Easter sunday report

[Rob Manthei]

Ice remains on most of the lakes in the area...Lost Lake is the only one that I know of that is out....As we see sun today and tomorrow, the ice will get eaten up quickly.....rain Tuesday and Wednesday will help too....

Most lakes will be open by next weekend, and the largest lakes will be open by opener for sure....no question.

Water levels look to be up from last year at this time, which is a good thing.

My opening day prediction is very good....walleyes will be shallow, and I'm sure on some of the largest lakes, we will see males still milking....I would image a lot of the spawning activity will take place in the next week, even if there is some ice still lingering on the surface.

Walleyes should be aggressive on the bite, with jig and minnows most likely being the best bet. Crankbaits and Jig/Gulp! presentations will also be very good with the aggressive nature that males have during this time.

I would look for gravel/sand areas near spawning grounds, downed timber along shorelines, and even some carry over weeds from last season. Don't spend a lot of time on each spot, waiting out the bite...these fish will be active and hungry, you should know in 5 to 10 minutes if there are fish on the spot that you are fishing....

I will post again about progress of the lakes in the area 3 to 4 days prior to opener...

[Rob Manthei]

After yesterdays wind, a lot of lakes opened up....Big St., Big Arb, Little Arb, Found, Pickeral, Sand, Dam...etc..the largest lakes are going to hang on until the very end....

Lots of rain....which is good...

[Mark Benson]

Rob:

To up date your lakes, I was able to eyeball open water on Fence and Tomahawk this past Saturday. I have not heard anything about Trout, but got to believe that it is open. That means only North Twin or Presque Isle would be the only two left and I am betting that they are open as well.

Mark