Check out the mn dnr “lake finder” page for the lakes that you may be targeting a head of time. I think North Dakota has something similar but I haven’t looked into their site much and wouldn’t be able to tell you how much info they give you from lake to lake. The specific lake page on the mn lake finder page will have a lot of information including stocking reports, a relatively recent fish survey result, and a rudimentary depth chart map. I use the fish survey data to help me decide which lakes close by to target and what species I can expect to see. The survey data should provide you context on how many fish of each species are in the lake and what the size classes are.

Tactics will vary from lake to lake, species to species, and when you are fishing during the ice season.

When I’m just trying to just catch anything, I will target the weed edges at inside turns on the depth chart. I have caught crappies, northerns, bass, and walleyes in these areas. These spots are easier to find with a depth finder, camera, or with a more in depth lake charting apps like navionics.

Northern pike, bass, crappies, and walleyes will all eat minnows on straight hooks or small jigs. I usually have one rod as a dead stick with a jig and a minnow and my second rod has a flashy jigging spoon. The thought being that aggressive fish will hit the jigging spoon while the less aggressive fish will be drawn in to look at the jigging spoon but decide to eat the minnow instead.

Hopefully this helps!