Walleye Opener 2011 at Leech Lake

Another grey, overcast day with a temperature of 36 degrees at 9:30 a.m. and winds varying from 10-20 mph, with gusts even stronger. A cold walleye opener in Minnesota.

There have been anywhere from 4 to a dozen boats in front of our house battling choppy water and a stinging mist being blown by the stiff winds The boats we've seen that have caught fish have pulled in nothing more than a couple of small perch. It doesn't appear to be a strong opener; at least not near Second Duck Point on Sucker Bay.

Tim, Jackson and I hung around the house for most of the morning and afternoon, and at 3:00 p.m. we went over to John Newman's cabin for an early BBQ dinner of brined, beer-can chicken and "danger dogs, street style."

After our dinner fare, Tim and Jackson helped me get the canopy on the boat lift; not an easy task with the wind still blowing at a good 10-15 mph clip out of the north. But with some muscle and determination, we got the canopy on the lift. We then loaded the boat with tackle, supplies, the landing net, drift sock and other necessities for walleye fishing, and at just after 7:00 p.m. local time hit the water in my Lund Pro V 1800 for the first time this fishing season.

With nearly 20 boats crammed between our house and Second Duck Point, I made the decision that we would begin fishing in 12 feet of water north of our place, up near the Birches. The 150 hp Mercury Verado got us to our destination quickly, where we deployed the drift sock, tipped our Northland Tackle , eyeball jigs with shiners and began fishing.

Very soon after dropping my line in the water I felt that familar "weight" on the end of my line and went to set the hook. For just a split second I felt the weight of the fish on the line, but then the line snapped. It must have been a northern pike because it bit right through my 8-lb Berkeley Fireline Crystal. Although it is possible it could have been a walleye.

We made several drifts from the Birches to Malay's cabin and Jackson and I caught a few perch each, but unfortunately Tim was skunked. Jackson had the nicest fish of the outing, catching a jumbo perch that measured just a hair over 12 inches. A truly big perch; which we put in the live well.

The water temperature was 52 degrees, surprisingly warm since ice-out was May 1, the wind was still 10-15 mph out of the north, making for some nice swells on the lake, and the moon was 90 waxing (full moon on May 17).

We came in around 8:45 p.m., which is the time the sun officially set at our location, unloaded a few things from the boat, then got a campfire going at the cabin fire pit. About 9:30 p.m. John stopped by to join our conversation, and we stayed outside near the fire until almost midnight.

We all had a great walleye opener at Leech Lake, even though none of us boated a walleye. Well, there's always tomorrow.