The shallow trolling bite in Alexandria has been getting better by the day. Over the past week we've been catching good numbers of 13"-18" walleye, along with some very fat picture fish showing up in the mix.
I'm still having my best luck on rocky stretches with scattered weeds in 7 to 10 FOW. I've been pulling #5 and #7 Lindy Shadlings at 1.4 - 2.2mph. After pulling them for the past few weeks I'm confident the loud rattles are a big reason for my success. I've tried pulling both Rapalas and Shadlings. I took a similar lure from each brand and a friend and I put them to a the test. Over a few hours of trolling the Shadling out fished the Rapala's hands down. We switched baits and rods from time to time through out the night and came up with the same results.
Every year on walleye opener I host a number of family and friends at my house in Alexandria. Most of us start out fishing right in front of my house on Lake Mary, but if fishing is slow we’ll jump to one of the many other great walleye lakes nearby. In the past, opening day has been notorious for being a horrible day weather wise, but typically a pretty decent day for fishing.
We were kicking around the idea of making a Rainy river trip this past weekend, but being the bite really hasn't picked up yet we decided to go to the lake instead. Saturday morning my crew and I headed out of the Graceton beach access for one last ice trip of the year. The ice road was closed to vehicles a half ton or larger, so we used our snowmobiles and wheelers for transportation. The majority of the fishermen were within a few miles of the access, and from what I’ve heard, fishing has been quite spotty.
Erik Osberg of the Reel Report hits a popular Alexandria, MN lake with Joe Scegura during some tough bite conditions. Joe shares some tips on how to consistently ice midwinter panfish on heavily pressured lakes and puts some big bluegills on the ice.
Over the last week and half, fishing has been very consistent and predictable. As you all know this a luxury we rarely get. Even with all the weather changes the bite remains strong. I've been fishing on a few different lakes and they have all been kicking out decent walleye.
The shallow trolling bite in Alexandria has been getting better by the day. Over the past week we've been catching good numbers of 13"-18" walleye, along with some very fat picture fish showing up in the mix.
I'm still having my best luck on rocky stretches with scattered weeds in 7 to 10 FOW. I've been pulling #5 and #7 Lindy Shadlings at 1.4 - 2.2mph. After pulling them for the past few weeks I'm confident the loud rattles are a big reason for my success. I've tried pulling both Rapalas and Shadlings. I took a similar lure from each brand and a friend and I put them to a the test. Over a few hours of trolling the Shadling out fished the Rapala's hands down. We switched baits and rods from time to time through out the night and came up with the same results.
Every year on walleye opener I host a number of family and friends at my house in Alexandria. Most of us start out fishing right in front of my house on Lake Mary, but if fishing is slow we’ll jump to one of the many other great walleye lakes nearby. In the past, opening day has been notorious for being a horrible day weather wise, but typically a pretty decent day for fishing.
