Bemidji area streams closed to fishing during the first week of walleye season (May 7, 2008)

The Fishing Shack

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is extending fishing closures on six streams in Beltrami and Clearwater counties from May 10 through May 16 to protect concentrations of spawning walleye. Major access points will be posted during the period of closure.

The affected streams are:

* Blackduck River - County Road 32 north to Red Lake Reservation boundary
* Clearwater River - Below Clearwater Lake Dam for 900 feet
* Mississippi River - Below Ottertail Power Dam to County Road 12
* Shotley Brook - State Highway 72 to Upper Red Lake
* Tamarac River - Upper Red Lake to Beltrami-Koochiching county line
* Turtle River - Below Three Island Dam to County Road 23

The closure will not restrict boat traffic to Upper Red Lake from the boat ramps on the Tamarac River.

“It is a difficult decision to restrict fishing because stream closures limit shore angling opportunity,” said Gary Barnard, Bemidji area fisheries supervisor, “but most anglers would agree it is important to protect spawning walleye.”

Just days before the fishing opener ice still remains on some Bemidji area lakes and large concentrations of walleye are still actively spawning in many tributary streams. According to the DNR, the last time these stream closures were extended beyond opening day was 1996 when similar late ice conditions existed.

The Fishing Shack

Fishing Opener Is Getting Close!

Not long now until fishing opener in Minnesota. Governor Pawlenty will have his usual media circus in the Brainerd, Minnesota area this year (info- www.minnesotaoutside.net or www.fishingminnesota.110.mb.com). I will be opening the year on Cut Foot Sioux along with hundreds of others. Hopefully, the weather cooperates.

Walleyes have a reputation for being short strikers. They'll hit the bait without getting hooked. But walleyes aren't tentative eaters. Usually, the walleye makes a sincere attempt to eat the bait. The fisherman just didn't allow the fish to succeed.
Avoiding this problem-and consequently hooking more fish-is a two-step process. Step one is to understand how a walleye eats. Sometimes a walleye will slash a bait like a pike or a muskie does. But usually they'll swim up to it and flare their gills, inhaling their prey and the water surrounding it. If anything happens to interrupt that flow of water, you get a short strike, or nothing at all.
Step two is adapting your presentation to decrease resistance in the lure-and-line combination, and thereby permit your bait to flow right into the walleye's mouth. To that end, he offers the following six tips:
1: Use Light Line Light (4- and 6-pound-test), thin-diameter lines offer less drag, or resistance, on a lure. This lets a walleye suck it in more easily.
2: Bounce the Bait When you're using live bait use a bottom-bouncer rig. Bouncers are L-shaped wires that have a lead weight molded to the shaft. As an angler retrieves the rig, the weight bounces off the bottom and creates slack in the line, which allows the fish to inhale the bait more easily.
3: Shorten the Stroke Many jig fishermen pump their rods too vigorously, using long vertical strokes that can pull the bait out of a fish's mouth. Use short lifts instead and you'll hook more walleyes.
4: Offer a Bigger Bite Adding a plastic body to a jig also helps by increasing the surface area to which the fish's sucking force is applied.
5: Pump a Crank With crankbaits, steady retrieves may hook aggressive walleyes, but a stop-and-go technique is better for deliberate feeders. Once the lure achieves proper depth, lift the rod tip, reel in the slack, and repeat.
6: Troll With the Flow When the water has a chop, trolling with the waves imparts that necessary slight slack in the line. Also, keep a close eye on your inside planer board as you make a turn; it will give you that small amount of slack that allows for more solid strikes-and more walleyes in the boat.