Good morning, I kept the fishing report a day late to gather some intel on how the opener went yesterday! I hope you guys/gals find it helpful. The rain held off yesterday until evening which was good for anglers hitting the water for the fishing opener. Slight chance of rain today and warm temps for the rest of the week with a chance of rain tomorrow and again next weekend.
Water temps are still cold as the last bits of ice went out on Spider Lake and Lost Land Lake on Friday. I am hearing reports of anywhere from 40-44 degree water temps. The DNR is doing netting/electrofishing on Lost Land/Teal lakes currently and the reports are sounding good. A good number of walleye in the nets and a few 40″ class Musky as well. I believe they will be electrofishing today or early this week and finishing up their survey on these lakes.
It sounds like most anglers had some fishing success this weekend so far and the walleye bite in particular sounds good. Most fish are being caught in 10 FOW or less and anglers are catching them on everything from crankbaits to jigs/live bait. A good friend sent me a pic of a very nice walleye followed up by a musky he caught while wading some sandy flats. So sounds to me like most of the fish are in pretty shallow right now and my guess would be most of the fish in the shallows are also starting to spawn.
The crappie bite is still off as everyone I have talked to so far have not found them shallow or deep. I think the water temps are still a little cold for the to be coming in shallower to spawn, but with temps in the upper 60s and 70s this week they should start moving into spawning areas by the end of the week. No reports on any other panfish at this time.
Not a ton of info but a good start to the fishing season! Have a great weekend and we will talk soon!
Greg