This opening week of Walleye fishing has frustrated many anglers. Normally the post spawn is waning and lots of 18-24 inch fish are readily available. Weather and temperature conditions however, have delayed this cycle.The two Walleye in the 1st photo were still milking, letting us know that spawning is still in progress.
I shared my boat today with former PWT competitor and good friend Al Erickson. It was a raw blustery day. Note Al showing one of the over 50 walleye males we released. Again with cold temperatures we fished deep water breaks. Al and I love to work jigs and thats what we did. The fish were inactive and glued to the bottom. All my electronics showed was little bumps…Al joked it was their dorsal fins!
Al is a master at drifting a jig/crawler combo. He is also a jig maker and if you look closely at the nice 18incher in the net you’ll notice a copper blade attached to the pony jig. The standard blade is replaced with a larger one to give it more thump(vibration)as it is lifted and spins on the way back down. After a while it was clear that Glow white was the prefered color. Later, as the skies darkened, Chartreuse became popular.
The wind was about 25mph, but with two wind socks out we were able to stay in bottom contact with only 1/4 oz jigs. Note in pic #1 I prefer a shorter shank hook to use with bait. I make these and use Gamagatsu hooks We both used 6’9inch Avid rods and 6# flourocarbon hi-vis line to work the 28′-37′ depths
A rod with a soft sensitive tip is invaluable as the fish many times gently mouth the bait and drop it quickly if they sense something not right. The extra fast action allows it to load quickly for a good hookset in the deep water we were fishing. I started with a superbraid but soon I was down about eight fish to nothing. Since everything else was the same I quickly spooled some of Al’s favorite flavor line on and started to catch up. The bite lasted until the rain started and the wind died. We had a great day and brought enough eaters home for a good meal for our families. If you are considering a trip to Little Bay de Noc there is plenty of spring walleye action left. Even though the water level is up 6 inches please consult a map,one of the local bait shops or the MDNR before going out, as there are several shallow sand, mud and rock bars. I have a few more trips planned next week and will keep you posted.
Be safe and keep your hooks SHARP! Tom
another great report Tom, your on a roll.
Thanks Jeff. I’m actually looking forward to a day off on Wednesday from guiding. Drifting in 20-25 mph winds for three days really wears a guy out.
But if we finally get a good west or southwest wind…you know where I’ll be.