May 10, 2026 "A Blustery 2026 Minnesota Walleye Fishing Opener"

On the heels of last week’s Birthday Extravaganza, the Sundin-Jones families, or most of us, were in the mood for a more subdued version of the walleye fishing opener. So, instead of planning a full weekend in Grand Rapids, we decided to meet the kids halfway, in Bemidji. I’d never fished at Lake Bemidji on opening day, but it seemed like a good idea. We know that it has a lot of fish in it, and I was hopeful that we could cover enough territory to locate some of them.

On the morning opening, the bright blue sky gave me some optimism. But as the northwest breeze kicked up, and the air temperature stayed cold, comfort became a priority. So, the scheduled meeting time was set for high noon, where we’d get together at Northwoods Bait and Tackle. To avoid the heaviest waves, we’d use the boat at the ramp in the northwest corner of the lake, in calm water. With luck, we’d have a good minnow supply, a smooth launch and a semi-warm start to our fishing trip

Most of that part of the plan worked out, except that the bait shop had already sold out of shiners, and the remaining stock of “premium minnows” consisted of mostly small emerald shiners and rainbows. They had fatheads, sucker minnows and crappie bait, along with a large selection every conceivable artificial lure and soft plastic baits. For me, the fatheads they were selling were plenty good, they had good color, and were nice sized, some even bordered on large. I felt fine with the lures and minnows we had selected.

At the boat ramp, early morning crowds had already thinned out, and we were able to launch and park without delay. The ramps were in good condition, and the water level was good, plenty deep enough for most any size boat. In short order, were on the lake, all systems fired up and ready to go!

On the lake, water temperatures were colder than I expected. My two graphs were arguing about how cold it was, 1 reading 42.5 degrees and the 2nd reading 43.5 degrees. I guess we can split the difference because I ran into a friend at the dock who told me he’d found only 1 spot where the temperature exceeded 43 degrees.

At the same time, he reported that he and his son had picked up “a few” walleyes on a shallow, 7- to 8-foot-deep shoreline related bar. That report was like what we heard from most everyone at that ramp. Most folks reported catching a fish or two, but nobody reported large catches. For us, 1 keeper perch, and 1 25 inch protect northern pike provided the only highlights. Both fish caught on the same bar, on the same lures, where others had caught their walleyes before we arrived.

The wind was cold, and unless I was willing to drag everyone over to "the windy shoreline", wouldn't have been very creative anyway. So, I moved to the north shore where sunshine and calm water improved our comfort level. Unfortunately, those conditions did not improve our catch rate. I knew the trip was near its conclusion when my daughter said, “I’d rather catch nothing here, in comfort, than to catch something over there, in the cold wind and waves.” So, after a few hours of fishing, we decided to load out and wait for a better day to schedule a re-match. Nobody was disappointed in cutting the trip short, especially our son-in-law Austin Jones.

Remember at the opening of this report, when I wrote, “The Sundin-Jones families, or MOST OF US, were in the mood for a more subdued version of the walleye fishing opener?” Well, not sure that he’d be satisfied with our casual version of the fishing opener, Austin had already bagged his limit of walleyes before driving east to join us. He had gotten up at 4:00 AM and started his season on one of the Lakes somewhere in the Crookston area.

From ½ hour before, to about ½ hour after sunrise, he enjoyed a nice run, of what appeared to be post spawn, male walleyes. The water temperature where he was fishing was 49 degrees. His bait of choice was a black Lindy Live Bait Jig tipped with Berkley Fishing Tackle’s Powerbait “Pro Twitchtail Minnow”. That same rig, I think, is what he caught the Lake Bemidji northern pike on as well. At the time of this writing, around 7:00 AM, he was on the same lake again and reported similar fishing action as he enjoyed yesterday.

Large lakes typically lead the way on the fishing opener and yesterday was no exception. Reports from friends and family around the state were similar. Most folks who braved the cold on Saturday were rewarded with decent catches. Lake Vermilion produced limits for my friend Greg Clusiau. Reports varied, but anglers on Leech Lake, Upper Red Lake, Mille Lacs and Lake Winnibigoshish all returned to their respective docks with at least enough fish to provide protein at dinnertime.

Today, Mother’s Day gets a higher priority ranking than fishing, so I’m not sure if we’ll hit the lake or not. I’m happily planning on doing whatever the lovely and gracious “Hippie Chick” is in the mood for. I hope you and the mothers in your life find time to do something fun together too. Happy Mother’s Day one and all! — Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Call-Text 218-245-9858 • Email • Facebook • X • Subscribe Insider Newsletter

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Rainy River L.O.W. Fishing Report May 6, 2026

The Minnesota Fishing Opener for walleyes on Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River is this Saturday, May 9, 2026. Anglers are super optimistic with a very strong population of walleyes and saugers combined with what we saw ice fishing and what we saw this spring in the Rainy River. All indicators point toward an outstanding opener with healthy numbers of fish and excellent fishing conditions.

On the big lake, areas of open water are expanding as the ice out is in process. Open water is abundant on Big Traverse Bay with some lingering ice through mid-week. Will the ice be totally gone for the opener? It is hard to tell, but there is already a ton of open water as far as the eye can see in many areas. When this happens and we get some wave action, it clears out quickly. By the fishing opener, anglers will have plenty of fishable water across the entire lake system.

What anglers should expect is that many walleyes will be located near shore this weekend. The late spring means that most walleyes will not have pushed deep yet and they'll be accessible in shallow, near-shore areas across the entire lake system. Across the south shore: A combination of near-shore structure and open basins with bait will be holding fish. Look for rock piles, sand-to-gravel transitions, and areas where you can see baitfish activity.

A jig and minnow or frozen emerald shiner will be the go-to presentation. This classic spring approach has been deadly all season and will continue to produce during opener weekend.

Up at the Northwest Angle, shoreline points and necked-down areas will be key spots. These natural funnels and transition zones concentrate fish and create perfect ambush points.

The Rainy River still has a strong population of walleyes. The river and Four Mile Bay will be hot spots with the late spring. Fish that would normally have moved through the system are still staged and feeding in these prime areas.

Techniques for fishng opener success will include vertical jigging with live, or frozen bait. Anchor or spot-lock your boat over structure and work your jigs vertically and slowly. This allows precise presentation and keeps your bait in the strike zone longer.

Fan casting shorelines will be an option too. Anglers can cover more water by casting jigs toward shallow, shoreline structure and working them back to the boat. This locates active fish and triggers strikes from aggressive walleyes.

Slip jigging on the river, is popuar too. Troll slowly upstream dragging a jig at 45 degrees against the current, then drift back downstream. This river technique covers water and finds fish efficiently. Another popular presentation on the river is trolling crankbaits. A three-way rig with a 2 to 3 ounce dropper and 6 foot leader to a shallow diving crankbait works well on the river and in Four Mile Bay.

There are year around opportunities for catching northern pike because the season for them does not close. This week, big pike remain active in shallow bays and near-shore structure. Anglers are allow to possess 3 fish, with one of them over 40 inches allowed in posession. All pike in the 30 to 40 inch size range must be released immediately.

"Historic News: New Minnesota DNR Catch and Release State Record Sturgeon!

A new MN DNR catch and release state record sturgeon of 80 inches was caught April 18, 2026 by Travis Keating and has been officially confirmed. Congratulations to Travis on an incredible fish and a piece of Lake of the Woods history!

Anyone who follows Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River knew there were state record fish caught in the past and not registered. This monster of a fish is a great representation of the healthy, growing sturgeon population on Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River. This confirmation validates what anglers have known for years—Lake of the Woods holds true giants, and the sturgeon fishery here is world-class. The catch-and-release ethic combined with careful management has created a trophy fishery that continues to thrive.

Sturgeon Season Update. The sturgeon harvest season runs through Thursday May 7, 2026 giving anglers a little more time to pursue a legal harvest fish. After that, the season shifts to catch-and-release from May 8 thru 15, before closing to all sturgeon fishing from May 16 through June 30, 2026.

Lake Sturgeon Season Summary:

• Harvest season: April 24 - May 7, 2026 (1 per calendar year; fish must be 45"-50" inclusive or over 75"; must be immediately tagged/endorsed and registered within 48 hours)
• Catch and release: May 8 - 15, 2026
• Closed: May 16 - June 30, 2026
• Harvest season: July 1 - September 30, 2026
  

Fishing guides from Rainy River and Lake of the Woods resorts are available for opener trips. Everything is provided—boat, tackle, bait, and the local knowledge that puts you on fish. Guides know where fish are staging and which techniques are working. Book now because prime guide dates fill quickly, especially as the fishing opener approaches.

Check your tackle, stock up on jigs and minnows, make sure your boat is ready, and get your 2026 Minnesota fishing license if you haven't already. Opener is Saturday!" — Lake of the Woods Tourism, (800) 382-FISH

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News Release May 5, 2026 "Minnesota DNR certifies fish of a lifetime lake sturgeon as new catch-and-release state record"

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has certified a new catch-and-release state record lake sturgeon, an 80-inch fish caught by Travis Keating April 18 on the Rainy River in Lake of the Woods County.

Keating called the sturgeon “the biggest fish of my life.” He caught the fish on an annual lake sturgeon fishing trip with a group of close friends.

Sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River has become incredibly popular during the spring in Minnesota, with many anglers getting the chance to land large sturgeon. Sturgeon grow slowly and can live to be more than 150 years old.

On April 18, a bitter cold front had moved in overnight, bringing 40-plus mph wind gusts and wind chills hovering around 5 below zero. Fishing was a grind. Anchored in Four Mile Bay for nearly eight hours, the crew battled relentless wind and cold, managing seven smaller sturgeon.

By evening, instead of calling it a day, Keating decided to move toward the mouth of the river, convinced the changing conditions might trigger a late bite. After an hour of pounding through waves, it finally happened. The fishing rod doubled over, nearly touching the water. Keating described what followed as “over an hour of pure chaos.”

When the fish finally surfaced, a friend managed to hoist the massive sturgeon over the boat rail and into the boat.

“Getting the fish finally in the boat was such a surreal moment that I just couldn’t wrap my head around it,” Keating said. “Now looking back, still can’t believe I was the one to catch the fish and can’t wait to get back and try to top it!”

The fish measured 80 inches long with a 38-inch girth. While it is not recommended to weigh fish for catch-and-release records, using a chart of lake sturgeon length-girth-weight estimates would put the fish around 165 pounds. That chart is available on the DNR website (PDF).

Sturgeon Recovery Success

Catching an 80-inch sturgeon on the Rainy River is also testament to the long-term recovery of sturgeon in the Lake of the Woods-Rainy River system.

Intense commercial exploitation during the late 1800s and early 1900s decimated the once abundant sturgeon population in Lake of the Woods and Rainy River. After the decline of the commercial fishery, the sturgeon population was unable to rebound due to water pollution and degraded habitat in the Rainy River, the primary spawning area and nursery habitat for young sturgeon. But because sturgeon are extremely long-lived, enough individuals managed to survive and reproduction was sufficient to maintain a small population.

With the passage of clean water legislation in the late 1960s and early 1970s, especially the Clean Water Act of 1972, the sturgeon population started to recover as water quality and habitat conditions improved. Now reproduction is successful in most years.

Population estimates of the number of sturgeon longer than 40 inches in the Lake of the Woods-Rainy River system were made in 1990, 2004 and again in 2014. The sturgeon population grew from about 16,000 in 1990, to about 60,000 in 2004 and about 92,000 in 2014. Though a population estimate has not been conducted since 2014, ongoing lake sturgeon monitoring in the Rainy River and Lake of the Woods continues to document the success of lake sturgeon recovery.

At 80 inches, the state record fish shows that very large and old individuals occur in the population. With slow growing fish that spawn at irregular intervals, this is one indicator that the population is recovering from historic over-exploitation and water quality impacts.

Current records and guidelines for each type of state record are available here at the >> Minnesota DNR State Record Fish Webpage."

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May 4, 2026 "Sundin Birthday Extravaganza Crappies at Play"

The last thing in our minds when we planned the 1st annual “Birthday Extravaganza” was fishing. I hate to say it, but when you’re looking for lodging to accommodate 17 people, all else is set aside except for beds, bathrooms and kitchen space. So, I was pleasantly surprised when the place we found, on a small, Park Rapids area lake, wound up having a bunch of small, but willing crappies.

When I first read the most recent fisheries survey from the lake, it revealed that DNR traps captured hundreds of crappies in the 7-to-9-inch range, along with a handful of 10–11-inch fish.

I know, that doesn’t sound impressive, but if you’re tasked with entertaining 8 kids, 5 grandkids, an uncle, aunt and 2 grandparents, those little crappies, if they cooperate, could come in handy. For me, luckily, they did cooperate and I’ll let the pictures do the talking about what that meant to our family.

The report, informal as it is, may help you locate some panfish this week if you’re at the lake, preparing for a walleye outing next weekend.

Water temperatures varied this weekend, the lowest readings were 47 to 48 degrees on Friday evening, through Saturday afternoon. Throughout that time, almost all of the fish I located were suspended 5 to 10 feet below the surface, over water depths of 20 to 24 feet. They were adjacent to deeper, 30 plus feet depths, but not over the deeper holes.

By Sunday afternoon, sunshine had warmed the surface water and early evening readings reached 53 to 54 degrees. There was never any evidence of pre-spawning movements into shallow water. However, on Sunday evening around 7:00 PM, crappies disappeared from deep water and moved onto the shoreline for a feeding run. Schools of fish filtered through the area in water depths of 7 to 12 feet.

For a half hour or so, we caught lots of fish, but as the feeding intensity increased, the average size of fish declined. Earlier, the action was slower, but we were able to gather some larger fish.

Presentation included a variety of plastic tails, added to pink/glow, 1/8-ounce Lindy Live Bait jigs. My favorite plastics this weekend were the Berkely Power Nymphs. We also caught fish on Gulp Alive minnows, Strike King Mr. Crappie tails, and 2-inch twirl tails. We used clip-on floats to suspend our jigs about 5 to 6 feet below the water surface. Even the fish located in deeper water were willing to move up and strike the suspended offerings.

Spending time comparing notes with my brother “Uncle Gary” about our youth, we agreed that fishing trips like this one are probably what accounts for our interest in fishing. I doubt the fish we caught on our family vacations were much larger than the ones we caught this weekend. Among other things, like spending time with our grandparents, fishing was only part of the experience.

This morning, we’re all hustling around to get loaded up for home before checkout time. Later, I’ll share some more photos and offer a more thorough explanation of how the Birthday Extravaganza came about, stay tuned! — Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Call-Text 218-245-9858 • Email • Facebook • X • Subscribe Insider Newsletter

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Lake Winnie Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Season Outlook May 1, 2026

"Walleye populations, always a key topic of concern for Winnie/Cutfoot anglers are holding up well. Most of the still dominant 2019 class of walleyes have now grown into the 18-to-23-inch protected slot. That means it should be a great summer for catch, photo and release walleye fishing! That said, anglers will likely notice a decline in the number of “keeper” size, 14-to-17-inch fish from the 2019-year class.

MN DNR Fisheries testing during 2025 revealed that there appears to be a “decent” year class of fish born in 2023. Earlier this year, in presentations offered at public meetings, there was a common belief that previous test net results from both cut foot and Lake Winnibigoshish showed a 2023-year class that is above average, but not massive.

Confirmed again, just this week by fisheries staff conducting the Cutfoot Sioux, Walleye Egg Take operation, good numbers of smaller, 12-to-13-inch size walleyes did show up in the traps. For the most part, these small fish were sexually immature, and not ready to spawn. So, these 2023 fish are not likely to be prime targets for angling this summer. They will grow though, and by next spring, will begin providing both spawning stock for the lakes, and eating fish sized for anglers to harvest.

In a conversation Dan Schermerhorn, large lake specialist, testing results from the summer and fall of 2025 revealed walleyes from 12 separate ..." Read Full Story >> Bowen Lodge Lake Winnie Fishing Report

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May 1, 2026 "Avoid Embarrassing, and Costly Fishing and Boating Violations"

"Yesterday morning, when I opened the garage door to begin getting my boat ready for fishing this weekend, I noticed the 2025 registration decals on the starboard bow. Oops, that would have been a bad, and potentially expensive discovery to make at the boat landing this Friday. Luckily, I had already renewed the registration and obtained the new decals last winter. This morning, the pictured decals, good until 2028 are in their proper places on my Alaskan.

The incident did serve as a reminder of how easily overlooked some of the seemingly minute details can be. It reminded me too about why, last spring, I offered an article about ho to avoid making mistakes like this, and other simple, but potentially problematic slip ups.

Every year, I’m amazed by the number of encounters I have with folks who commit innocent, but potentially expensive, fishing violations. Admittedly, many of the violations are not “crimes of the century”, but if they’re serious enough to warrant a citation, then they’re serious enough for us to talk about here.

With assistance of Minnesota DNR Enforcement, Lieutenant Colonel, Robert Gorecki, and Communications coordinator, Joe Albert, I put together a list of the more common offenses anglers make every year. To get assessments from varying geographic regions, Albert consulted with conservation offers (CO-s) from across Minnesota.

Today, the list I’m presenting does not cover every conceivable fishing violation, for that, you NEED to read the MN Fishing Regulations Book. But it does offer guidance that can help you avoid the most common violations that CO-s encounter in their daily work. Knowing and following these guidelines will help keep you out of embarrassing and potentially expensive jams with your local game warden." Read the full article here >> Avoid Embarrassing, and Costly Fishing and Boating Violations During the Early Fishing Season

While you're boning up on fishing regulations, I'll be taking my boat trailer in for a checkup. Tailer bearings, brake cleaning and overall inspection of the running lights and so on. Tomorrow, I'll offer sone additional guidance about last minute service checks that can help keep your rig running smooth for the fishing opener. — Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Call-Text 218-245-9858 • Email • Facebook • X • Subscribe Insider Newsletter

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You Are Invited To Become A Duly Deputized Fishrapper Cub Reporter Too!

If you've been waiting for a gold engraved invitation to participate in the daily reports, then stop waiting and consider this your own personal invitation.

Helping your fellow fishermen and women stay abreast of fishing conditions in your area is good for everybody and it's easier than you think! You don't have to write a book, you don't have to share your secret fishing spots and you don't even have to mention your lake. You see, with just a few words about general trends, seasonal patterns or local weather conditions you can help steer your fellow anglers to more gratifying fishing experiences. So, be like Dan and Sean, and become a duly deputized "Cub Reporter", it's good for fishing and that's good for everybody!

Use the Contact Us page, or if you prefer to be "social", use our community page on facebook Fishing Reports Minnesota, that is the Facebook counterpart to this page and it is open to the public, so you can post your own fishing update or just share a photo of a nice catch.

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