Fishing Opener a Great Success

[LakeofthewoodsMN]

On the south end...  What a beautiful opener.  Lots of fish were caught despite the beautiful weather being sunny and calm!  No complaints.  

As predicted, the go to bait for walleyes and saugers was a jig and frozen shiner vertically jigged in 14-20 feet of water.  Many caught limits and most caught walleyes for a hearty fish fry.  A healthy mix of small fish, eaters, slots and trophies reported.  

Jig colors, gold, orange, glow, pink, chartreuse or a combo of these colors.

Some reported trolling crankbaits for the opener with success.  Crankbaits trolled slowly, 1.5 - 2.0 mph this time of year can really put a lot of fish in the boat.  

Plenty of pike made an appearance this weekend for walleye anglers with fish of all sizes boated.  Amazing how these fish love a jig and minnow while walleye fishing.  

On the Rainy River...   Some nice walleyes caught in the river this weekend.  Between the fish left over from the spawn and the fish making the Rainy River their home, good fish were boated.  There are 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale to fish.

Sturgeon season is closed until the harvest season opens up again on 7/1/21 - 9/30/21.

Up at the NW Angle...  Beautiful weekend up at the Angle.  Some commented in the morning everywhere they stopped, they caught fish.  The go to presentation was a jig and a minnow.  Some actually did well on crawlers already.  Besides small fish and nice eaters, a lot of walleyes 20-24 inches made for good photos.  

The walleye limit on the MN side of LOW and Rainy River is a combined limit of six walleyes and saugers, with up to four being walleyes.  The protected slot is 19.5 - 28.0 inches must be released.  Anglers can keep one walleye over 28 inches.

With the Canada border still closed, there are many ways to get up to the Angle.  The LOW Passenger Service, charter boat shuttle service from the south end, is open and running.  If you have the right boat and expertise, boating across is an option.  And finally, Lake Country Air flying service, a float plane service out of Baudette and other locations.