Area Lakes 2025 Fishing Opener Outlook

With the 2025 Minnesota fishing opener now underway, we figured it might be a good idea to find out what this weekend holds for anglers looking to bag a few walleye. We checked in with fishing guides Dick Beardsley in Bemidji and Ray Gildow in the Brainerd area, who gave us their outlooks for fishing on lakes in the viewing area and provided a few last-minute tips before hitting the water.

The ice has been melted on area lakes for nearly two full weeks leading into this year’s fishing opener, and that bodes well for anglers casting a line this weekend.

“The walleye is pretty much done spawning now and hopefully they’ve had a few days to where they can kind of recover because it takes a lot out of them,” said Beardsley, who runs his self-named fishing guide service. “The shiners are starting to move up into the shallow water now and those walleyes, they follow those shiners, those spot tails especially, up in those shallow water areas. So, they should be pretty aggressive, so I’m looking forward to a good bite throughout the Bemidji area.”

Warmer weather this weekend will also help raise the water temperature, leading to more active fish. Time of day is also something to consider before heading out.

“Early mornings are always a little better and later in the evenings are a little better,” said Gildow, who’s part of the Nisswa Guides League. “That midday time usually is a little slower, but we have really good populations of walleyes in some of our area lakes now. We’ve got Pelican, North Long, Round Lake, Gull Lake—those are all really good walleye lakes.”

Jigs and minnows, bobbers, or plastics are the most recommended types of baits to use for walleye. In addition to bait, here’s a few other last-minute recommendations.

“I highly recommend that you wear your life jacket, especially when you’re up on plane, you know, when you’re going across the lake at a pretty good speed,” said Beardsley. “Make sure you have a throw cushion in the boat with you, and that has to be out. The life jackets, they can be in a compartment, but the throw cushions have got to be out where they’re accessible right away.”

“Different lakes now have different requirements for how many you can keep and the size that you can keep,” added Gildow. “Be sure to look at what the requirements are either in your license book or on the signs that are posted on the lakes.”

But of all the recommendations from Dick and Ray, they said the most important is to “have fun!”