The busy boat ramp at Rogers Resort & Campground came to a standstill when powder blue skies over Upper Red Lake blackened with an approaching thunderstorm.

As the downpour arrived a little more than a week ago, a random group of anglers took cover in the resort’s Center Bar. Soon, they were cautiously trading secrets for catching walleyes.

“Fish in front of the flagpole a mile north of the resort.”

“Stay in 6 feet of water.”

“Troll with gold-colored spinners.”

“Spottail shiner minnows are useless bait.”

Scott Ward of Inver Grove Heights showed off a walleye caught on Upper Red Lake, which is 11 years into a second life after the DNR and Red Lake Nation teamed up to return walleye fishing to prominence.More

“Drop a jig at the mouth of Shotley Brook.”

Who were they kidding?

After the storm passed, the walleyes were biting all over the place — on all kinds of gear — in 3 to 7 feet of water. That was our experience fishing Red Lake for the first time. We caught our limit in two half-days while also releasing a 22-inch walleye and about 10 others that were too big or too small. Fishing with friend Scott Ward of Inver Grove Heights, we also caught and released four freshwater drum.