"There are going to be walleyes roaming the sand flats, and if the wind is blowing from the west, I fish the east side. If it's blowing from the north, I fish the sand on the south end."

To fish the sand, Roach will strain the shallow flat with a Roach Rig and a leech.

"You don't fish this by using a vertical presentation," he explained. "Let out a lot of line and drag that rig 50 or 60 feet out behind the boat. The fish are spread out, so don't feel compelled to find a 'spot' because that just doesn't work when you're fishing the sand."

Roach also likes to pitch jigs on opener, and for that he heads to the points.

"There are lots of points in Pelican, but my favorites are the ones near the sand flats that extend into deeper water," Roach said. "On points, I use a Northland Fireball Stand-Up Jig tipped with a minnow. You don't pop or swim the jig. You just drag it along the bottom. Walleyes will slurp it right up."

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LAKE MINNETONKA
Here's where I'll be on opener, and I'll be catching plenty of walleyes. The opener on Minnetonka has been awesome for the past few years, mainly because the walleyes are everywhere they are supposed to be.

I put in at Carson's Bay before the sun comes up and slowly motor into St. Louis Bay. Between the swimming docks and the boat docks to the south, I'll pitch a jig and minnow. It drops off quickly on this spot, and there will be some milfoil along the shoreline. You want the jig to hit the water right on the edge of the vegetation and drop straight to the bottom. Then hop it back each time while letting it rest on the sand.

When the sun starts shining, I'll head over to the sunken islands on the east side of the Arcola bridge and pull a Roach Rig and minnow, leech or night crawler. The vegetation will be sparse in 12 to 20 feet of water, and the walleyes will be lying around the strips of old coontail and milfoil. Every once in awhile you set the hook on a dandy walleye when you're fishing this spot.

By 10 a.m., we'll have moved over to St. Albins Bay to chase pike, and after lunch, we head over to Lafayette Bay for more of those northerns. As the sun waxes low on the horizon, we'll be in Browns Bay fishing the outer edge of Horseshoe Reef with the Roach Rigs again.