FISH LAKE
One thing about the pothole lakes in southern Minnesota is they all have a hot bite going at some time during the season. Some only last a day or two, and some last for a couple of weeks. It's usually the walleyes or crappies that are biting, but they all turn on at one point.

Fish Lake southeast of Windom tends to have an extended hot bite once it starts. The problem is that it can be anywhere from first ice until the end of the season. Fortunately, Fish Lake tends to maintain a pretty consistent bite throughout the winter.

Where you see a group of houses congregated on Fish Lake is where you will likely find a school of walleyes. There is no structure to speak of that will hold fish, so the walleyes will suspend over existing shelters where they've been attracted to the flashy lures and bait.

Water visibility wasn't that bad for a pothole lake when I was there last January, but the underwater camera was limited to the lure and a bit of the bottom. My sonar was the ticket to see those walleyes move up to the lure, and to find fish when I scouted. I set the hook on a 4-pound channel catfish I could barely get through the hole. He put up a good fight.

For more information on Fish Lake, call Erickson's Freedom Valu Center at (507) 831-9942 or go online to the Windom Chamber of Commerce at www.winwacc.com.

THUNDER LAKE
It would seem that an angler has to fish one of the northern lakes to find big bluegills these days. Maybe there's less fishing pressure, therefore there are more bigger bluegills, or maybe there are fewer bluegills, therefore they get bigger. Whatever the reason, it pays to think north when looking for a lake with big sunfish.

Big Thunder Lake between Remer and Outing has a bottom of mainly sand, gravel and rock, but there are patches of muck-bottomed regions where the cabbage and coontail are prevalent. It is around and in this vegetation where you will find that the big bluegills have concentrated.

One of these spots that I was on last season was in that first bay north of the access. The water is clear, so an underwater camera is a valuable piece of gear. The first half-dozen holes we drilled in 20 feet of water showed a sandy bottom with some dead grass lying on the bottom. When we hit the coontail in 16 feet, there were sunfish, but the first school consisted of smaller fish. We moved into 12 feet and found a nice mixture of coontail and cabbage. The cabbage leaves were brown, but the sunnies were there. We caught fish in the three-to-a-pound range for a couple of hours before we had to move. There are plenty of these spots on Thunder. Just look for the vegetation.

For bait and info, call Redding's Sports at (218) 763-2191.

OTTER TAIL LAKE
Gary Roach tipped me off to this lake. He fished a PWT event there this year, and while he was extremely impressed with the walleye fishing, he was even more impressed with the size and quantity of the perch.

"Lakes like Otter Tail have a local reputation for the perch," said Roach, "but lakes like Mille Lacs and Winnibigoshish get the most press, so they get the most attention."

Roach said to direct your perch program toward one of the many midlake reefs.