Spring Walley techniques ?

[FISHINGNUT]

Just wondering what your go to bait and locations are for spring walley.I seem to have very little succes in the spring and I dont know why.This May 24 my wife and I have a trip planned for Big Gull lake which I have never fished before.From what I have read it is a fairly deep and clear lake.There are some small rivers running into the lake and a large narrows connecting it to a smaller section of the lake. Are shallow 5-10 fow current areas my best bet or should I be looking for main lake structure,All I ever seem to catch in the spring is smallies pan fish and cigar sized walley if any thing at all.Somtimes we troll worm harnesses but most of the time we drift with jigs yellow ,orange and chartruese,what am I doing wrong???????

Thanks

Here is a map of the lake we are goinig to

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j143/Jam...ig20Gull-FH.gif

[express168]

I am far from a walleye expert but my first stop would be the mouths of the rivers flowing into the lake or near any waterfalls entering the lake and use some twister tail jigs in white or yellow or minnows. That is what I have caught most of mine on early in the spring.If I am not mistaken they are still recovering from the spawn at this time of year and are feeding in some shallower areas than usual. But there are definately some other guys here that could give you some good help.

Edited March 25, 2007 by express168

[TennesseeGuy]

Males are smaller and easier to catch after the spawn, so they might be what you've been catching. Find out the location of major spawning sites in the lake and go to work on those. I've found that females (larger) leave the site later than males. As they leave, they find areas they like and stay there a couple of days. Some might stay behind a few weeks or more. You might find areas that are almost bank to bank with walleyes as they leave the spawning area. Finding them might mean going farther upstream than you've been before. Two people could pick up a hundred in one hour.

 

If you're not finding them upstream, try the river mouth from 9 p.m. to midnight. The larger females might be coming in then and may be sticking around until 9 a.m. or so the next morning. My next step would be the deeper water out from river mouth. Next take a look at points away from the river mouth.

 

Be sure you're spending time and money where the fish are.

 

Since you're fishing pretty far south, there might be a shiner spawn as early as the May 24 week. You'll find them by casting pike baits into the shallow water. When you crank your bait through the water you'll see minnows jumping. Fish the spot a couple of times a day until the shiner spawn is completed.

 

When you find walleyes you can expect that pike found them first, so be ready for a pike bite.

 

Catching small walleyes is a good sign.

[Northhunter]

Go shallow. A lot of times the fishing is slow for the opener and a week or two after - spawning takes a lot out of them. The small immature fish will be more active than the breeders, which is why you get little guys, if anything.

The ones that become active will be where the food is. South facing shorelines and bays, feeder lakes, etc., will get the most sun and provide warm water, which gets a chain reaction going. Plant growth and invertebrate activity picks up in these areas first which draws in baitfish and if you're lucky, hungry walleyes.

 

Try the standard stuff and if it's still no go, nothing beats drowning a minnow.

[trapshooter]

A lot will depend on when the spawn happens in a particular year. By the time opener rolls around the spawn could be long over and they've moved off the spawning sites and are quite active again. On the flip side they they could be just post spawn and can be trickier to catch.

 

I find it's the small males that hang around the spawning areas long after the larger females have ckecked out. Typical guys, waiting around for 1 more chance! If you have found spawning areas and are catching smaller male fish, try moving out a little towards deeper water, i.e. a nearby point or drop-off. The bigger fish won't have gone too far and you should still be looking in relatively shallow water, say 8-12 feet.

 

For techniques I say jig and minnow is your best bet. After that, I find, esp in river/current areas that I do well throwing x-raps/huskey jerks, size 10. Another spring technique that works great is pitching with a jig/grub. When the fish are 'on' and feeding it isn't uncommon to find them in 2 or 3 feet of water and when this is the case, pitching is the best way to get them. Every spot I fish in the spring is related to some type of shoreline structure. I will always try a couple pitches right up close to shore and 'hop' the jig back to the boat. Watching your line when pitching is critical!! When you see the line twitch, reel up the slack and set the hook. This is one of my favourite ways of catching spring walleye so definitely give that a try this year.

 

Good luck and have fun,

Ben.

[TennesseeGuy]

Trapshooter, I stand corrected on males being first to leave. Actually I didn't know whether males or females left first, but I've had a couple of occasions when I caught bigger (female) walleyes just downstream from the spawning site after males were found much further downstream. Something to do with nature caused them to be there.

 

I've gone in several times when the spawn lasted well into open season for walleyes. It's no problem, just don't kill any females. Identifying males is no problem because the slightest squeeze will cause them to let you know how glad they are to see you. And they squirt it all over your seat and equipment.

 

Shining a light into the water at night during the spawn is an exciting time and will show that males outnumber females by a bunch.

 

I'll be on the water May 11, just 8 days before the walleye opener. I'm sure that we'll have a few small walleyes hit our large pike baits.

[FISHINGNUT]

Thanks everyone for the tips this will be my wifes first May 24 walley trip so I really wanted her to get into some fish,I figure the more she likes it the more likely Iam convincing her into letting me buy the 21' lund I want,

[irishfield]

LOL Fishingnut...I understand that logic!!

[Northhunter]

Males will ripen sooner and show up before spawning starts and some will stay until after it's all over. Bodes well for the population as everything depends on the females. If it happened the other way around there would be a lot of reproductive potential lost in unfertilized eggs. The youngest males are also usually one or two year classes under the youngest females, which usually stay deeper off the beds until it's "time". It's thought that it could be one of the reasons males are smaller, as walleye experience sexual size dimorphism (say that five times fast). Males put a lot less energy into producing milt, and yet are quite a bit smaller than females once they hit maturity. They think the marathon they put on every spring trying to make nookie may actually effect them enough to impede growth throughout the year.

 

Probably won't help put them on the end of your line, but you can wow your fishing buddies with sexual size dimorphism

Edited March 25, 2007 by Northhunter

[sonny]

great tips guys,,,storing it in the ol' memory banks!!

[lookinforwalleye]

Good advice from Trapshooter,I don`t know if your staying at a lodge or not but the best way to find out about a particular lake is try and find out what the locals are doing drop by the the local bait shop and buy a bait or two and get some info it may be the best 20 bucks you spend on the trip.

[trapshooter]

TG - I agree, there's no doubt the big girls will still pulse shallow again post spawn. They get eating and they follow the food wherever it goes. I love a shallow water bite in a river pool or back bay on suspending minnow baits.

 

Here's a river fish (28") from last spring on an xrap out of 4' of water in some stumps.

 

 

At least on the lake I fish, not all walleye spawn in rivers or bays near mainland shorelines. Other places I find post spawn walleye are gravel shorelines and beaches of islands out towards the main lake.

 

Forgot to add this in my last post too.... most importantly, no matter spring, summer or fall, fish windblown shorelines and points. This factor alone dictates where I'm going to fish in a given day more then anything else. The wind and waves blowing up on shore stirs up the bottom and with it the food bait fish feed on become exposed. In move the bait fish to feed and right behind them are the walleye.

 

Another thing to watch closely in the spring is water temperature. Areas even a couple of degrees warmer can spark a flurry of fish activity. This is often found, as has been mentioned in South facing, dark bottom bays.

 

Work different depths and search for active fish.

[GbayGiant]

It is key to know where and when they spawn, and then you can put the pieces together. Where I fish opening day is usually 2 weeks after they spawn, so it's perfect. I look for the best structure tight to the shorelines near the spawning grounds, they usually hug the shoreline for the fist few weeks after they spawn, my favourite technique is casting jigs and slowly hopping them along the bottom, don't overlook any docks or boathouses along the shore. If you don't know the area to well, I would drift worm-harnesses with minnows along the shore until you find them.

[FISHINGNUT]

Maybe thats part of my problem I figured if I cant find them in the spawning areas I head to deep water,I didnt realize they stuck to the shore line .I always figure bass and shore line.

[GbayGiant]

Maybe thats part of my problem I figured if I cant find them in the spawning areas I head to deep water,I didnt realize they stuck to the shore line .I always figure bass and shore line.

 

Well, that's what I do here on Georgian Bay but it could be different on other water bodies, but I never fish over 12' deep for the first month or so and every year catch my biggest spring Walleyes in-between 4 and 8 feet of water. Also if there's Islands close to the spawning grounds or large mud flats/beaches fish those tight to the edges to, I literally bounce my jigs off Islands and let if fall into the water and have got some nice ones like that hugging the shore, sometimes in spring I see them suntanning in 2 fow after they spawn.

[tomO]

hey fishingnut you have a message.

[Golfisher]

Some good stuff here!

[FinS]

find the schools of minnows the wallys will be close by