Green Lake: Where dreams come true By Larry Myhre
Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal
SPICER, Minn. — There’s one thing you can take to the bank when you fish Green Lake for walleyes.
And that is, you will tangle with some humongous smallmouth at the same time.
These broad-backed greenies with the bad attitude hang out on the 30-foot weedlines with the fish that made Minnesota famous.
So when Gary Howey set the hook into a solid fish last week, Guide Duane Ryks and I both wondered what it would be this time.
We didn’t have long to wait as the fish rocketed to the surface and jumped, leaving me holding the landing net, my mouth hung open in surprise.
And this was how it was for two days of angling on this jewel of a lake, the centerpiece of the Willmar, Minn., lakes area.
We caught plenty of walleyes, too. Fish up to four and a half pounds and walleyes of that size will definitely stretch the coils out of your spinning line.
We were filming a show for Howey’s Outdoorsmen Adventures television show and were guests of the Willmar Lakes Convention and Visitors Bureau. Headquartered at The Lodge, a 3,500 square foot log home only a few miles away, we sampled nearby Lake Andrew as well. Here we caught largemouth bass, but the walleyes avoided us.
It was classical cold front conditions. Heavy overcast and windy but when you are on good lakes, fish bite.
We fished live bait rigs. Three-eighths-ounce brass Bullet Weight sinkers with a four foot fluorocarbon leader tipped with a size two, red, short-shanked hook. Our bait was spottail shiners which Duane seined from a nearby creek.
Green Lake is a structure fisherman’s dream. It’s 110 feet deep and has a multitude of bars, sunken islands and reefs.
It’s crystal clear waters allow weed growth to 30 feet and the fish we found were lying in inside pockets along this deep weedline.
The lake is also a multi-species fisherman’s dream. While walleyes are the main focus, it is one of Minnesota’s better smallmouth waters and is loaded with three-quarters pound crappies and jumbo bluegills as well. Muskies and northerns can also be found. It is one of 30 lakes in Kandiyohi County and although the others are smaller, all are good fishing lakes.
We ended our trip on a rock and gravel bar just off the shoreline near downtown Spicer. Here we found the crappies along with bonus rock bass and, you guessed it, big smallmouth.
Like I said, the lake is a fisherman’s dream.