According to Gregg Hennum, who has spent much of his life on the big lake and is the proprietor of Sportsman's Lodge, anglers have plenty of options when they come to this big lake.

"If it's structure you're looking for," he said, "head up to the Northwest Angle. This is where you will be finding walleyes on points that are extending off the islands. There will be walleyes on the rubble near the sand shorelines and on the shelves where it drops off quickly into deeper water."

Hennum said if you're heading out of the river mouth -- known as The Gap -- into the main basin, just take a left onto the sand flats and drag a jig or a live-bait rig in 3 to 15 feet of water.

"Those walleyes slip up and down on the sand all day long, and they can be at a lot of different depths," Hennum said. "There are always a lot of boats there on opener, but there are also a lot of fish caught there, so that explains the boats."

If the big water intimidates you, just hire a guide. There are many anglers who make a living by taking people out on this tremendous resource. They have the boat, equipment and knowledge of the lake to make sure you catch fish.

For more information, visit the Sportsman's Lodge Web site at www.sportsmanslodgelow.com.

BASSWOOD LAKE
Anglers who just can't wait to take a trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for some walleye action and who schedule their trips for the opener have been disappointed. In the not-so-distant past, the water has been too cold and the walleyes were in a funk at that time. But in the last couple of years, the ice has gone out sooner and the weather has been warmer, and thus the water temperature higher. This has resulted in some "outstanding" openers, according to Bill Slaughter, a BWCAW guide and lifelong resident of Ely.

"For a lake the size of Basswood and considering the amount of walleyes there, there's hardly any fishing pressure," Slaughter said. "So when you do get the right conditions coming together, which has been happening the past couple of openers, you can catch a lot of walleyes."

Slaughter's game plan for a Basswood opener is to take 14-foot fishing boats with 15-horsepower motors -- which is legal on parts of the lake -- and use portage wheels to get the boats in.