Hi Dan, I am writing this to ask your opinion on Whitefish lake walleye fishing . We have had a cabin on upper Whitefish for over 30 years. My question is have you seen the fishing change in pattern and location especially say the last five years? It seems many of the old top spots no longer produce,and the fish seem more scattered than they used to be. I just wonder if the amount of stocked fish we now have rather than natural fish may have somthing to do with this? I have read rearing pond raised walleyes relate to weeds far more than lake spawned fish. Will be intrested in your opinion on this . Thanks Rich Upper Whitefish

Walleye is one of the most popular fish to catch in Minnesota, and this has led to the over harvest of these fish. Back in 1965, the walleye was actually put on the official state symbol. Walleye are a big item to fish; in fact about 35,000 people went to fish in Minnesota. That’s about 30 people per minute who show up. Why is this? Well, the walleye is a nice texture and is great to eat. The DNR has tried to restock the fish every year. It just seems that people continue to fish this favorite, and the restocking effort continues each year. In Minnesota you will find over 1,200 lakes that have walleye in them available to fish. People come from all over to fish in Minnesota for these delicious walleye. But according to the DNR, the fish are still populated just fine in the lakes around the state. It may have only seemed to you that the fishing supply of walleyes has dwindled, but there is no official record to back this up. Continue going out to your spots and try taking along a few choices as far as the bait is considered. Don’t just take two along. For the picky eater like the walleye, maybe have some jigs with live bait on. If that doesn’t work, try another bait. It could just be that you have chosen the wrong spots to try and catch these fish in or that walleye normally get moody and won’t always bite on the same thing, even from day to day. With some more choices in your tackle box you may be able to catch the limit of walleye quickly. You do have several choices besides Whitefish Lake. Maybe try another location in another lake.