Anderson: Bored by walleye fishing, Minnesota’s young anglers are hooked on the fast action bass provide

Charlie Wedes didn’t look like a revolutionary when, 16 years ago, he and another grade-schooler puttered around Lake Minnewashta in the metro’s western suburbs, casting for largemouth bass.

Just 6 years old at the time, Charlie already knew the thrill of pitching a Whopper Plopper to a bed of lily pads and watching a bucketmouth rise from the watery depths to smack the lure.

Son!

Turns out, Charlie, now 22 and a recent St. John’s University graduate, wasn’t the only fishing radical of his generation.

Thousands of other kids his age were also fed up with a Minnesota tradition they considered a one-way ticket to dread and disappointment.

No ... not lefse.

And not the Vikings.

Walleye fishing.

“When Charlie turned 12, he’d already fished bass for several years,” recalled Chris Wedes, Charlie’s dad. ”That’s when he said, ‘Caleb [Robey, his fishing buddy] and I want to fish in a bass tournament,’ So that first year, we fished a few tournaments. The next year, I had 50 or 60 kids knocking on our door, saying they wanted to get involved, too."

Similar bass-fishing uprisings were occurring — and continue to occur — among young anglers throughout Minnesota.

Supported by the state’s abundant largemouth and smallmouth populations, and fueled by TV shows that celebrate the hook-’em-and-holler excitement of bass fishing, the sport is enjoying a moment in the sun.

Today, more than 100 Minnesota schools support bass fishing teams, with some offering varsity letters in the sport.

Boys aren’t the only ones who are hooked. Kate Wedes, Charlie’s younger sister by two years, was, like her brother, a tournament angler for the Minnetonka Fishing Team.

And while both have aged out of the preps scene, their dad has stuck with it. He’s the Minnetonka squad’s coach, and tournament director for the state’s Student Angler Tournament Trail.

“My wife, Kristine, who also fishes bass, keeps asking me when I’m going to quit this high school fishing thing. I tell her it’s a lot of fun, and the kids just keep coming,” Wedes said.

Contrary to common belief, perhaps the biggest catch any Minnesota bass angler has recorded occurred not on Lake of the Woods in the state’s far north, nor on the Mississippi River in the south.

Instead it was at the Capitol in St. Paul, where legislators in their recent session legalized year-round bass fishing for the first time in recent history. Pending details to be worked out by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), including when harvest and catch-and-release regulations will govern bass anglers, the change is expected to be effective next year.

Among supporters of the expanded season were student anglers, their parents and coaches, who argued that bass enthusiasts of all ages would benefit by spending more time on the water, and that bass populations wouldn’t be hurt in the process.

“I’ll be honest,” said DNR fisheries chief Brad Parsons, “I had reservations when the idea of year-round bass fishing was first brought up. Primarily I was concerned about people behaving badly — about using the opportunity to fish year-round for bass while also targeting species they shouldn’t, including walleyes and northern pike.

“But I came around primarily because I don’t think we should make rules worrying about our worst actors. Instead, we should provide opportunities for people who want to do the right thing.”

Some anglers have long argued that Minnesota’s bass fishing seasons and harvest regulations are confusing at best, and nonsensical at worst.

Consider the state’s northeast bass zone.

In that region, which includes the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, smallmouth and largemouth bass are legal for harvest beginning with the opener of the state’s inland walleye and northern pike seasons.

On most other lakes and rivers in the state, only catch-and-release bass fishing is allowed from the walleye and northern pike opener (May 10 this year) until Memorial Day weekend, after which largemouth bass can be harvested until Feb. 22, 2026.

Smallmouth bass, meanwhile, can only be harvested until early September of any year, after which catch-and-release fishing for this species is allowed until the following February.

The regulations are primarily intended to prevent bass from being overfished while spawning. It’s then that female bass make egg nests and male bass guard the nests so aggressively they’ll often strike any lure that is cast nearby, making them vulnerable to anglers.

Yet Minnesota’s various regions, north to south, often feature widely divergent air and water temperatures, and spawning times can vary.

Mille Lacs — a world-class smallmouth bass fishing destination — is an example.

During Minnesota’s early catch-and-release bass season, which this year ran May 10-23, bass throughout much of the state could be targeted but not kept — again, presumably, to protect spawners.

But Mille Lacs smallies typically aren’t on their beds until about June 1 — well into the time when they could be harvested.

“But let’s be honest, no one keeps bass anyway,” said Jason Bahr, owner of Tutt’s Bait & Tackle in Garrison, Minn., on the shores of Mille Lacs. Bahr also coaches the Brainerd Warrior Fishing Team.

“Minnesota’s bass fishing seasons also make no sense because the states around us allow fishing for bass in spring when Minnesota doesn’t,” Bahr said. “Consequently, a lot of bass anglers go to Wisconsin or South Dakota or wherever, when they could be staying in Minnesota and spending their money here.”

Parsons, the DNR fisheries chief, said all of the state’s bass fishing season dates and harvest limits will be reviewed in coming months.

Whether the northeast bass zone should be retained or eliminated, for example, will be studied, Parsons said. Ditto ending the smallmouth harvest season in September.

“We’ll also look at whether the statewide bass harvest season should open in May with the walleye and northern pike seasons, or whether we should allow bass harvest beginning on Memorial Day weekend,” Parsons said.

One change that a won’t be made is the DNR’s restriction on bass tournaments before May each year.

That’s fine with the state’s prep anglers, said Bahr.

“We don’t necessarily need tournaments in early spring,” Bahr said. “But the way it is now, until about mid-May, our kids are restricted to classroom instruction only. They don’t keep bass anyway, so catch-and-release spring fishing won’t hurt bass. It’ll just be good to get the kids on the water so they can try out some of the things they’re learning in class.”