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Minnesota's fishing opener kicks off Saturday, giving antsy anglers the opportunity to get back out on the lakes again after a long winter.
A Marshall sporting goods store reported a rush to purchase Minnesota fishing licenses.
"We're definitely selling a lot, at least 30 to 40 a day right now if not more," Jeremy Barck of Borch's Sporting Goods said, adding that those numbers are on par with their typical numbers each year at the start of the season.
The top-five snowfall total over the 2022-23 winter resulted in lower oxygen readings for many shallow lakes. Still, the results were not as severe as expected, per the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Southern Region Fishing Outlook report, with the most notable losses coming in the buffalo fish and common carp populations.
Cottonwood Lake and Tyson Lake are the best sources for Yellow Perch at this point in the season, consistently producing large catches. Also under the Spicer Fisheries Management Area, Schoolgrove and Cottonwood are expected to be excellent in terms of their Walleye populations, pending a winterkill check, per the DNR.
Still, Late Shetek and Lake Sarah are among the best locations for Walleye action. Shetek averaged 33.8 per gill net last season, its second-highest in recorded history, while Sarah averaged 38 per gill net. Sarah and Shetek also both have opportunities for Zebra Mussels while Shetek has some potential for Black Crappies in good numbers, according to the DNR.
"There'll probably be decent fishing. You'll find a few of the lakes got hit from the winter kill off, but it sounds like we did a lot better than we were thinking we might, so I've been hearing good things from Lake Shetek," Barck said.
While Shetek and Sarah have the volume, East Stay Lake has larger Walleyes. The lake, located in Lincoln County, averaged 18.8 inches and ranged as long as 26.4 inches. They were still no slouch in terms of volume either, netting 26 per gill net, according to a 2020 DNR survey.
Over in Lake Hendricks, the DNR expects northern pike up to 30 inches, bullhead up to six to eight inches and plenty of sheepshead. The lake has back, yellow and brown bullhead. The sheepshead are also great for anglers looking to make a meal out of their catch, as, 'their flavor can be improved by bleeding them prior to cleaning... keeping the slime from getting on the meat during filleting and by trimming away the reddish 'mud-line' from the fillets," the DNR said.
Yankton Lake and Wood Lake are also expected to be viable options for Walleye fishing, with Yankton averaging 16 per gill net in 2022 with an average length of 17.9 inches and Wood Lake averaging 24 per gill net in 2020 with an average length of 11 inches, per the DNR.
With rain on the forecast for opening weekend, Barck advised fishers looking to start the season early to bring some rain gear while out on the lake.
Secondary Northern Pike locations include Lake Shaokotan, Island Lake and Lime Lake. Shaokatan averaged seven Northern Pike per gill net in 2021 ranging from 20.3 to 31.5 inches while Island Lake averaged 4.1 per trap net in 2017 ranging from 18 to 30 inches, according to the DNR. Data from Lime Lake was not available.
Per new DNR regulations in 2018, anglers are limited to a daily possession limit of two and a size minimum of 24 inches. All smaller Pike must be released.
The Department of Natural Resources' Regional fishing outlooks are available online at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/outlooks.html and its LakeFinder tool is available online at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html