Old Port Walleye fishing: Post spawn walleyes... [ZT]
This is the easiest time of the year to target large numbers of male walleye (95 percent of the walleye will be in 5 percent of the lake/river), note the males are the small ones. The male walleyes will stick around the spawning areas and feed on minnows during the post spawn (later in May they will start to spread out all over the lake), so you have to look for flats and structure close to spawning areas where the males will be holding. The Females leave the spawning area as soon as possible after the spawn and head out to the open water and mid lake structure, they travel in small numbers, so catching lots of big females in the spring is a challenge.
For the male walleye you will have to try finesse rigs if they are on bottom, live bait, slip bobbers, light jigs and minnow. If they are up off bottom and the water temp is above 50F you can get out the cranks and try to go after the active feeders.
The females will be found by trolling open water, mid lake structure and breaks. Look for schools of minnows or perch and you should find some walleye around the area. I find that small 3” stick baits (Rapala Original, Rouges, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow) work best at this time of the year. If the water is below 50 F you could slow down the troll 0.9-1.3mph and use spinners with worms or minnow.
Watch the water temps…the warmer the water the faster the troll or approach. Often anglers fish walleye way to slow to catch the active feeders. They are a very aggressive fish in shallow warm water. During a cold front they will stick to bottom and move deep so pull out all of the finesse rigs and force feed them, some times I will speed troll at 2.5 -3.5 mph during cold fronts with diver crank baits just off bottom to trigger a reaction bite. |