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Walleye
The walleye is the most sought-after
fish in Minnesota. Its thick, white fillets, handsome shape and
coloring and elusive nature make it the ultimate prize among
anglers. Each year, anglers in Minnesota keep roughly 3.5 million
walleyes totaling 4 million pounds. The average walleye caught and
kept is about 14 inches long and weighs slightly more than 1
pound. The walleye is named for its pearlescent eye, which is
caused by a reflective layer of pigment that helps it see and feed
at night or in murky water. |
How to catch 'em
Just about anytime you fish for walleyes, you can
count on the fact they will bite best on live bait: minnows,
leeches or night crawlers. You just need to choose a lure or rig
to put the bait in front of them, and the best things for that are
jigs, live bait rigs and bobber rigs. To use a jig, just hook on
the bait and lower the jig to bottom where walleyes usually are
found. Then just lift and lower the jig to entice the walleyes
into biting. Best jigs are pink, white, yellow or florescent green
and weigh 1/16-1/4 ounces. |
Where to find 'em
Gull Lake Chain, Mille Lacs Lake, Pelican Lake,
Round Lake, Whitefish Chain, Leech Lake |
| Possession Limit:
6 - Not
more than 1 walleye over 20" may be taken daily. |
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Northern Pike
The voracious northern is one of the easiest
fish to catch because it so willingly bites lures or bait. What's
more, northerns produce chunky white fillets that many anglers say
taste as good as walleyes. Most northerns caught by fishing run 2
to 3 pounds, though trophies over 20 pounds are caught each year.
A close cousin to the muskellunge, the northern pike lives in
nearly all of Minnesota's lakes and streams.
The quickest way to tell a northern pike from a muskie is to note
that the northern has light markings on a dark body background,
while muskies generally have dark markings on a light background.
A foolproof method is to count the pores on the underside of the
jaw: the northern has five or fewer; the muskie has six or more.
Northerns also have rounded tail fins, compared to the pointy tail
fins of a muskie. |
How to catch 'em
Northerns are tough, aggressive and not nearly as
fussy as walleyes. So it's often better to use lures when fishing
for these toothy critters. Baits such spoons, crankbaits, big
spinner baits and wooden plugs called "jerk baits" are often used.
Where you decide to fish determines which lure is best. In
shallow, weedy areas, spinner baits and shallow running jerk baits
are best. If the pike are deeper where there aren't many weeds,
use spoons and deep running crankbaits. A tip: use a 3/8 ounce jig
head and attach a long plastic worm. Toss it right in submerged
weeds and hang on! |
Where to find 'em
Gull Lake Chain, Lake Edward, Lower Mission
Lake, North Long Lake, Whitefish Chain and Leech Lake |
| Possession Limit:
3 - Not
more than 1 fish over 30" may be taken daily. |
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Muskie
The muskellunge, or muskie, is one of
the largest and most elusive fish that swims in Minnesota. A
muskie will eat fish and sometimes ducklings and even small
muskrats. It waits in weed beds and then lunges forward, clamping
its large, tooth-lined jaws onto the prey. The muskie then gulps
down the stunned or dead victim head first.
Muskies are light colored and usually have dark bars running up
and down their long bodies. That's the opposite of northern pike,
which have light markings on a dark body. Muskies are silver,
light green, or light brown. The foolproof way to tell a muskie
from a northern is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw:
A muskie has six or more. A northern has five or fewer. |
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Where to find 'em
Leech Lake, Mille Lacs Lake |
| Possession Limit:
1-Minimum
size is 30" |
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Largemouth Bass
This is one of the scrappiest fish that
swims. An increasing number of anglers throughout the state are
learning that largemouth bass, with their jolting strikes and wild
airborne leaps, are an exciting fish to catch. And increasingly,
Minnesota is becoming nationally known for its largemouth bass.
Professional bass fishing tournaments are held on Gull Lake
annually, as well as area lakes and rivers throughout the summer.
Largemouth bass look similar to their close cousin,
the smallmouth. They are often found in the same waters. To tell
the two apart, look at the closed mouth. If it extends back beyond
the back of the eye, the fish is a largemouth. If it goes only to
the middle of the eye, it's a smallmouth |
How to catch 'em
When fishing for bass, think about fishing from top
to bottom. In shallow, weedy areas, use shallow running spinner
baits and surface lures that stay above the weeds. If the bass are
in 4-8 feet of water, use medium running crankbaits and spinner
baits. If they are down deep, use heavy jigs and deep running
crankbaits. Bass are tough fighters, so use good fishing gear and
strong tackle. |
Where to find 'em
Gull Lake Chain, Hardy Lake, Lake Hubert, North
Long Lake, Bay Lake |
| Possession Limit:
6 |
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Crappies & Panfish
Anglers love crappies. Though the
walleye is the state fish, crappies, sunfish and bluegills are
caught most often. Crappies bite readily and produce sweet-tasting
fillets. There are actually two types of crappies: the black and
the white. They are tough to tell apart. Both travel in schools
and feed on small fish and aquatic insects. If you catch a
crappie, it's most likely a black crappie, which is the more
widely distributed of the two species, occurring in most lakes
throughout the state. The black crappie prefers deeper, cooler,
clearer water than the white crappie does. |
How to catch 'em
Crappies and panfish often congregate near weeds.
Once you find them, you can often catch a nice mess of them. For
panfish, a good old worm on a hook fished below a bobber is tough
to beat. Simply cast near the weeds and let it sit. Move around
until you find biting fish. Crappies sometimes like it a little
deeper and prefer to feed on minnow. A bobber rig with a minnow
for bait is good, as is small pink or white jig tipped with a
minnow. Just cast it near the weed edges and let it settle down to
the crappies and give it short jerks as you reel it in. |
Where to find 'em
Gull Lake Chain, Hardy Lake, Nokay Lake, Upper
Mission Lake, South Long Lake & Mississippi River |
| Possession Limit:
Crappie -
10, Bluegill & Sunfish - 20 |
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