Active Fish + the right habitat + Cranks = Big Eye

In over 30 years of chasing eyes, this has to be one of the best Spring time walleyes seasons that I have ever experienced. We are so caught up in the early warm-up, temps falling back to normal…..and simply thinking that it’s a goofy year. For me, it’s been the perfect storm to merge and bring everything I love about fishing together at once.
The early rise of temps motivated the fish to migrate up to spawning grounds early. It didn’t make them spawn early. This put a lot of mature fish in skinny water earlier that anticipated. For my style of fishing, this couldn’t have been a better suited situation. For guys that have gotten to know me, understand that I thrive on the adrenaline rush of fish smacking cranks. Not just curiosity nipping of a bait where they’re barely hooked; rather when they are inhaling a bait so hard you think they’re ripping the rod out of your hand.
I finally had a break from clients and had the opportunity to get my daughters out on Pool 7 for a day of their Spring Break. Against negative feed-back I had from a few friends in the area, I still thought the same pattern I have been using on the Wisconsin, Wolf, Fox, and Rock Rivers would produce on the Miss as well. Tossing cranks to shallow spawning areas and clam beds. It took all of about 45 minutes to prove myself correct in my decision.

We dropped in the water Monday at about 5:00pm with the intent to fish until 9 or so, rest up, and do it all day Tuesday. Lindsey and Olivia were bouncing ringworms and Pulse-R’s in a 12 to 16 foot run where I usually catch staged fish. After a half hour of nothing, I had to get actively involved and make a change. Out came my new Quantum EXO 7’ medium casting rod that I was itching to try out and my hottest crank of the season- Kopper’s Live Target Smelt in Silver/Blue. In part, I’m still caught in the irony of how the first fish of the afternoon played out. On my 3rd or 4th cast, I was commenting on how incredibly light the new Quatum EXO rods were and how a 14” eye will probably feel like 14#’s. I could feel the subtle interruption of the lure vibrating and the second thump as this fish hammered this crank. On the hook-set, a huge boil rolled up in the 3 fow of water I had tossed up into. No little 14”er this time…Pig on!
She was spewing eggs, so it was a quick bump on the tape, photo, and release. I change the girls over to all cranks with a mixture of Live Target Gizzard Shad and Rapala Glass Raps. Historically, I have done well on the Miss with Rapala glass raps. But not on this trip…the fish were a little more dialed into what they wanted to eat. It didn’t take but a few more casts, and Lindsey was hooked up bringing in her first 2012 walleye…shorty…then another..and another…and another…all on the Gizzard Shad. Getting frustrated, Olivia had no confidence in the Rapala and wanted a Live Target like her Dad. Well, she was rewarded with her new PB 6# 8oz eye (that she fell in love with). Unfortunately, we had two big fish that we had to keep. They were bleeding bad at the time of being landed. Rather than releasing to have them die later, I made the decision to make sure they were utilized.

After about an hour of nothing, it was time to move. We relocated again to a shallow cove that had a moderate back flow eddy, a few small snags along the shore, and bottom of small rock. Like flipping the switch, it was back to game on with everyone hooking up on fish. We continued this pattern until about 10:30pm when we called it a night.
We returned the next morning and launched near 10:00am. The girls wanted perch?????, so Dad agreed to stop at one spot and cast for eyes for about 20 minutes. Thank God I have kids that are patient with me. That turned into almost 2 hours as we picked up right where we left off. We would hit a streak of 4 to 6 fish in a row, then nothing for 20 to 30 minutes minutes, then hit a few more. After a couple hours, that bite seemed to die off so it was time to give in and search for perch.
We got on a school of small perch 6” to 8” and quickly the girls lost interest. They laughed at how small they were compared to the walleyes / sauger and abandoned the perch rods for their crank’n rods. So what’s a dad to do? I packed the perch rods back in the rod locker and moved the girls around various sand/rock drop offs and let them cast to their hearts content. With the intent to head home in the mid- afternoon, I soon realized that that would never happen. There is nothing in the world that I have experienced in my life so far that compares with hearing the magical words “Dad, can we stay longer…just one more cast….Dad, another one”

I get a lot of PMs/calls about early season crank’n so I thought I would try to sum up some of the info that I share.
First, and foremost, understand the habitat. Find areas that are most likely suited for spawning. Each body of water can be different, yet the same. Moderate water flow! I very seldom catch many eyes in calm water. Usually a break where the current appears to be about ¼ to ½ of the main channel speed. The next ingredient is the actual structure. On the Wolf and Fox Rivers, they like dead cattails, small sticks and grass. On the Mississippi, I tend to do better on small rocky shelves and clam beds.
Water Temps – I start crank’s at 38-39 degrees. After hitting mid 40’s, I very seldom use plastics unless I’m chasing down-run fish in the main channels.
Boat position – I like to position my boat at about a 45 degree angle up river to the structure I am casting to. I do better casting across or down river and retrieving up river the best. I also like it for controlling your retrieval speed. It’s much easier to speed it up or slow down as your bouncing off of the structure.
Lures – I have the best success with two types of baits. Stick baits with loud rattles or profile baits with loud rattles. In case I omitted to mention it, LOUD rattles. Two baits that have proven themselves in my boat are the Kopper’s Live Target Smelt and lipless Gizzard Shad. I know most guys (including myself) choke up on dropping $10 to $15 a bait. But I learned there is a distinct difference in how these baits get eaten. When crank’n, I want a bait that is chowed on, not a curiosity nip where the fish is barely hooked in edge of the lip. Next would be the old style thundersticks for when I’m fishing 1 to 3 fow. Finally, the last bait I carry with me is the Rapala Glass shad raps.
Equipment – I don’t screw around. I run Cajun Braid or Power Pro and a 18” leader of 10# floro. I run all Quantum Superlite, Smoke, and the new EXO rods. I want to know every little detail of what that bait is doing beneath the surface. I’m convinced I save a lot of cranks by having the most sensitive rods that I can have. Just like fishing bass, so often I bump a stick or rock, slow my retrieve and let it bounce off and BAM!
Equipment:
Quantum Tour Editions / Cajun Braid 20#
Rods EXO – EXC705 – 7’ med-fast casting Smoke- 7’ SKS-704 med-fast spinning
Koppers Live Target Rainbow Smelt Deep RS91D dives 5’-7’ (3-5/8”)
Koppers Live Target Gizzard Shad (Lipless) GZV62SK (1/2oz 2-1/2”)