By Nick Simonson

One of the greatest transformations in fishing over the past four decades in the upper Midwest has been the lakes in west central Minnesota, including those along the Pelican River watershed.  While positive efforts such as the installation of city sewers and riparian and shoreline vegetation conservation efforts have helped clean up the waters, introduction of aquatic nuisance species, such as zebra mussels have also had an impact on water clarity. 

Amidst these changes, muskie stockings beginning in the 1990s have helped establish lakes country as a destination for big fish anglers during that time. From the early days of slinging large Mepps in-lines and the Musky Mayhem Double Cowgirl, to today’s modern plastic and rubber baits being guided by front-facing sonar, the region’s waters including Detroit Lakes, Pelican, Sallie and Many Point, have been at the forefront of top-notch waters and are once again peaking, according to Andrew Slette, regional muskie guide.

“Many Point is probably still our numbers lake; Many Point and Detroit Lakes.  Detroit Lakes has a ton of fish and they are everywhere.  Pelican you can kind of get into no-man’s land where there aren’t a ton of fish, but there are fish everywhere on DL,” Slette suggests for the region’s waters holding faster muskie action, adding when it comes to big fish, “I prefer Pelican, I think the top end is just the highest on Pelican. There’s some fish over 55 [inches] on Pelican…the average size is the best.”

While modern rubber baits still dominate the offerings anglers are tossing for the fish of 10,000 casts, Slette is seeing that classic baits such as bucktail and synthetic-skirted in-line spinners are once again becoming go-to lures for anglers.

“We’re seeing a lot more Dive-and-Rise, the BarFighter, and a thousand companies that have copied them now, but it’s kind of going back to the bucktail a little bit.  Everybody dropped it 10 years ago, and moved on from it and went to rubber,” Slette explains, “But last year they transitioned back to bucktails a little bit. I think everybody – at least the people that fish a lot – went away from them, and it’s been long enough now that what’s old is new again,” suggesting that the baits almost seem novel to the current population of muskies in area waters.

The unseasonably cool spring this year will likely enhance the use of those trending baits, and the ever-changing weed structure on various lakes will switch up the places that muskies haunt.  Slette details the frequent, almost yearly, shift of vegetation patches that hold muskies and keeps anglers on their toes, simply due to changing water clarity, weather patterns, and other environmental factors that cause weeds to grow in one place one summer, only to be gone the next; requiring a reset of sorts for those looking to find productive places for fish. 

“We’re a little late this spring, water temps are a little bit cooler. We’ve had some warmer springs in a row, it should be a little more of a traditional opener for us, a little more casting, more fish in the weeds than there are in the open water. It’ll be kind of nice to go back to what it was 15 years ago,” Slette details of the impact of recent weather trends on this season’s upcoming opener.

The Minnesota muskie season opens on Sat. June. 6 and closes Mon. Nov. 30.  Possession limits are restricted to one fish of 54 inches or greater length. The Minnesota state record for kept muskellunge is 55 pounds 14 ounces, the state record catch-and-release muskellunge is 58 and 1/4 inches, both from lake Mille Lacs.

Nick Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: The Detroit Lakes, Minn. area holds many top tier muskie fisheries which draw anglers from around the region. The season starts Sat. June 6. DEO Photo by Ben Simonson.