• Stay close to home.
• Not congregate when outdoors.
• Follow social distancing guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health.

• Minnesota’s waters: you can fish if you have a license. Normal seasons and fishing regulations apply.
• Public water accesses: state-managed public accesses are open, though the availability of amenities, such as docks, are contingent upon seasonal maintenance.
• State parks: bathrooms, vault toilets and shower buildings currently open will remain open.

• Campgrounds, group camps, and remote campsites at all state parks, state forests, and state recreation areas.
• Camper cabins
• Yurts
• Overnight lodging facilities
• Group centers, trail centers and other ancillary buildings
• Visitor centers
• State park contact stations

• Buy or renew your License online.
• Make or change camping and lodging reservations online or by phone at 866-857-2757.
• Call your local DNR office
• Email the DNR at info.dnr@state.mn.us or phone (888-646-6367) to request information from the DNR Information Center.
• Buy state park permits and purchase daily and annual passes online.
• You may obtain a burning permit online or by calling your local forestry office.

• Immediate release of all smallmouth and largemouth bass greater than 17 inches during the harvest season that begins Saturday, May 23.
• Limit of three largemouth and smallmouth bass.
• Release all northern pike greater than 30 inches.
• Limit of three northern pike from Saturday, May 9, through Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

• Walleye and sauger limit has decreased from 6 to 4.
• Crappie, sunfish, and yellow perch limit has decreased from 25 to 15 each.
• White and yellow bass limit has decreased from 25 to 10.

• Where do they go? Corners. They relate to the same structure on the lake (inside turns).
• Now add a rock, where do they go, into the crevices.

• Early season walleyes are concentrated when they are spawning. These walleyes can be unbelievably shallow. Find these locations for some lights out action.
• Walleyes are broadcast spawners. They need shallow rocky gravel and a current or turbulence to spawn successfully. They can’t risk having silt cover up their eggs or they will suffocate.
• Optimal spawning temperature range is 44°F to 48°F.
• The females will move out after spawning. The males actually arrive before the females and will hang out until all of the females have completed the spawning run. Additionally the males may stay in these shallows for up to a month feeding on shallow water baitfish.
• Walleyes are intelligent and are hard to catch due to not being aggressive like a bass. Bass have a large strike range up to 10 feet, whereas walleyes like to ambush and strike at close range.
• Walleyes prefer 65°F to 70°F water.
• Walleye stocking operations that raise fish in shallow weedy ponds create an unnatural walleye instinct that orients them to the weeds once they are stocked in our lakes.

• Try fishing the weeds on of calm water days. It's our natural instinct to fish deep but try changing it up. Weeds provide excellent cover, oxygen and bait fish, you need to target fish in the weeds.
• When fishing the weeds, look for and target a changes in the weed line. If you find a patch of coontail in a cabbage bed, you have found something different. Pay keen attention to the cover and key in on fishing the areas of change.
• If they are not on the outside of the weeds try the inside.
• Fish over the top of the weeds with weight less spinners. Requires a little space, you need three to four feet of water.
• Look for early season walleyes up against the shorelines. Pitching jigs up against the rocks is a proven technique. You will be more successful with a little wind for cover. Keep your distance on calm days and try floating a bobber in to get close.
• Target shorelines that drop into rocky bottoms and have current or turbulence. These are the best shoreline spots on the lake.
• Everywhere the water changes direction there is an eddy and a walleye.
• Again, look for change, a pile of rock on rip rap is something different.
• Walleyes will spook from shallow gavel but will hold tight in the weeds.
• Don’t fish the long straightaways, look for the curve, corners and turns.

• Try anchoring and use a bobber or slow jig presentation.
• Try the opposite and speed things up. A fast rip jigging action may be the trigger.

• This rod features Sea Guide Alien Reel Seats that have blank exposed design and match the exact diameter of the rod to improve sensitivity.
• These longer 7-foot rods; are tuned in to work the fish and cast further.
• The extreme sensitivity of these rods are very important when jig fishing.

• Ted ties jigs straight to the braid but sometimes walleyes are line shy. He adds a short mono leader, 18 inches, tied to a tiny #14 barrel swivel in these situations.

• First of all, don’t fish where there are no fish.
• Your jig must be heavy enough to maintain contact with the bottom! Ted would rather we use too heavy a jig then not be on the bottom.
• Move or change until you find the formula. No more than 15 -20 minute on a spot.
• They say plastic is almost as good as live bait for a reason. Ted uses live bait over plastic unless the hot bite is on.
• Sharpen your hooks! Ted uses a Luhr Jensen 6 inch sharpener. Use long strokes to sharpen the point at the tip and sharp on the back.
• Open your jig hook point 5 degrees for better hook sets. It makes hooking the bait and fish removal easier as well. Loves long shank jigs.
• When you find walleyes in tight spots use spot specific presentations such as Lindy Rigs and Jigs.
• Who likes spot lock the most? Your fishing friend who used to throw out the anchor, lol Ted was very funny!
• You cannot catch fish where there are no fish. We need to be where the fish are. What concentrates the fish, food. What concentrates the food? Structure with Cover.
• Structure is the bottom of the lake. Anything that lays on the bottom or grows on top of it, is called cover. Weeds or rocks on the top of a point, are what makes structure hold fish.

• No fishing for you.
• Bring a lot of food, snacks and drinks.
• Let them play with the bait.
• Get excited on their first fish, take a picture make sure you have them hold that fish out. Blow that picture up on 8 x 10 and brag it up.