LONG LAKE
Another popular Indianhead Country ‘eye destination is the 3,300 acres of classic walleye water found in Washburn County’s Long Lake.

This aptly named lake offers perhaps your shortest odds of tangling with a trophy walleye from any water in the northwest part of the state -- especially now before weed growth becomes a prevalent habitat option. Any green weeds you can locate on opening weekend will likely hold fish, with weed growth a direct corollary of how hard a winter the northwoods had. If winter was severe, the fish could still be hanging around primary spawning areas like Kunz Island and Holy Island where dragging a plastic fliptail or big minnow across the rocky rubble bottom can be profoundly effective.

Your surface temperature gauge can be a good indicator of walleye location for the opener. If water temperatures along the 8-foot contour out from the islands are at or below 50 degrees, staying out a long cast from shore and pitching the jig right on the shoreline can offer stunning results. Even with a warm spring, the fish will still be holding in less than 10 feet of water on opening weekend.

If you’re looking for a wallhanger, think muskie-sized lures like a 5-inch K-Grub or a Bomber Magnum Long-A stick bait in chrome/black or clear/black hues that emulate the cisco forage base that makes the deep waters of Long Lake a walleye hawg heaven.

Contact: Washburn County Tourism, 1-800-367-3306.

RED CEDAR LAKE
Timing is everything when fishing on the north end of this 1,841-acre Barron County water around the inlet, and your boat’s surface temperature gauge is the major indicator of how good the fishing is likely to be.

When walleyes in Red Cedar are post-spawn near the inlet to Balsam Lake and the confluences with both Sucker and Pigeon creeks, they congregate in amazing numbers. The key is finding 45- to 48-degree water. Once water temps warm past 50 degrees, the fish move deeper and fan out into the lake where you can find them probing humps around the 12- to 15-foot contour. But they can also be right on shore feeding heavily when winds of seasonal change put a good “walleye chop” on the water.

Red Cedar Lake has three good public boat ramps, but the one on the west side in the county park is probably the best.

Contact: Barb’s General Store, (715) 234-7724.

EAGLE RIVER AREA
If I didn’t think living over on the Mississippi River was the best of all worlds, my second choice would be taking up residence somewhere around Eagle River. If you can visit here either side of summer, you will realize the north country is a very special place indeed.

The deep-water weed edges at entry and exit points in Cranberry, Catfish, Eagle and Scattering Rice lakes -- and any woody cover or docks nearby -- are great places to fill a quick limit.

Lac Vieux Desert, which is arguably our state’s best multi-species fishery, is just down the road. It is 2,900 acres of rockbars with cabbage beds on the west end. There is similar habitat in Rice and Thunder bays, where a fire-tiger No. 7 Shad Rap is very effective.