May Walleye Report – Alexandria

It’s hard to believe that less than three weeks ago there was ice on the majority of the lakes in the Alexandria area. Luckily the night before walleye opener the wind blew strong throughout the night opening up many of the lakes. Anglers were pleased to see open water as the sun began to rise opening morning. Opener is generally a very productive time to fish walleye on Minnesota lakes state wide.

This opener on the other hand things were much different. Many of the walleye had yet to spawn so anglers had a very difficult time finding fish. In fact most of the typical early walleye spots were void of fish. The anglers that fished shallow (1-6 feet) near moving water were rewarded greatly. The moving water that connects many of the lakes in the area attract minnows getting ready to spawn, this in turn attracts all types of fish to prey on them. The walleye in these areas were very aggressive. Many of the best locations for all species were actually accessible from shore. Included in these shore spots were dozens of bay areas with excellent crappie action as well.

Being minnows are the primary forage for most walleye this time of year it’s only natural that minnow style baits catch the most fish. In the month following the spawn I almost exclusively stick with minnows or minnow imitations. My best lures so far have been an 1/8oz jig tipped with a minnow and a shiner imitation crank bait. Both of these lures are excellent shallow water baits. All of the fish in the pics below were caught in about a two hour period, all from shore.

I estimate the walleye cycle is about three weeks behind schedule. That means the normal great fishing we have on opener is just about in its prime! Many of the normal opener fishing locations are finally filled with aggressive walleye. There are numerous lakes kicking out great eating sized fish right now. Just tonight I had a buddy of mine hit a typical “good opener lake” that I was curious about. Well it took him just over an hour to pull a limit of perfect eating sized walleye 15”-17”. He was fishing in 12-16 feet of water with shiners. Over the next month we will experience some of the best fishing of the year, so grab the family and head on up for some great fishing!