Pilot is back from Iraq and fishing for walleyes in Minnesota

DULUTH, Minn. | Charlie Nelson can’t remember looking forward to a Minnesota walleye season more than he has this one.

Flying combat missions in war-torn Iraq will do that to a man.

Nelson, a lieutenant colonel in the Minnesota Air National Guard, spent two months flying support missions for the Army in the heart of the hot zone earlier this year. But the timing for the end of his second tour of duty couldn’t have been better, he will tell you.

He was back in Minnesota by the beginning of May — just in time for the start of the Minnesota walleye season.He was back in Minnesota by the beginning f May — just in time for the start of the Minnesota walleye season.

“After 60 days in the sand, it feels great to be back on the water again,” said Nelson, who has resumed his “other” job — as a part-time guide on the St. Louis River. “I love to fly, but I love to fish for walleyes, too.

“I got back on a Tuesday. By Thursday, my brother and I were on Green Bay, catching walleyes.

“The first time that rod bowed over, it was great. We ended up with 18 walleyes that day, two of them over 28 inches.

“That was a great way to come home.”

Especially when “home” had been Iraq for the previous two months.

“We weren’t in the same danger as the troops on the ground who were in downtown Baghdad,” he said. “Still, you were always aware of the risks.

“The mortar fire was common. You just had to stay focused.

“I tried to distract myself by thinking about walleye fishing when I had some down time. I’d tie crawler harnesses when I was over there. And I’d talk to my brother (who also guides), making plans for fishing trips when I’d get back.”

And now that he’s back? Well, Nelson is making the most of his time.

He is on the St. Louis River, one of the largest tributaries of Lake Superior, every chance he gets. And yes, he is catching walleyes, just like he has been for 25 years.

A recent outing was an example. Not long after he had driven his boat into the Duluth harbor, he and two fishermen he was guiding — Dave Perkins of Eden Prairie, Minn., and I — started catching fish.

As Nelson trolled bottom-bouncing rigs baited with night crawlers in the middle of the channel, he watched one of the rods slowly bow. He set the hook and felt the tug of a healthy walleye.

No sooner had that fish been reeled in than there was another. And then another.
By the time that flurry of activity had ended, Nelson and his fishing partners had caught and released 10 walleyes, including one that measured 25 inches and another that was 24 inches.

And all of this in a scene not often visited by walleye fishermen. Towering freighters moved in and out of the harbor, one of the largest on Lake Superior. And a fog bank swept across the water, signaling a place where the cold air from the cold lake met the warmer water of the river.

Nelson is accustomed to that scene. He has fished the St. Louis River, on the border between Duluth and Superior, Wis., since 1980.

He remembers the days when he would fish out of a 14-foot boat with a 6-horsepower motor on it. Today, he has a big boat, a big motor — and he catches big fish.

He has caught walleyes as big as 28 1/2 inches. And fish in the 18-inch range are common, he said.

“The walleyes you catch are quality fish,” said Nelson, 45, who lives in Duluth.

“Sometimes they can be hard to catch. But they’re out there.

“You just have to break the code.”

Nelson and his brother David, who guides with him, do that by relying on several methods.

They like to slow-troll with bottom-bouncing rigs or with planer boards and spinner rigs. But they also will anchor along current breaks and cast everything from crankbaits to grubs.

 “Parts of this system fish like a lake, other parts fish like a river,” Nelson said. “It can be a hard place to fish. The walleyes move a lot here, and they aren’t always real concentrated.

“That’s why we like to troll. We can cover a lot of water that way.

“The key is finding the food — the perch, shiners and smelt that they’re feeding on. Once you do that, the walleyes usually aren’t far away.”

May and June can be productive months. But Nelson said that July is his favorite month for big fish. That’s when the trophy walleyes often will be concentrated in the deep water along channel edges.

“Years ago, there was a lot of pollution in this river,” Nelson said. “But they’ve done a real good job cleaning it up.

“The walleye population is in good shape. We can tell that by the fishing.”

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