WEEKLY FISHING REPORT: Fishing opener weekend recap

The 2022 Minnesota fishing opener has come and gone and there were some good reports and some not so good.

The wind really was blowing hard both this past Saturday and Sunday. It wasn’t too bad until about 9 a.m. on both days and then it started howling.

High winds always make fishing tough for a few reasons:

1. Boat control can be difficult.
2. This time of the year with the colder water and the fish just finishing up spawning they aren’t real aggressive when they hit a jig so with the wind it’s much harder to detect those subtle bites.
3. If you're pitching jigs you get that bow in your line from the wind and that makes it even harder to detect a bite. In shallower water say 12 feet or less I like using a 1/8-ounce jig but I went up to a 1/4 or 3/8-ounce jig and that helped a bit. Most of the walleyes were coming from 6-10 feet.

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The northern pike were pretty active as were the jumbo perch and you mix that in with a few walleyes and some bass and we had a fun time. The best reports I’ve heard were the lakes with flowing water coming in.

The Cass Lake chain of lakes the bite were pretty good for some. Same with Winnie and of course Upper Red is always good on opening weekend but your fishing bumper boats on Red and for me, I just don’t enjoy that as much.

Shiner minnows were nonexistent for the opener but they should be available sometime this week.

If you're looking to catch some walleyes from shore it’s hard to beat the Mississippi River where it comes out of Lake Irving into Lake Bemidji. That small stretch of river will hold some walleyes for about a week and then they start dispersing out into the lakes.

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Don’t get worried if you had a tough opener catching walleyes, the bite will only get better as we head toward Memorial Day Weekend.

Remember to practice selective harvesting, by doing so we will continue to have great fishing for years to come.

Dick Beardsley is the owner and operator of Dick Beardsley Fishing Guide Service in Bemidji. He can be reached at (218) 556-7172 and dick@dickbeardsley.com. For more information, visit www.dickbeardsleyfishingguide.com.