Minnesota and much of the Midwest has been locked in the deep freeze for the past few weeks. The extended forecast predicts slightly warmer temperatures this weekend, with a return to more normal temperatures by early next week.
Anglers lost much of their mobility on the lakes in the below zero temperatures, so it should feel like a heat wave when temperatures climb back into the 30s for highs.
Being able to keep moving and stay comfortable is a key element for anglers wanting to be able to locate fish. Warmer temperatures allow anglers to fish without a shelter as they search for fish and then set up portable shelters once they have located active fish.
The ice conditions are excellent across the Bemidji area and anglers should have good access to most lakes for the last week of the gamefish season in the inland waters of Minnesota. The season on walleyes, northern pike and other gamefish officially ends at midnight on February 25.
Once the gamefish season ends, anglers are allowed to continue fishing for crappies, sunfish and perch, as well as rough fish species like whitefish and eelpout.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 27th Annual Eelpout Festival on Walker Bay of Leech Lake starts today at noon and runs through Sunday. The event is headquarters at City Park on the waterfront in Walker Minnesota.
Eelpout are known by many names, but they are actually freshwater cod. They live in the deepest, coldest part of many lakes in northern Minnesota, as well as the Great Lakes and other northern lakes with clear cold water.
Eelpout prefer cold water and have been caught in water deeper than one thousand feet in some of the Great Lakes and are most active in the winter months.
Eelpout are seldom seen in the summer and are rarely caught by anglers in open water except late in the fall. Eelpout are the first fish to spawn in the spring, spawning under the ice in late February or early March.
The preferred spawning sites for eelpout are the tops of midlake humps that are covered with chara, which is a rootless plant that lay in mats on the bottom of the lakes. Chara has some unique characteristics that make it an ideal location for eelpout and other species to lay their eggs.
Chara has a brittle structure that allows water to flow through the mats of weeds, which keeps the eggs from settling all the way to the bottom, where the eggs may become covered with mud or sand.
Chara also has anti-fungal properties, which helps keep the eggs healthy during the month or more the eelpout eggs lay on the bottom, waiting for the ice to go out and the water to warm up enough for the eelpout eggs to hatch.
Eelpout are key deep water forage for big walleyes as well as northern pike and muskies living in deep water. Lake trout, salmon and other trout species also feed on eelpout.
ADVERTISEMENT
Eelpout eggs are favorite forage for species like perch, which move up on top of the eelpout spawning humps to feed on the eelpout eggs. Perch are looking for a high protein, high fat content forage in the final stages of gestation.
Eelpout will spawn in large communal groups, which is an adaptation that helps increase fertilization rates and improves the eventual spawning success rates for eelpout.
The Eelpout Festival celebrates the beginning of spring in the lakes and corresponds with the prespawn phase of the eelpout.
Anglers can catch eelpout on many of the same presentations as walleyes. Live bait presentations are usually most effective, with scents, glow baits and rattle baits all effective.
Eelpout will usually be most active during low light periods and can be caught on top of structure at night.
There are many fun events scheduled all weekend at the Eelpout Festival in Walker. Many spectators come to watch the activities and tour the vendor displays set up in City Park.
Paul A. Nelson is a multispecies fishing guide living in the Bemidji area. He can be contacted by calling 218-759-2235).
