Fishing Reports

The late spring Walleye bite is hot

  

   The post spawn female walleye’s are hungry and the bite is great. As the walleye move out of the rivers and tributaries they like hang tight to the warm shorelines, usually between 3 and 10 feet of water. When you are in search of post spawn marble-eyes, you need to pay close attention to the water temperature, often 2-3 deg. can make a big difference. The bait fish they are feeding on can find a couple degrees, the warmer the better. The second thing to look for is water color. If you can find some stained (iced tea) looking water that’s the best, for a couple reasons. If you’re watching your temperature gauge you will notice (especially on a nice sunny day) that the stained water will warm up faster than the clear water, by as much as 5 degrees or more. These areas will produce numbers of nice post spawn walleye’s. Don’t be confused with stained water versus muddy chocolate milk looking water. If the water is so dirty that you can’t see your bait down 2 inches below the surface, then you need to find the iced tea colored water. I haven’t had much luck when the water is so clear you can see bottom in 10-15 ft. of water.

    Another great tip on catching post spawn shallow water walleyes is to use planner boards (I prefer the Church Tackle boards) to keep your baits away from the boat, the fish under your boat can get spooked and sometimes reluctant to bite. I also troll with my electric trolling motor to stay quiet in the shallow water. This will defiantly put more fish in the boat, especially if you keep targeting the same area over and over again. If you get too much boat pressure in the shallow water, it can shut down a hot bite. Try not to drive over an active school of feeding walleye.

    My preference on bait choice. If the water temperature is below 50 degrees I use crank baits, such as Storm Thundersticks, 700 Reef Runners, and Salmo Hornets, usually in bright colors. When the water is above 50 degrees I switch to crawler harnesses, with a number 5 colorado blade. I prefer the custom painted blades by Tommy Harris. Another great choice is the new Spoon De Ville, which is a spoon with a Trokar Re-Volve bait hook about 4” behind it tipped with a nightcrawler, also by Tommy Harris. This has been a great presentation for putting plenty of them post spawn walleyes in the boat.

Tight lines and good fishing

Capt. Steve Paulsen

walleyemadnessfishing.com

 

What’s causing the record-low levels in Lake Michigan?

Click here to read the full article

     Fishing on the lower bay has been excellent this year. With the early spring and the water temperature rising fast, the bite is on fire. I’ve been catching limits of fish in an hour or two. I was out yesterday and we had 10 walleye in the boat in a matter of 30 minutes. With approximately 30 walleye in the boat in 3 hours, not including the 20 plus sheepshead, catfish and perch.  With the bit being that fast and furious it’s hard to find time to eat your lunch. I’ve been trolling crawler harness with Tommy Harris Blades #5 and #6 blades, copper with green or purple has been working the best. http://www.tommyharrisblades.com/  We will be trolling larger spinners in a few weeks.  Boat speed is very critical, I found that 1 to 1.2 MPH is working the best to put numbers in the boat. Remember boat control is very important, try to troll with the wind for better boat control, use drift socks if you can’t keep your boat under 1.2 MPH.

Tight Lines

Capt. Steve Paulsen

www.walleyemadnessfishing.com