Walleye fishing challenge

[singingdog]

I have been on 2 walleye lakes this weekend. Water temps are about 56 degrees, there is virtually no green weed growth yet. Both of these lakes normally have beautiful weedbeds in about 10-15' of water, but it just hasn't started on either lake. There is also very little current on the streams coming into these lakes. Trent/Severn is holding water back in pretty much all our lakes, putting a big dent on the 'eye spawn here.

 

So, for you walleye masters, what would you try? I know locating fish will be the first step....I just am not sure where to start in these conditions.

[Big Cliff]

Well I got out today for a while this morning and a couple of evenings last week in places that I would usually be able to catch 4 or 5 fish and have only caught 1 total so far. I have talked to a few others who are saying the same thing, really rough this spring.

[bushart]

adding insult to injury--seen a mayfly today here in the valley

[tb4me]

ya same where we were..no weeds..we just bottom bounced while drifting, jig heads with mr.twisters (white) tipped with worm..all the waleye we needed!

Good luck!

[walleye_man]

also had a really hard time this weekend

very low water+no weed groth= no fish

hopefully next weekend we can get them

[denisk]

Maybe try the night bite in your favorite spots and also try fishing slow with a husky jerk. If you can troll pull some boards and try spinners. The walleye are still there but they are one of the toughest fish to catch the more you try the more you learn and maybe eventually the more you catch

[mbac31]

I had a tough time finding them in Haliburtons these last 2 days. Ended up finding them in open water schooled up on drop offs adjacent to spawning areas. Yes, there is very little growth for this time of year but weeds dont only need sunshine to ghrow they need water temps to be up. I could not find any water above 53 tops in the last 2 days. Did very well for the trout Today. Bigger lakes you will find Walleye on Gravel waiting to spawn, they dont need current to do so. They will stage on or close to these areas. After spawn they will hold tight to thes areas and roam close by feding but still packed until they can spread out in weeds and weedlines.

[416angler]

Got one on a minnow on Saturday.

[tknohpy]

We got 21 on Saturday, 10 of them under 10 inches. Sunday we got 11, 6 of them under 10 inches. Biggest fish we got was 17 inches. fishing all over BOQ. Didn't get any earlier in the week though. Water temps on the weekend were 56-60, earlier in the week it was 49-53. Seems like 55+ is the magic number. We got them on bottom bouncers or keel sinkers with spinners.

[solopaddler]

I'd be curious to know how deep the guys are catching the fish in.

(The ones that are doing well)

 

Obviously Marvin caught them suspended deeper.

 

For a Kawarthas lake my first instinct would be to concentrate on shallow weedlines in 6-12' of water.

[tknohpy]

we caught ours in every water depth from 8 feet to 40 feet

[Harrison]

Define master? haha..

 

Not sure the water body your on but this works for us for us on a few Trent system lakes.

 

We fish the deep basin of the lake, right out in the middle and vertical jig plastics or our favourite bucktails. Their hugging bottom, hiding from light. Threfore the slow, action is key. You have to cover alot of water and a drift sock is vital.

 

Fish filter out of the rivers/spawn areas, spread out and wait deep to move up once the weeds are up. That's the theory, and it works. For us anywhoo.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Harrison

[mbac31]

The Kawarthas are a different type of fishing. When you go up North to those Tanic stained waters you need to think differently. Fish relate like big water fish do on the Great lakes up there. Shallow water fish like ut of Balsam will generally stay close to shallow water weedlines however you will find them deep but not usually in the spring. A lake like Baptiste this time of year as the weeds tend to take much longer and the Regular Kawarthas style of fishing does not heat up to par on this style of deep lake until mid June. I got fish in 18-25 FOW and found a few hugging close to any green growth they could. Most were chasing Baitfish and Hangin out in deeper more secure structured areas. Rock piles and sand/Gravel areas in about 18-20 FOW will be good areas to start now and still will be for 2 weeks maybe. The water is still very cold there. Kawarthas are on fire right now and will be till 1st week in june. Then they are stationed in their holding areas and wont travel much.

[Big Cliff]

The Kawarthas are a different type of fishing. When you go up North to those Tanic stained waters you need to think differently. Fish relate like big water fish do on the Great lakes up there. Shallow water fish like ut of Balsam will generally stay close to shallow water weedlines however you will find them deep but not usually in the spring. A lake like Baptiste this time of year as the weeds tend to take much longer and the Regular Kawarthas style of fishing does not heat up to par on this style of deep lake until mid June. I got fish in 18-25 FOW and found a few hugging close to any green growth they could. Most were chasing Baitfish and Hangin out in deeper more secure structured areas. Rock piles and sand/Gravel areas in about 18-20 FOW will be good areas to start now and still will be for 2 weeks maybe. The water is still very cold there. Kawarthas are on fire right now and will be till 1st week in june. Then they are stationed in their holding areas and wont travel much.

 

 

Well, i think it is back to school for this old fisherman. I went out again last night, found a nice shoal 6' with drop offs to about 23' all the way around it. Worked all around that shoal for two hours and tried everything I could think of, got broken off once by (I think it was a muskie). Then I moved to another area that I can almost always count on for a few fish. Nice weed line dropping of into about 16 fow. Again tried everything, caught a bunch of rock bass, that was it.

 

Night before I tried a shallow basin 4' or so of water, managed a few crappie but that was it.

 

In years past we have been able to sit on our dock and easily catch our limits in an hour, this year I caught 1 so far off the dock (shallow water weeds).

 

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong but I'm not even marking fish in any of the spots I have tried and I have my HDS5 tuned so I can see a 3/8oz jig in 25' of water. I had no trouble at all marking the rock bass last night and they were all suspended between 3 & 6' down.

 

HELP!!!!!

[solopaddler]

Well, i think it is back to school for this old fisherman. I went out again last night, found a nice shoal 6' with drop offs to about 23' all the way around it. Worked all around that shoal for two hours and tried everything I could think of, got broken off once by (I think it was a muskie). Then I moved to another area that I can almost always count on for a few fish. Nice weed line dropping of into about 16 fow. Again tried everything, caught a bunch of rock bass, that was it.

 

Night before I tried a shallow basin 4' or so of water, managed a few crappie but that was it.

 

In years past we have been able to sit on our dock and easily catch our limits in an hour, this year I caught 1 so far off the dock (shallow water weeds).

 

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong but I'm not even marking fish in any of the spots I have tried and I have my HDS5 tuned so I can see a 3/8oz jig in 25' of water. I had no trouble at all marking the rock bass last night and they were all suspended between 3 & 6' down.

 

HELP!!!!!

 

Cliff that sounds like a summer spot.

The fish are most likely in transition right now.

 

Cloudy windy days fish shallow warmer water with weedlines in 6-12'.

 

Bluebird days fish the closest dropoff to any known spawning areas.

 

The fish will generally meander along shorelines taking their time enroute to their established summer haunts.

Prominent main lake points will stall them and hold fishable numbers this time of year when they're migrating.

[doubleheader]

Most everyone, and I include myself, stays too long in an area that isn't producing. My suggestion would be hit multiple spots until you locate a good pod. We tend to find a spot, usually a spot we've had previous success, and then we get a couple bites and keep trying to coax results. I wouldn't give any spot more than 30 minutes, and the fish could be at just about any depth depending on conditions.

[jimmer]

Well, i think it is back to school for this old fisherman. I went out again last night, found a nice shoal 6' with drop offs to about 23' all the way around it. Worked all around that shoal for two hours and tried everything I could think of, got broken off once by (I think it was a muskie). Then I moved to another area that I can almost always count on for a few fish. Nice weed line dropping of into about 16 fow. Again tried everything, caught a bunch of rock bass, that was it.

 

Night before I tried a shallow basin 4' or so of water, managed a few crappie but that was it.

 

In years past we have been able to sit on our dock and easily catch our limits in an hour, this year I caught 1 so far off the dock (shallow water weeds).

 

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong but I'm not even marking fish in any of the spots I have tried and I have my HDS5 tuned so I can see a 3/8oz jig in 25' of water. I had no trouble at all marking the rock bass last night and they were all suspended between 3 & 6' down.

 

HELP!!!!!

Hang in there Cliff, the bite will pick up this weekend. I remember pre-fishing years ago for the Canada/US walleye tournament and having trouble locating any fish, then on tournament day (end of May), it was like someone opened the gates to walleye heaven! That was on Sturgeon.

[denisk]

Try a beetle spin spinner get rid of the bait and instead replace it with a 1/0 straigh shank gammy worm hook. I like to thread on a small orange exude mister twister worm on that rig. It has worked very good in the K-lakes.

 

If your down on erie any time soon check out the jig bite on the NY side lots of these to be had

 

 

good luck.

Edited May 19, 2010 by denisk