CODY LAKE
Cody Lake just west of Lonsdale in Rice County has been included as the best potential "sleeper" lake of the bunch in this article. These shallow murky-water lakes can be blazing hot around the opener. The only problem is, this productive period may last only a few days to a couple of weeks. If the bite goes hot for walleyes on lakes with these characteristics, you better get there in a hurry.

Cody is fed walleyes through the DNR fry-stocking program. This means you may not catch a trophy fish, but finding a pod of walleyes means catching a lot of fish.

Finding that pod on Cody means using flashy lures or minnows. The lake is only 250 acres, so it can be covered quickly and thoroughly, which means there's a great chance an active school of walleyes will be found.

For more information, call Faribault Bait at (507) 334-2768.

SOUTH TEN MILE LAKE
Are you looking for some classic walleye structure with high potential? Check out South Ten Mile Lake just northwest of Ashby. Slightly over 1,400 acres, Ten Mile has some midlake humps, well-defined points, subtle-sloping sand flats, bulrushes and good numbers of walleyes.

On the opener, walleyes will typically be in a post-spawn mode and searching for baitfish. There will always be some forage in the bulrushes and in the nearby remnant vegetation. It's a good place to find walleyes with a slip-bobber and leech, especially on South Ten Mile where bulrushes rim large swaths of shoreline.

Bigger walleyes will be sitting at the base of the sunken islands. You must get to these fish early because by midmorning, the bottom has been churned up by anglers dragging sinkers, and the bite will slow or cease from the heavy fishing pressure there. But South Ten Mile is a great trolling lake. The west shoreline has a consistently tapering bottom so your lure can maintain the right depth range.

To learn more, call Dahlon's Sport Shop at (218) 747-2901.

* * *

Before heading out to the water for the opener, you need to do a few things. First make sure that the lake you plan to fish doesn't carry any special regulations. This can change the luster of a lake for anglers counting on taking home a limit. Second, do the research and make sure you know the boat landing will handle your rig. Many anglers with big boats have left a landing on a small lake, spewing profanities because their heavy deep-V or deck boat wouldn't work at a marginal access.