"The walleyes in these highly fertile lakes grow fast, and they get big," he said. "This lake has never received the fishing pressure it deserves, but once anglers discover there are a lot of walleyes, that will change."

Albert Lea fits the definition of pothole lake. In its 2,600 acres you'll be hard-pressed to find water over 6 feet deep. With no structure to key on, anglers must use search techniques like trolling crankbaits and casting jigs until they connect with a pod of walleyes, then they drop anchor and pitch out the slip-bobbers.

For more information, contact the Bait Shack at (507) 377-1590.

LAKE ELYSIAN
This is another of Valiant's recommendations.

"There was a winterkill here in February of 2004," Valiant said. "We performed a stocking and it really took. There were over 50 walleyes per net in our latest survey, and most of those walleyes are pushing the 18-inch range already."

A testament to the ability of these pothole lakes to recover due to the longer growth periods and large amounts of forage, Waseca County's Lake Elysian is also a pothole in every sense.

Anglers will find 8 to 10 feet of water under the boat being the deepest there is. The walleyes in Elysian, like their cousins in other pothole lakes in the region, like to wander in their search for perch or other forage fish. While anglers are often told that a solid rule is walleyes like to stick tight to bottom, the 'eyes in Elysian can be found anywhere in the water column, from a foot below the surface to the bottom. So, don't rule out any water in this lake.

For more information, contact Whitewater Bait at (507) 362-4277.

LAKE OF THE WOODS
Let's go from one end of the state to the other. Let's also go from one extreme to the other. Lake of the Woods is huge, almost 1 million acres, and there is a lot of structure, even though most anglers who have never been there could look at a lake map and see only a big bowl. There are sandbars, rockpiles, points, sunken islands and miles of slow-tapering bottom regions where walleyes suspend a foot or two off the floor. It just depends on where you go.

"On Red, it's all about catching walleyes, not so much about keeping fish. You have to stay in that 17- to 26-inch slot, with only one over 26 inches, and it's only a two-fish limit. It's pretty restrictive when it comes to keeping fish, but you can catch 100 on opener, and that's what everyone is there for."