Fishing And Boating Surge As Summer Begins In Minnesota

Memorial Day weekend signals the unofficial start to summer in Minnesota.  Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON.  He says Memorial Day weekend has become a busier weekend for lake activity compared to the fishing opener in recent years.

Could be a Busy Weekend

Schmitt says he expects more people to experience fishing for the first time this season, go camping for the first time and do some recreational boating for the first time this season this weekend.  He suggests patience for everyone sharing the lakes as there will plenty of recreational boaters as the weather improves on Sunday and Monday.

Walleye Bite

Walleye fishing in Central Minnesota has been pretty good according to Schmitt.  He grades it out as an A- or B+.  Schmitt says water temperatures locally are in the low 60s.  He suggests looking for walleye in shallow water in 4-12 feet and believes minnows, leeches and nightcrawlers are all in play.  The best lakes to find walleyes in Central Minnesota include Koronis, Rice, Horseshoe Chain of Lakes, Clearwater, Sauk Lake and Osakis.  Schmitt says he's had success catching a variety of sizes of walleyes locally.

Northern Minnesota

Northern Minnesota has experienced cold temperatures this past week with temps dropping below freezing overnight every night this past week.  Schmitt believes north of Brainerd will see the biggest impact with warmer temperatures coming over the coming weeks.  He expects fishing to improve greatly when that happens.

Turkey Hunt

The spring turkey hunt continues.  Schmitt says as of Tuesday 13,547 turkeys have been harvested.  15,400 turkeys were harvested last year.  He says we're down about 12% compared to last year.  Schmitt says this year's harvest should be in the top 3 ever in Minnesota.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Glen Schmitt, click below.