“Other lakes in the area are good for late-ice walleyes like South Center or Green, but I’ve had the best luck and the biggest walleyes come out of South Lindstrom,” Dusenka said.

His favorite hotspot in the entire area is a transition zone where the bottom turns from sand to silt and mud. This spot is close to the road and the best landmark is the hospital in town. “The big walleyes are out there putting their feedbag on and the females are getting fat with eggs — you’ll get big ones out there, but make sure you release them,” he said.

Walleyes upwards of 30 inches have been caught in this location, but there are plenty of eaters in there as well. The depth of this location begins at 17 feet and drops down into the depths. Jigging spoons and minnows are the best tactic for both the eater-sized as well as the trophy walleyes on all the area lakes.

For more information on the Lindstrom Area, contact Frankie’s Live Bait & Marine at (651) 257-6334 or online at www.frankies.net. Visitors can also contact the city of Lindstrom at www.cityoflindstrom.us or call (651) 257-0620.

CLEARWATER LAKE
Wright County

Many anglers are fished out by the time February rolls around, said Todd Durnin of Little Jim’s Bait in Annandale on Highway 55. Those who are tired could be that way from good fishing the previous months, but he said they should rest up because the February bite is good on Clearwater.

“You’ll get an abundance of 14- to 22-inch walleyes, though you have a shot at taking one in the upper 20-inch range if you are willing to move around the lake,” he said.

The humps and bumps on Clearwater are abundant and you could fish a different one each weekend of the winter and not hit all of them. These are where the walleyes are right now, and Durnin said the best thing to do is isolate a small part of the 3,158-acre lake, and then try to mark fish before fishing there.

There are two basins to the lake, but the west basin is where the best fishing is to be had and home to the only two public landings on the lake. According to the DNR’s area fisheries office in Montrose, the walleye catch rate in 2005 was down from a decade before but still in a healthy range. Net catches sampled an average around 16 inches, while angler surveys report an average of 15 inches.

Shiners or fatheads on a jigging spoon are a great tactic, though other anglers who have fished Clearwater say it can be a good lake for experimenting with soft baits and plastics.

For more information, contact Little Jim’s Bait at (320) 274-5297 or the city of Annandale online at www.annandale.mn.us.

PLANTAGENET
Hubbard County

Often overlooked by anglers in the Bemidji area, Plantagenet is lucky enough to be a high-quality walleye lake in the middle of big-lake country. Many anglers head to nearby large bodies of water and don’t fish smaller lakes like Plantagenet.