WELCOME TO WALLEYE RETREAT

Aron with 28.25" walleye

Jason with his 26" walleye - released

Brad with 22" walleye

Bob Farrell with 28 1/4" walleye

Dave Arnold with 28 1/2" walleye

Pete with a nice walleye (released)

Rich Starr and 8 lb walleye (released)

Kent with 4 lb walleye (released)

Front: Kent and behind him are Myron, Matt, Rick, Rich & Matt all with their catch of day

Left to right: Deb, Pete & Mark with his 24" walleye

The Gang starting from left: Mona, Deb, Mark, Gary, Bill, Sandy & John

Mona & Gary with morels

Kyle Gruis & his 30 1/2" (12 lbs) walleye - ice fishing 

July 4, 2008: Happy Independence Day!! Keith, Kathy, Katie & Isaac had a super good day of fishing. They anchored and jigged with frozen shiners in 35' of water. They caught 3 slot fish measuring 22 /34", 23" and 24". They came in with 12 very nice walleyes plus their limit of saugers. Yesterday they kept 4 walleyes after fishing the late afternoon. Pete ran a charter taking out Larry along with his mother Debbie and his grandparents, Dave & Bev. They are from Greeley, Colorado. They brought in 15 waqlleyes plus 10 saugers. Dave Schoneck of Greeley, CO caught and released a 26" walleye. Way to go Dave!! Larry caught a 22" walleye he put back. Todd, Pat, Scot & Tanya tried downrigging today with them keeping 7 walleyes. Ted has caught a few walleyes and also a big northern while trolling the bay. Sunny and hot today. The fireworks in town were spectacular this year, as always! Lots of people up town having fun.

July 3, 2008: Pete ran a charter trip today taking out Jim, Doug, Terri & Mike. They had a great day of fishing, bringing in their limits of walleyes all measuring from 15-19" with most fish at the high end, plus they had 5 saugers and one jumbo perch measuring 13 3/8". THey caught most of their fish on frozen shiners and they also caught a few on leeches. Georgeous day today with sunny skies.

July 2, 2008: Kevin ran a charter trip out of the Wigwam Resort today. They kept 12 fish. Krafty went out this morning and said the fish turned on at noon in front of Pine Island and they limited very quickly in 8-12' of water.

June 28, 2008: Very stormy weather today, high gusting winds to 40 MPH and rain all day. Pete did a half day charter taking out some guys from the Wigwam Resort. They wanted to give it a try anyway so they ended up fishing in Four Mile Bay. They caught 10 fish and had one keeper. They came into shore at noon soaking wet. The water level has come way up with the north wind today and some docks were underwater temporarily til the water receded in the evening when the winds died down. No small boats out today. These reports have been posted but my server has been down for days, sorry.

June 27, 2008: Aaron, Jason, Adam & Gary had an awesome time fishing the past week using crawlers. Aaron said they "caught a pile of slot fish" right around 14 of them. They released 23", 24", 25", etc. The group ate 5 meals of fish during the week plus went home with their limits of walleyes. They didn't catch any saugers but had one perch and one pike. Traylen, Kelly, Deb, Brad and Lindsey spent the past week here fishing and visiting Zippel State Park for recreation. They had a wonderful time. Kelly caught a 17" walleye and she also caught a 26" pike and a 27" pike. Way to go Kelly! Traylen did well catching lots of nice keepers. The group ended up with 3 limits to take home and they ate fish while staying here.

June 25, 2008: Aaron, Brad & Jason are having a great time catching lots of fish. They released two slot fish today at 23" and 25" andkept 6 fish with two of them measuring 15" plus a 18" and 19". Yesterday they caught limits for all 3 with all fish measuring 17-19". They released two 24" and a 23". Way to go guys!  Mark & Craig kept 7 walleyes today with the largest measuring 18". Yesterday they fished the Lighthouse Gap but no keepers so they moved in front of Pine Island and ended up keeping 4 walleyes with the largest caught by Mark at 17".

June 23, 3008: Jason, Aaron & Brad are having great fishing with the three of them catching and releasing 7 walleyes in the slot including a 24" and a 26". The first 45 minutes of fishing today they landed 3 slot walleyes. Aaron Brendes of Cedar Rapids, IA caught and kept a 28 3/4" walleye. Way to go Aaron!! The group has already eaten 3 meals of walleye in the past few days. They are using spinner rigs with crawlers and leeches with their keeper walleyes measuring 15-19". Yesterday most fish were 17" to 19". Beautiful and sunny today.

June 22, 2008: Mike, Tim, Gary, Ed and Mike went out for another day of charter fishing. The bite was a bit slower today but still good fishing. They brought in enough walleyes to replace the meal they ate plus they finished getting their limits of saugers for the group. Ed Roth of Brooklyn Center, MN caught and released a 39" northern pike. Good job Ed!! They had an excellent fishing trip. Bill & Deb went out this morning in a small boat saying it was rough and windy and hard to get onto the lake at 6:45 this morning. After the waves calmed down a bit they headed out onto the lake in front of Pine Island. They caught 15 fish and got their limit of walleyes plus Deb Zentner of Baudette, MN caught and released an 8 pound walleye plus about a 7 pound carp! Yes, you read that right, a carp. They were using spinner rigs with crawlers fishing shallow near the island. They were back to the docks by 11am. Matt and Barb went out just for a couple of hours and came in with 4 nice keeper walleyes they caught while pulling shadraps in front of Pine Island. Tracy, Dan & Steve went out and got their limits of walleyes today. Another sunny day here.

June 21, 2008: Pete did a charter today taking out Mike, Art, Tim, Mike, Gary & Ed. They had an excellent day of fishing catching nice quality fish. The first two hours of the day were the best with the group using fatheads while jigging and also drifting with spinner rigs. When the minnows were just about gone they switched to leeches and also did well on those. Pete caught and released a 22" walleye plus a 23" walleye. Mike Hanson caught and released a 23" walleye. They brought in their limit of walleyes for the group plus 5 bonus saugers. Ed made walleye dinner with a special sauce and then he bakes them in the oven. I think his recipe is the best one I have ever tried. Mmmmmm, good, I can still taste it while typing this report! This recipe and the walleye cakes recipe are the top two in my opinion. Pat & Dave fished in a small boat and brought in 2 walleyes. It was very windy today and pretty rough out on the lake for small boats. Jim, Todd & Paul went also went out in a small boat but said it was too rough and they came back into shore. We are having nice sunny days here finally with temp around 78 degrees today.

June 20, 2008: Today we had beautiful weather with light winds and temp around 75 degrees. Water temp is 62 degrees. Paul, Jim, Todd, Dave & Pat boarded the charter boat for a day of fishing. They had an excellent day coming in with their limits of walleyes plus a few saugers. They used fatheads and/or leeches with jigs. Pete caught and released a 24" walleye. They had a super great day! Tim, Linda & Devon spent the past week here and had some good fishing. This morning they caught 5 keepers to add to their "take home fish". Tim caught and released a 22" walleye. Way to go Tim! Tim also had his line broke on a big fish. Linda's largest walleye this week was 17". They only need 2 more fish to complete their limits. Matt's group came in with 6-8 nice walleyes tonight. They have been here for a week and are heading home tomorrow. They had a good time.  

June 19, 2008: Linda, Tim & Devon came in today with 6 keepers including (2) 16", 14" and some 12 inchers. They have been using spinner rigs for most of the week and also tried some jigging. Devon caught a 17" and 18" on a white jig tipped with a fake worm. Matt's group kept 7 more tonight while fishing in front of Pine Island.

June 17, 2008: Matt, Jake, Mitch & Andy did well today bringing in 9 keeper walleyes. They fished in 6-10 ft of water using jigs with leeches. Andy released a 23" and Matt released a 21". Way to go guys!! Hot colors for them were pink, orange and gold. The warmer temps are finally starting here. I think summer may show up after all!

June 14, 2008: Some sunshine today but still not summer here yet. Been pretty tough fishing with the weather conditions we have had the past week here but some are still toughing it out. Lance Jenson of Baldwin, WI caught (3) 25" walleyes today that he released! Way to go Lance!! Sure must have been fun. He also released a 22" walleye. He and Vaughn limited today while anchoring and jigging with frozen shiners in 15' of water at the Morris Gap. Chartreuse was the hot color for them. They kept (4) 18" walleye plus some 15" and 12". Zach and Ron kept 2 walleyes, 1 sauger and 1 perch. They also had a line broke on a big fish and missed more bites.

June 12, 2008: Happy Birthday Sandee Anderson!!

June 11, 2008: Bob, John, Dave, Pete, Aaron, Kevin & Kurt spent a week here and experienced lots of weather changes with rain, high winds and a few sunny days. Overall, they had a good week of fishing despite the weather with the group eating 3 meals of fish and catching the following: Dave Arnold of Winona caught and released a 28 1/2" walleye. Kurt Farrell of Dodge Ctr, MN caught and released a 24" walleye and he also caught a 28 1/4" walleye that he kept. Kevin Farrell of Hinckley, MN caught and released a 38" northern pike. The group also released a 26" walleye and lots of 23" walleyes plus they figure they must have put back at least 16 walleyes over the 19 1/2" slot. They caught lots of eaters plus 4 smallmouth bass. Zach Nelson's group checked in yesterday and had a short time to fish between rain storms. They came in with one walleye, one perch, one northern. Today they caught some nicer sized walleyes with Lance releasing (3) walleyes all measuring at 21" plus he caught and released a 38" northern pike while trolling. Vaughn caught two pike, Ron caught a 19 1/2" walleye and Zach released a 21" walleye. We haven't had much sun here the past week. Pete and Terri found enough morels for a meal last Sunday including 3 yellows. Been cooler temps since then and haven't found anymore.

June 10, 2008: Herb & Chuck went out for another day of charter fishing with Pete. The weather was a little better today with only a few light sprinkles in the morning but pretty chilly temps at 48 degrees this morning. They tried drifting with spinner rigs but didn't produce much of anything, so they anchored and jigged. They did very well catching lots of small fish and about every 3-4th fish was a nice 17-18" keeper. Chuck Hong of Pelican Rapids, MN released a 22" walleye and he also caught and released a 41" northern pike. Way to go Chuck!! The northern was a georgeous fish, very healthy looking and fat and would have been a nice mount but Chuck wanted to let it live. Chuck got his big pike on while Pete was catching a walleye, which got tangled in with Chuck's line but Pete managed to net his 22" walleye, bite the line off and then bite his line off of Chuck's line where it had tangled and then netted the big pike. They said it was all very exciting and the pike put up quite a battle for Chuck. Pete released a 26" walleye, 22" and also a 20". They came in around 1pm to the docks with 10 walleyes, all very nice measuring from 17-19", plus 3 saugers and 3 jumbo perch. 7 year old Jimmy Short is here from Aurora, IL on vacation. He went out fishing with his Dad, Jim on Kevin's charter boat out of the Wigwam Resort today. Jimmy had an exceptionally lucky day today with him catching two 27" walleyes plus a 25" walleye - all released. Hey, way to go Jimmy!! It's gonna be hard for that little boy to beat his day of fishing in the upcoming years. Jim Sr. also caught a nice 24" but Jimmy still has him beat and is chuckling about that.

June 9, 2008: Pete took out Chuck and Herb for a day of fishing even though the skies were dark and cloudy with rain being eminent soon. They pulled some shadraps first but that didn't produce so they switched to jigging. They came in when lightning and thunder started in the area, bringing in 8 keepers with 5 of them being nice eaters and 3 of them were a nice size for taking home. It rained most of the afternoon. The lake level is up good and no problems with traveling in our bay.  

June 7, 2008: Pete ran the charter today again with a group of 6 from Cyrus Resort. They brought in 14 walleyes and 1 perch. The lake was very rough today with big waves and very windy out. Sunny skies though all day and pretty nice here on shore with temp around 75 degrees. Pete said it was a hard day of fishing. Kurt, Kevin, Aaron, Dave, John & Pete and Bob are all fishing today. One of them caught a 28 1/2" walleye today but not sure which one, but will find out. It is pretty windy on the lake today for small boats.

June 6, 2008: Very stormy out this morning with rain, high winds and 6 foot waves on the lake. Our group that booked the charter boat opted to stay on shore and wait til noon to see what the weather would bring. They decided to go fishing and left the dock at 1pm. It rained on them and was cold and windy and also very hard to fish. They brought in 5 walleyes and 2 jumbo perch, plus one northern. Kurt Farrell of Dodge Center, MN caught and released another 23" walleye today. Way to go Kurt - you must have the knack!

June 5, 2008: Dan, Doug, David, Roger, Marty & Ryan were out looking for quality fish today. They kept 5 walleyes and 1 sauger. They caught lots of small fish. Marty caught a nice heavy anchor today which he graciously gave to Pete for his boat. Thanks Marty!! Jim, Tracy, Wendy & Kenny kept 10 walleyes this morning using spinner rigs with crawlers. Pete took Mark and Bruno out on the charter boat today plus Shaffer joined them. They headed up the Rainy River for a tour and tried some fishing but the current was too strong and lots of grass and small debris getting on their lines and very hard to fish. You need a one ounce jig right now. We have had lots of rain the past week. They didn't catch anything. They headed back to the lake and caught many fish but only brought in 4 fish for a meal. They have been catching fish all week and already had some in camp. Aaron, Kevin and Kurt went out for a couple of hours this evening and caught one northern and Kurt Farrell of Dodge Center, MN caught and released a 23" walleye. Way to go Kurt!!

June 4, 2008: Cold and raining this morning. Pete did another half day charter taking out Jerry, Virginia & Bertie. They came in early with one sauger and one nice walleye. They caught lots of little fish they put back. Bruno and Mark went out this morning for a short time. They were pulling shadraps. Bruno Pazzelli of Virginia, MN caught two fish, one walleye at 19 1/2" and he also caught and released a 25" walleye. Way to go Bruno!! He caught both fish on a silver shadrap he has been using for quite some time now and has lots of teeth holes in it, but seems to be his lucky lure. Roger, Dan, Marty, Doug, Dave & Ryan kept 10 walleyes today plus 3 saugers using leeches and minnows. They also released a 20" walleye. Kenny and Wendy caught 2 northern pike weighing 2.5 lbs and 4 lbs. Kenny released a 21" and he kept a 19 1/4" walleye. They missed lots of bites.

June 3, 2008: Happy Birthday Megan Fischbach & Mya Hendrickson!! Cold and windy out today. Quite a bit chillier than it has been. Pete did a half day charter today taking out Jerry, Virginia and Bertie. They had a good day even though the wind was blowing pretty good. They came in with limits of walleyes. Pete caught and released a 22" walleye. They anchored using jigs and minnows and they did try leeches also. Mark & 91 yr old Bruno went out in their boat but stayed out only a short time as it was too cold and windy. Ron and Alexia also tried going out on the lake but they said the waves got them wet and it was too cold so they turned around and came back to shore. Roger, Ryan, Marty, Dan, Doug and David kept 16 walleyes today. Kenny, Wendy, Terri, Chuck, Kevin & Cody went out this afternoon and they kept 4 fish. Their boat is back on the water. Ron and Alexia stayed a week and had excellent fishing and had a really good time again this year. Last Wednesday was their best day. They took home two 18", an 18 1/2", 19 1/2", two 17" and two 16" walleyes plus 2 saugers.

June 2, 2008: Pete took Tim & George Jones out on the charter boat today. They replaced the fish they had eaten the night before plus brought in 2 more saugers and one jumbo perch, so they ended up getting their limit of walleyes and saugers plus ate fish twice during their stay. Pete caught and released a 22" walleye and George caught a 19" walleye using a shadrap. They fished most of the day using frozen minnows, live fatheads, leeches and then tried shadraps in the late afternoon which produced 3 nice walleyes. Minnows caught most of the fish for the day though. Roger's group kept 8 more today. They have been eating fish aplenty. Mark and Bruno kept 4 walleyes today all measuring 16". They released a dozen walleyes measuring 14-15". Kenny, Wendy, Chuck, Terri, 6 yr old Cody and 4 yr old Kevin had a good day of fishing. They kept 9 walleyes. Kevin McGruder is 4 years old and from Stanchfield, MN - he caught a 28 3/4" northern pike on his Superman rod and reel that he is very proud of and the biggest fish he has caught. He also caught a walleye. Their boat got "bad gas" and is at the marina so hopefully they can get back on the lake tomorrow.

June 1, 2008: Tim & George Jones went out with Pete on the charter boat today. The fishing has slowed up some with everyone catching lots of little walleyes around 10 inches. It took them most of the day to get their fish. They kept nice walleyes measuring 15-19 inches. Roger, Marty, Ryan, Dan, Doug and David all kept their limits of walleyes today keeping 16-17" fish. They were using spinners with crawlers and leeches. The largest walleye measured 17 1/2 inches. They said 14 ft of water was the best. They caught lots of little fish also that they put back. Mark & Bruno kept 4 walleyes today with two of them measuring 18" and two of them measuring 17". They were pulling shadraps and said silver and bluedot/silver worked best for them.  

May 31, 2008: Mark and Bruno fished the afternoon and came in last night with 6 keepers including two 18" saugers. Mark said they were catching all small fish and then they got into the keepers in 22 ft of water with that being the only depth they could get them. Kenny & Wendy went out for the late afternoon and kept 5 fish with two measuring 19" and the remainder at 16". Pete has quite a few charter trips coming up this next week. Pete and Terri went mushroom hunting for the late afternoon/evening and found some really nice ones! Terri found the biggest mushroom of the year today plus lots of other nice big ones and some smaller ones. Found enough for 2 meals plus enough big ones to make crab stuffed morels! Morels for supper tonight - yummy, yummy!! The mushrooms are hard to find this year but we lucked out going to Gary and Al's secret spot! Wish you guys were still here cause these are some nice ones!

May 30, 2008: Great fishing today again with everyone catching lots of nice walleyes. Mark, Sandy & John caught and released eight walleyes that measured 18" and a 19" plus they caught one jumbo perch. They said they released lots of 15-16 inchers also. A white jig tipped with a frozen shiner, chartreuse jig tipped with a leech and also gold spinners with red beads worked great. Bill & Gary caught a bunch of 15 and 16 inch walleyes today - all released. Bill Range of Palm Springs, CA caught and released a 24" walleye. Gary Deibert of South Elgin, Illinois caught and released a 22" walleye. Way to go Gary!! Where is Al?? Deb & Mona caught 18 & 19 inch walleyes. Deb was using a gold "stopsign" I borrowed her. She tried a red bead with it and did great and also a green bead worked good too. She really likes the "stopsign" jig. Hey Deb, I want my 10%! Bill's group from Iowa had a super good week of fishing. They caught plenty of fish and had limits of walleyes, 7 saugers, 10 northern pike, one smallmouth bass and 3 jumbo perch. They were using Little Joe's with crawlers. Blaine was here from California and had a good time catching a 36" northern. They fished hard everyday. Was a little cloudy today but still not bad out. We haven't found any more mushrooms lately.

May 29, 2008: Happy Birthday Diana Fischbach and Happy Birthday Eain Johnson!! Merlin, Sherry, Carrie and 4 yr old Jacob fished today having a super good bite. They brought in 12 keepers, all nice fish. Sherry Johnson of Williams caught and released a 20" walleye. Jason, Crystal, Eain & Sara also went out and fished alongside Merlin's group. They limited on walleyes and also caught 3 big northerns and 2 perch. Orange jigs with frozen shiners worked best for them. They had a shore lunch on Pine Island. Jason Draper of Williams, MN caught and released a 24" walleye today. Way to go Jason!! Bill and Gary caught many, many 15 and 16" walleyes, releasing them all. Bill Range of Palm City, California caught and released a 26 1/2" walleye on a hammered gold spinner with a crawler. This is the biggest walleye he has ever caught. He said he hooked the fish in 9 ft of water using 6 pound test and the fish took off running and he had quite a battle with it. Way to go Bill!! Wonder what Al did today?

May 28, 2008: What a beautiful day on the water! Sunny skies all day with light winds and just the perfect walleye chop. We headed across the lake today in the Sportcraft taking Deb, Mona, Sandy, Mark, John, Bill & Gary for a day of sightseeing, touring the islands and having lunch plus a little fishing included. Mark Jurca of Glencoe, IL caught and released a 24" walleye he nabbed on an orange jig tipped with a frozen shiner. Way to go Mark!! We caught some nice eater fish and released some small ones, only keeping walleyes 15" and up. We had a really good time seeing a pair of loons that kept flying around near us. A bald eagle soured overhead and we saw lots and lots of pelicans and cormorants on the water. The scenery was georgeous. We came in with 10 keeper walleyes with gold and chartreuse working best plus spinner rigs were working using crawlers. Sure do wish Al could have been on board! Bob and Hank stopped in last night to let me know they appreciated reading our fishing reports and said they caught fish in the Morris Gap, getting their limits of walleyes using spot tail shiners. Bill's group is doing good getting fish and eating fish. Alexia and Ron arrived today at 12:45 and went out fishing. They caught their limit of walleyes within one hour and came back in to eat fish. They had nice 17 and 18" fish.

May 27, 2008: Very nice day today and fish are still biting. Deb and Mona caught their limts of walleyes today, even with them being more picky about the size they kept. They are only keeping 18-19 inchers that they call "travelers" for taking home. Deb lost a monster fish she battled for awhile but he got away! Oh well, maybe next time! Gary and Bill kept two 18" "travelers" this morning and they also kept 6 jumbo perch measuring 13-15". They said that was a great bonus. John, Mark & Sandy kept 11 walleyes, 3 jumbo perch and 2 saugers today using leeches and also frozen shiners. They had a great day of fishing. Not much for mushrooms around lately - been too chilly I think. Is is warm there Al?

May 26, 2008: Happy Birthday Barb Richardson!! Cold this morning with a temp of 40 degrees and very wet and windy out. 5 foot waves on the lake so not much fishing out there today. Most everyone is staying on shore today. Craig, Donna, Wade, Wanda, Aron, Mandy, Steve, Dan & Cali spent the weekend fishing and had a great weekend. Wade released a 27" walleye and Craig released a 19 3/4" walleye. Way to go guys! 5 yr old Cali caught her first walleye and she had fun! 3 yr old Brendon also fished but he didn't catch any walleyes. The group caught enough fish for 2 meals while here and they took home limits for all the adults. Leeches were working best for them. They released 3-4 fish in the slot also. They had a triple in the boat and got all 3 fish! All in all was a great weekend for everyone.

May 25, 2008: Another beautiful sunny day with a super fantastic bite this morning (early) at the Morris Point Gap. Gary went out alone at 6:15am (sure wish Al was with) and did very well catching lots of fish, but all too little or too big! Steve, Cheri, Kevin & Naomi went out early also and they had super fishing catching lots and lots of nice walleyes. Naomi Hildahl of Osseo caught and released a 26" walleye on an orange and glow jig today. Way to go Naomi!! She also caught a 19 1/2" walleye and so did Cheri. White jigs are working for them and also gold jigs. They said it was slow tonight for them; the fish just shut down. Their group ate fish twice this weekend and are taking home their limits of walleyes. Paul, Luke & Don kept 6 walleyes plus Luke caught and released a 35" pike. Way to go Luke! Davitt, Carrie, Elizabeth and 5 month old Bailey went out fishing. They got some nice walleyes including (2) 18" and a 14". Storms rolled thru here this afternoon with some thunder and lightning and some rain showers. Supposed to rain here tonight again. Pete & Terri went mushroom hunting and found enough for a meal tonight. Boy were they good!!

May 24, 2008: Gary went out this morning and got two keepers. Deb & Mona did well getting 4 keeper walleyes measuring 16,17,18,19 inches. Deb caught a very nice 4 pound smallmouth she released. Gary, Deb & Mona all went mushroom hunting this afternoon and found some real beauties. They had some big ones and cooked them up for dinner. Mark, Sandy & John came in today 2 fish short of their walleye limits. John caught the largest at 2 1/2 pounds. Eain & Jason went out for a few hours and came in with 6 walleyes. They threw back some small fish.

May 23, 2008: Happy Birthday Sam Richardson!! The fish are still biting good. Pete, Terri, Deb, Mona & Gary went out this evening for a couple of hours fishing in 14 ft of water. We anchored and jigged. Chartreuse was the hot color tipped with a frozen shiner. The bite was a little slower than a few days ago, but not really what you could call "slow". Terri released a 22" walleye. The group of 5 brought in 16 keepers plus released lots and lots of small walleyes. Leeches were also working for Gary and Deb. We miss you Al and wish you were with us fishing! Steve fished only a few hours and came in with his limit of nice walleyes. Was a beautiful evening. Lots of boats out there, probably 40 or so in the area we fished. More groups checking in tomorrow.

May 22, 2008: Gary went out fishing this morning and did well catching his limit of walleyes. He is the only one in camp this morning.

May 20, 2008: Happy Birthday Deb Jurca!!!

May 19, 2008: Matt, Terri & Pete fished this afternoon and did excellent, catching our limits of walleyes in 2 hours' time. We anchored in 14ft of water and jigged with frozen shiners. Chartreuse worked best today. Matt also caught a very large sturgeon he let go and 2 northerns, plus 3 perch. Terri caught a jumbo perch that measured 14". We released all perch, pike, etc. and only kept walleyes that all measured from 15" to 19". We also threw back some walleyes that we could of kept but we knew they were walleyes still full of eggs so we put them back in the lake. They are really fat right now. Steve Jordet of Baudettte caught and released a 30", 29" and 26" walleyes and kept his limit of smaller walleyes.

May 18, 2008: Dan and Steve reported that their party of 4 fished this morning and got their limits of walleyes for the group with it taking them only 2 hours. Matt and Rich went out for a few hours this morning and kept 2 walleyes. No wind today and sunny skies, nice out. Dan, Matt and Jake have eaten fish during their stay and are going home with their limits.

May 17, 2008: Dan, Matt & Jake fished the morning getting some fish and then heading back to the cabin around noon as very high winds came up with rain, thunder and even a little hail. Rich, Matt, Myron, Kent & Rick fished the lake for the morning and came in with 9 keepers. They then went to the river and had slow fishing, plus it was raining on them and the wind was blowing hard. Pete, Terri, Barb & Matt went hunting for morels and we found 10 of them. Looks like they are just starting to pop up.

May 16, 2008: Pete ran a charter today taking out Matt, Rich, Rick, Matt, Kent & Myron. They battled some big waves today but the anchor held in 15 ft of water. They used jigs tipped with live rainbows, fatheads or frozen shiners, with the latter doing the best. Black and orange were the hot colors with the group limiting on the walleyes. They had very nice fish with all measuring 15-19 inches. Still lots of females with eggs in them. They also released around a dozen slot fish with  weights from 4 to 8 pounds. Rich Starr caught the largest walleye today. Water temp is 47 to 48 degrees today.  They had a big fish fry for dinner. The guys said the fish are nicer than the past couple of years for this weekend. Matt, Dan & Jake had an excellent morning taking their boat out of Lighthouse Gap and coming back to the cabin by noon with their limits. They had fish for lunch and then took the boat and headed down to Red Lake to try it. They ended up with 7 keepers and released some fish that were too big,  but said it was very tough fishing with big waves and high winds and hard to keep the anchor holding them.

May 12, 2008: Happy Birthday Terri!!  The ice is now off the lake. Could not see any ice as far as you could see out there. Didn't get to fish today as was very windy and rained all day. A couple of groups are checking in this Thursday and Pete is doing a charter on Friday. Will do a report this weekend.

May 11, 2008: Sunny skies today and hardly any wind. Much nicer out today than yesterday. Pete, Terri & Matt went out at 3pm and fished just out of the Morris Point Gap in 5 ft of water. We anchored and were jigging using frozen shiners with orange working best for color. I put my hook down and caught a walleye within less than one minute and was a nice 16". Then Pete caught one and then another and then it was Matt's turn. We really had fun with every fish caught being a keeper in the 15-17" range. We fished just barely over an hour and had our limits of walleye. We didn't catch any saugers. Were around 20 boats out there while we fished and did see the nets going out deeper too so they were catching them out there. Still lots of ice on the big lake but plenty of room for everyone out there today. Still ice going right up to Pine Island but Four Mile Bay and Rainy River are all open. The water level has been coming up daily on the lake and is looking pretty good for depth. We could use another 6 inches or so.

May 10, 2008: Woke up to snow falling this morning and it snowed til around 2pm today then drizzled. Was pretty cold and damp out today. The fish were biting today but not super great. Paul and his group of 6 caught enough for dinner and came in by 11am as they were cold. They went back out for a few hours in the afternoon but the bite had slowed down and was pretty miserable weather for opening day.