Where to find spring walleyes

Consider many factors when developing a game plan for heading to the lake. Spring conditions will influence where to start looking. Right around or shortly after ice-out walleyes move to shallow gravel areas with moving water to spawn.

Females come in and lay their eggs, then slide out into deeper waters to recover. Males are in the shallows to do their thing and then will hang around the area a little longer in case a female shows up late.

Walleyes usually feed heavy up until they spawn, take a little break to recover, then enter a feeding frenzy as water temps rise. Many anglers rely too heavily on past fishing success to determine where they will begin searching for spring walleyes.

In my opinion, look at past successes and analyze why fish were there, then use that information to create a game plan. Key factors include wind direction and speed, water temperature, cloud cover, and water clarity.

That is how I determine where to start looking for hungry walleyes. I try to determine where they are most likely to be feeding. Shortly after spawning, walleyes will retreat to nearby shallow bays and coves where the water temperature is typically hospitable and where schools of shiners and yellow perch - two favourite food items - abound.

But there is an exception. The largest trophy-size fish, almost always the females, will often abandon the spawning areas quickly in search of what biologists call "deep-water refugias" - typically the main lake structures you fish in the middle of summer - where they target soft-rayed forage fish like ciscoes, whitefish and smelt.

The big girls retreat to these deeper areas in order to reduce their metabolic demands and thus, devote more energy to growing bigger in order to produce more eggs. Which means that in the spring, if you want to catch numbers of aggressive small and medium size walleyes, with the chance of a big fish or two, concentrate your fishing in and around the shallow spawning areas and nearby bays.

But if you've set your sights higher, and you're prepared to trade quality for quantity, head for the much deeper main lake structures and cover. The reason jigs - especially red, orange, yellow, chartreuse and green coloured ones - are typically the "go to" bait in the spring is they afford you maximum flexibility. Speaking about hard-hitting walleyes, I wrote a recent blog about a hitherto secret spring walleye technique developed by elite Ontario walleye pro, John Butts that involves trolling weightless spinners.

You can read about the tactic here , but trust me, John's technique will work in your favourite Northeastern Ontario walleye haunt this spring. Last, but by no means least, remember those whale walleyes I mentioned that are feasting out on the main structures and cover?

Instead, gently raise and lower your rod tip with short, soft strokes, or hold a jig in a current and let the water work it for you. Instead, troll slowly , especially in water that still has icebergs floating around.

This will help determine if fish prefer a faster or slower presentation. When the water is still cold, little adjustments to your fishing can mean big results. Back in the day, anglers who wanted to handle their boats better used tiller motors, and if you wanted to remain in one place, you dropped anchor.

Fast-forward a few decades—and several leaps in technology—and trolling motors now make it easier to stay on course. Modern trolling motors have autopilot features that, in addition to a cordless remote or foot pedal, allow you to run hands free so you can continue fishing.

These days, GPS technology means you can plan a course for the motor to follow, or simply command it to hold your position is a specific place, no matter what the wind or current might be doing.

Long story short: The features of a modern trolling motor allow you to keep your line in the water longer, while technology keeps the boat where you want it. Rarely are walleye boats drifting or trolling too slowly.

You can use your motors to slow down, but a simpler and less manual method is with a drift bag. When placed over the side, a drift sock acts to slow your boat by adding drag. I recommend keeping several drift bags in various sizes on hand.

That way, you can increase or decrease the bag size as conditions, or fish preferences, change. Attach bags to a steel carabineer and quality dock line to make quick changes. The action, scent, and flash that a live minnow puts off in cold water is often second to none right after ice out when water temps hover below 40 degrees, or during an off bite. But be picky about bait size. In clean water, select the small minnows in your bucket.