By Steve Weisman
The 42nd annual Walleye Opener held on May 4-5 on the Iowa Great Lakes was the second largest turnout ever with anglers from 18 different states participating in the annual contest. Blain Andrea, president of the Iowa Great Lakes Chamber of Commerce, discussed the success of the weekend. “With almost 2,200 anglers vying for one of the 10 tagged walleyes with $42,000, we couldn’t be more pleased with the turnout for the 42nd Annual Iowa Great Lakes Walleye Weekend.”
Andrea continued, “The event is great for the entire Iowa Great Lakes, and what a boost to the local economy! The IGLA Chamber appreciates the partners that make Walleye Weekend possible: the Iowa DNR, all the sponsors, the area bait shops and weigh stations, and of course all the anglers that participate!
In one capacity or another, this was also my own 42nd Walleye Opener. Lots have happened over those years, and the group continues to diminish as friends have aged and passed away. At one time, it was quite a crew with up to 10 friends staying in the one cabin, and we often used three boats. This year we were down to four total with two other friends coming over for meals. Still, the comradery, banter and jokes continued as always.
We don’t fish out of boats at night, so for the last three years, we haven’t done very well for walleyes. I did catch one nice 19.25” walleye on Saturday morning trolling a shiner in about 14 feet of water. We also caught two decent perch (up to 11”) on shiners, something I don’t remember ever doing. That was it for walleyes.
We did find some decent crappies up to 10” on Saturday afternoon in about 12 feet of water off Jackson Point. Unfortunately, so did another 20 boats or so. It didn’t take long before that bite was over.
For those who fished at night, the walleye fishing excellent for lots of keeper fish up to 19 inches, slot fish to 25 inches and a good number of walleyes over 25 inches.
How the bite went
Night fishing…trolling crankbaits was the best presentation on both Big Spirit and West Okoboji. Here are a couple of examples. My future son-in-law, John Walz fished with two friends from midnight to 2 a.m., and they boated nine beautiful walleyes between 18.25” and 18.75” trolling Hit Sticks in 12-15 feet of water. John has put lead core on each of his linecounter reels and initially works to get all the baits at the depth he is targeting. It takes a while, but he soon gets all the baits dialed in and adjusts his speed to trigger the walleyes. John came back on Saturday evening with a friend, and the two of them caught their 6-fish limit starting around dusk.
Meanwhile, Laef Lundbeck, owner of Blue Water Guide Service, and his partner Kelly Cook seem to put everything together each year. Each year is a little different with 2023 probably being the best night bite Laef has ever encountered. As the boat captain, Laef works to find the right crankbaits to troll at the right speed. “I like to start with a different crankbait and color, and then as we find the ‘hot’ bait and color, we begin changing over.”
This year’s opener was still good, however, with Kelly weighing in the third heaviest stringer off walleye under 19” with a weight of 7.14 pounds. Laef came back on Saturday night to capture first place with a weight of 7.28 pounds.
Some success came off the docks at night, but it wasn’t consistent around the entire lake. Some fished with lighted bobbers, while others cast jigs and crankbaits. My son, Curt caught three smaller walleyes and one 15” fish casting off a dock on the east side of Big Spirit on Sunday evening. He came back with a really nice 22” slot walleye on Monday evening.
Big Walleye Contest
Nearly 100 registered anglers joined in on the optional Biggest Walleye Category by using the Fish Donkey App. A total of 30 large fish submissions over 25” were recorded: Joel Anfinson of Spirit Lake, IA took the top two places for his 26.75-incher worth $455 and his 26-incher worth $275. Meanwhile, Nick Klatt of Spirit Lake, IA took third place with his 26-incher worth $182.
Other Heaviest Fish categories brought in tons of fish to the local baitshops. Over $3500 in rods and reels were donated from Fisherman’s Factory Outlet and Pure Fishing for each of the following categories:
Northern Pike
- 1st Place – James Gossman of Terril, IA with 9.10 lbs (34.875″)
- 2nd Place – Jake Lasch of Truman, MN with 8.55 lbs (32.75”)
- 3rd Place – Aaron Espey of Hartley, IA with 8.16 lbs (31″)
Heaviest Stringer of (10) Bullhead
- 1st Place – Chris Daisy of Estherville, IA with 16.83 lbs.
- 2nd Place – Hudson Schneckloth of Cushing, IA with 16.07 lbs.
- 3rd Place – Berklee Carpenter of Sioux City, IA with 15.75 lbs.
Heaviest Stringer of (5) Panfish
- 1st Place – Conner Cregeen of Jackson, MN with 8.71 lbs.
- 2nd Place – Carrissa Stethem of Milford, IA with 8.26 lbs.
- 3rd Place – Jacob Westhoff of Dyersville, IA. With 8.1bs.
Heaviest Stringer of (3) Walleye (under 19”) – Charlie Shuck Memorial
- 1st Place – Laef Lundbeck of Royal, IA with 7.28 lbs.
- 2nd Place – Aaron Hill of Fenton, IA with 7.18 lbs.
- 3rd Place – Kelly Cook of Spencer, IA with 7.14 lbs.
Largemouth bass
While there is no contest for the largest stringer of bass, it should be noted that the largemouth bass bite on the Okobojis has been really good with lots of three to four pound fish, along with an occasional 5-7 pound bass. I talked to a couple of bass fishermen casting on East Okoboji and then on Lower Gar this past week. I asked them how they were doing, and one of them said with a smile. “Oh, it’s been a good morning!” I really see the Iowa Great Lakes offering really good fishing as the open water fishing takes off. If only we can keep the wind below a gale – even a 10 to 20 mph wind would be acceptable.
For sure, I believe the crappie bite will be outstanding on Big Spirit as evidenced by the 8.71-pound, 8.26-pound and 8.1-pound weights taken during the tournament. Recent guide posts on Facebook continue to show pictures of those big black crappies.
Plus, I see East Okoboji, Lake Minnewashta and West Okoboji as good for crappies. I only hope that we selective harvest a bit to extend the bite for more people. A meal is good, but do we really need to catch and clean 25-fish limits time after time. We selective harvest walleye, largemouth and smallmouth bass; it’s just what we do!
Don’t forget Center Lake, Silver Lake, Tuttle Lake, Little Swan, Ingham Lake, Lost Island and Storm Lake. Oh, so many, many opportunities and probably not enough time to fish them all!
Yes, it was a great opener, and anglers were able to avoid the bad weather.
(photo by Mark Patterson) A great first night three angler walleye limit of 18.25 to 18.75 inch walleyes.
(photo by Mark Patterson) A beautiful Saturday evening as John Walz begins his crankbait trolling run.
(photo courtesy of Kabele’s Trading Post) Laef Lundbeck with the winning 3-fish limit of walleyes under 19 inches.
(photo courtesy of IGLA Chamber) Joel Anfinson took the top place for the largest walleye with 26.75 incher.
