early parts of the season on the North mud flats. Many of the anglers have success with spinners and leeches, but don't feel that a jig and minnow presentation won't catch very good numbers of fish on Mille Lacs. As for Red Lake, both the North and South parts of the lake hold large schools of those Walleyes. Here a jig and any type of minnow will catch fish. Typically a bright jig in just about any color will produce. Look for the shallow water of Red (4-6 feet) to be consistent even if the water is cool.

Pokegama is a great Walleye lake, but wait until the last week of May. This year if the water temps are cold, it might not produce consistently until that first week of June. Look for the jig and minnow to produce in that early season in the 8-12 feet of water. Keying in on areas near the smelt spawning flats will hold good numbers early in the season.

Well I hope everyone is getting excited for the upcoming season and if you're heading out for that last season ice bite, please be careful.

See you on the water soon!

Sean Colter
member of NMGL
seancolter@seancolter.com