Gary Roach landed a fine Deer Lake walleye. Photo by Ron Hustvedt.

Minnesota’s Mesabi Range is home to one of the world’s best-known iron ore deposits, not to mention some terrific walleye fishing.

Most people don’t normally connect walleyes with iron, so the region’s walleye-rich lakes are mostly fished by locals or visitors who have discovered this hidden treasure.

The name “Mesabi” is a Chippewa word meaning giant or sleeping giant, terms that could be applied to the population as well as the sizes of the walleyes in the area lakes.

Folks who live in the area are known as “Rangers” and their reputation for hard work and impassioned hockey is surpassed only by tight lips about their favorite fishing haunts. Here are some top choices of walleye experts who consider Mesabi their fishing home on the range.

MESABI RANGE
The Mesabi Range stretches 100 miles from Grand Rapids to Babbitt connected by Highway 169 the entire distance. Walleye lakes throughout the range tend to be more abundant on the western edge around Grand Rapids.

Some of Minnesota’s best-known walleye lakes are a mere 50 miles west of Grand Rapids, but the walleyes on the range are just as plentiful and large. The advantage for anglers is that these walleyes aren’t as pressured and may be more willing to bite.

SWAN LAKE
Halfway between Grand Rapids and Hibbing, at the junction of highways 169 and 65, is the town of Pengilly, located along the northwest corner of Swan Lake.

“Swan Lake is a better walleye fishery than a lot of guys give it credit for,” said Tom Neustrom of Minnesota Fishing Pros guide service out of Grand Rapids.

Neustrom has been a guide for 28 years and has seen plenty of bodies of water. He said Swan is unique in that it’s larger than most lakes in the area and has had some solid year-classes of walleyes.

“There are a lot of size differences, so you have a variety, including some trophies up to the 10-pound range,” he said.

One reason walleyes are doing so well is the 17- to 26-inch protected slot limit implemented two years ago by the DNR.

“Our stocking plan is with walleye fry, but we do see some fish from non-stocked years meaning there’s some good natural reproduction; we just don’t know how much,” said Chris Kavanaugh, the DNR’s Grand Rapids area fisheries manager.

Swan Lake is an oddly shaped lake with little or no mid-lake structure in the form of reefs or sunken islands, so fishing is done almost exclusively along the shoreline structures. Neustrom said he prefers to fish on the southeast and southern sections of the lake.

“One of my favorite spots is around Government Point where there are some good weedbeds holding walleyes most of the season,” he said. “Swan Lake has a bit of color to it and lots of the fish are oriented to the cabbage and coontail weeds.”

The east shore of the lake is home to several significant points that are good locations to key on.

Neustrom suggested, “Find those inside turns and weed growth on those points and you’ll find fish most of the season.”

His favorite lure is a gumball jig or Northland whistler jig tipped with half a crawler or a leech. The crawler element is key because he’s found walleyes prefer a half to a whole crawler.

Swan Lake has two public accesses, including a county landing two miles southeast of Pengilly and a DNR landing three miles south. Most anglers use the DNR launch because it’s made of concrete, although if it’s crowded and you have a smaller boat, the county launch works quite well.