Fishing Report April 2020
April 30, 2020
As I expected, the shallow water crappie bite has begun in the Woman Lake area. We fished the shallows of a black-bottom bay on a mid-sized lake and found some very nice 11-13 inch crappies in 53-54 degree water. We also found some fat pre-spawn largemouth bass also eager to smack a crappie minnow (all bass released of course). The weather will ultimately determine how long this bite will last, but typically it remains for at least a couple weeks, and the schedule will vary on each individual lake based upon water temperatures. Look for mid-50 degree water in small mud bottom bays, channels, and harbors, and then bobber fish a crappie minnow 2-3 feet beneath your cork. There is nothing much better than batter fried crappies for dinner. Go get 'um, the bite is on. The MN Walleye Opener is only a week away, so you have lots of fishing options to explore. Remember to practice social distancing, and please be safe on the water.
April 29, 2020
The ice went out fully on Woman Lake early morning on Saturday, April 25th, which I believe is within a day or so of the historical median ice out date. The weather has been mostly warm and sunny since then, so I am hoping the small black-bottom bays, channels, and harbors have begun to warm up enough for the crappie bite to begin. We will be out fishing tomorrow and checking water temperatures, and I will report what we find.
April 17, 2020
Correction: After more first-hand reports, the ice on Woman Lake is only just beginning to recede from the shoreline in a few places, and there is still plenty of ice in the bays and on the main basin. It will likely be more than a week before we have much open water, depending upon the weather. We do have a nice stretch of warmer, sunny days coming next week, so maybe some of the channels, harbors, and black-bottom bays will open up for crappie fishing.
April 14, 2020
The ice has receded from most shorelines on Woman Lake, but the main lake is still ice covered for now. I would guess that the lake will be ice free, or near ice free within the week. The Annual DNR Walleye egg stripping operation on Woman Lake (Boy River) has been cancelled for 2020, along with the other 13 sites across the state, due to the required social distancing guidelines. Woman Lake has a solid natural walleye recruitment (walleye spawning and hatch), so this will have no impact on the walleye population in the lake. I anticipate another strong walleye bite on Woman Lake for 2020, especially in the first half of the spring/summer, and then again in the September/October timeframe.
The Minnesota Walleye Opener will be held as scheduled on Saturday, May 9th, and ObeWan Guide Services will begin walleye fishing on that date. We also hope to get in some early season crappie fishing, since it looks like the ice will go out a little earlier than normal. We love frying up those chunky crappie filets. Come on up and get in on the fishing action, you won't be disappointed.