Fishing Report April 2026

April 23, 2026

     Bungey Bay, on Woman Lake, is now ice free, as are most other bays at this time.  The ice remaining on the main lake basin could be gone soon, with a little help from the wind and rain.  The ice should go out this spring about the average date it usually does, in my estimation, even though the ice went out almost two weeks early down in the Twin Cities.  It was nice to experience a "real" winter with good solid ice this year, but now I am anxious for it to be gone.  Time to get your boats ready to launch and rig up your crappie rods.  When the surface water temps in shallow water bays, backwaters, channels, and harbors begin to exceed 50 degrees, the algae and zoo plankton starts to comes alive and the bite is on.  Remember to get your new 2026 MN fishing license, if you have not already remembered to do so.

April 15, 2026

     It won't be long now before the ice goes out on Woman Lake for the 2026 open water fishing season.  The DNR Walleye Trap operation, where they trap the spawning walleyes, and then strip and fertilize the eggs, should be starting up this week.  The walleye run will begin even when there is still ice on the lake.  If you have never witnessed this operation, it is worth your time to go observe some morning.  The DNR team usually starts first thing in the morning and ends by 10-11 AM, whenever they have completed sorting, measuring, and stripping all the walleyes they trapped the previous evening.  When the walleye spawn run is active (dictated by water temperatures and daily sunlight) they will process 200-300+ walleyes per day, capturing millions of new walleye eggs, as well as numerous other fish species, which all go immediately back into the river.  The operation typically lasts from 8-12 days depending upon lake and weather conditions.  The traps are set up on the Boy River (off Cty Rd 5 just east of the bridge) before the river empties into Bungey Bay.  There is a grass parking area for visitors and you can walk a couple hundred feet, or so, over to the docks set up on the river.  Go check it out, it is a fascinating operation, and you will see plenty of big walleyes.  I have photos posted of this operation from years past in the Catch Photos section of this website.