The slightly stained waters of Pike Lake are where you want to go for a nice mess of "eaters," with more than five adult walleyes per surface acre swimming in this 522-acre lake. According to Nelson, the fish are "very fat" on a forage base primarily of perch. The dominant year-class of fish is about 16 to 17 inches, with a five-daily, 15-inch minimum bag limit in place.

Big Cedar Lake is exceptionally clear and much tougher to fish, according to Nelson. But trophy walleyes in excess of 15 pounds have been sampled here by the DNR that have grown to dreadnaught dimensions on a forage base of smelt and ciscoes. Big Cedar offers classic walleye structure, with a number of steep breaklines and rocky humps. These are good places to target at night during the heat of summer when the lake's thermocline may reach 30 to 35 feet.

"The big walleyes here are well educated," Nelson notes, "but there are many, many 12-pound walleyes in Big Cedar."

The statewide five-fish, 15-inch limit is in place on this 932-acre lake.

Contact: Jon Nelson, (920) 892-8756.

Chequamegon isn't a place to look for numbers. It's trophy water. Early in the season you'll find walleyes cruising the vast flat just north of Ashland, sliding up on subtle humps to feed actively when the mood suits them. Planer boards and big stickbaits are the most efficient way to go looking. If you have the new Fishing HotSpots map with GPS coordinates, it's worth trying to locate the subtle offshore structure.

The bite off of Washburn doesn't last as long, but it is consistent. Walleyes show up about dusk all summer long to feed actively along the shoreline that drops quickly away into deeper water. Throw out a lighted slip-bobber baited with a large shiner, and cast clown-pattern or blue/white ShadRaps with another rod. It is possible to get hooked up while fishing from shore, but a small boat and anchoring up within casting distance of shore is a better option.

Contacts: Ashland Chamber of Commerce, (715) 682-2500; Gitcheegummee Guide Service, (715) 373-0551.

Long is a challenging lake anytime, with a wealth of structure and good weed bite once summer arrives. Right now the fish are still shallow, relating to transition zones with rocks and any patches of green weeds. Rocky rubble areas around Kunz and Holy islands are primary walleye spawning areas. Fish haven't moved too far since dropping their eggs.

This deep, narrow 3,300-acre lake has a very rich forage base of ciscoes that are a major key to big walleye location most of the time. For this reason, blue/silver baits are usually your best bet. At first glance 3,300 acres is overwhelming. A large portion of the walleye biomass in Long Lake is concentrated in a few hundred acres around the islands now, where they will remain until about mid-June. Try trolling a No. 4 hammered nickel Lindy Hatchet Blade crawler harness rig with blue and pearl beads along the 10- to 12-foot breakline between Kunz and Holy islands.

If the wind is blowing hard from one direction all day, stay a long cast out from shore and pitch No. 18 blue/white Rapalas on the windblown shoreline of the islands from sundown to maybe 10 p.m. Don't give up. Ten-pound walleyes seldom come easy. Pay your dues and you can anticipate taking a couple hundred bucks out of the kids' college fund to give to the taxidermist.

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

Riverine habitat exists in the upper end of Lake St. Croix, with flowage-type habitat on the downstream 20 miles of this scenic river before it meets the mighty Mississippi.

Those who can "read the water" can have a ball on St. Croix's upper reaches, pitching a hair jig where slack water meets fast water. You need to get up plenty early on the weekend if you want to beat other boats to the best spots, with the water around Osceola and the mouth of the Willow River being the epicenter of walleye fishing activity until mid-June.

Piles of walleyes run up into several tributaries at the other end of the pool around Hudson, where you'll likely see fewer boats.

When the season opens you can fill a limit in 30 minutes, provided you don't mind playing bumper boats with a flotilla of anglers ravaged by walleye fever. When summer arrives, the quieter lower pool is a great place to drag crawler harnesses or stickbaits behind planer boards for a mixed bag of walleyes and saugers.

Contact: guide Dick Gryzwinski, (651) 771-6231.

A one-walleye, 20-inch size limit in place on these 1,100 acres makes this a great place to visit if you simply want to play catch-and-release. According to DNR biologist Sue Beyler, every walleye swimming in Lac La Belle has been caught and set free "at least a couple of times" before reaching legal size. Although "legal" fish are quickly plucked from the system, a wealth of 12- to 19-inch walleyes are awaiting your minnow-tipped Lindy Rig, jig or suspending stickbait right now.

Target points, rocky shorelines and the developing weed edges in less than 8 feet of water between opening day and the arrival of summer weather. The number of walleyes you can catch and carefully release is limited only by the number of fatheads in your minnow bucket.

A fire-tiger Rat-L-Trap, Wiggle Wart or Rapala Husky Jerk is a good way to find cruising schools of walleyes, with action typically best around the weed edges as the sun goes down. Once you find them you can catch more fish with a slow-falling black jighead tipped with a fathead, but there is much to be said for pitchin' crankbaits at dusk on a warm May evening.

Waukesha County has several other lakes worth checking into for walleyes when the first Saturday in May rolls around. Pine Lake has in the northwest part of the county has the statewide five-fish, 15-inch limit in place, but the DNR says this is probably your best bet for a trophy of all the Waukesha County waters. Oconomowoc Lake has an 18-inch minimum, three-daily bag that makes it a good choice for those looking for a fish fry.

With all the pressure that walleyes in these southeast Wisconsin lakes experience, the bigger fish have learned to feed almost exclusively at night. If you really want to catch fish, you need to be on the water when walleyes are most active. A headlamp, a flashlight taped to the landing net, functional navigation lights and a little ambition are all that stand between you and the dual-dorsaled denizen of the low light.

Contact: Dick Smith's Bait, (262) 646-2218.