Minnesota’s Lake Pepin isn’t a preferred opener option, but maybe it should be

Although it’s one of the Minnesota DNR-managed 10 large lakes, Lake Pepin likely doesn’t top the list for most walleye anglers as a primo destination for the May 13 fishing opener. The southeastern Minnesota lake doesn’t generate splashy headlines or get the attention given such hallowed fisheries as Lake Mille Lacs, Upper Red Lake, Rainy Lake, or that breathtakingly scenic system known as Lake of the Woods. And Minnesota’s much-vaunted mom-and-pop resort culture doesn’t exist on Lake Pepin’s windswept shores.