Going for the Gold-Late Season Walleyes Late season walleye
fishing through the ice has it’s rewards, though few step
up and claim the prize. By late January, most anglers have
given up and thrown in the towel. A couple weeks of tough
fishing can do that to you. It’s easy to write the rest of
the season off, besides it won’t be that long before you get
a chance at some open water. The real diehards however, never
say die. They know that for those that stick it out there
is some serious action yet to be had. One of the keys to late
season action is retracing your steps, and looking in the
places that held good numbers of fish earlier in the season.
Those are shoreline related hard bottom areas like rock covered
bars and humps, and the spots that anglers made a beeline
for as soon as the ice was safe enough to allow it. Early
season action is more like a race, than anything else.
Ron Anlauf explains the ins and outs of late season
walleyes
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It takes on the similarities of a race when anglers
try to get ahead of their fellow anglers and beat them
to the next hot spot. Staying ahead of the crowd is one
of the keys to really hot ice fishing action. The first
anglers to arrive at a spot are able to get their lures
in front of fish that haven’t been bothered yet. They
also have the undivided attention of all of the biters,
and don’t have to share them with anyone else. When the
rest of the crowd shows up things change, and not for
the better. How many times have you heard about the action
getting better after a mob of anglers arrived on the scene?
Probably never. More anglers mean more lines and more
baits for the biters to choose from. There are only so
many of the willing to go around, no matter how good the
spot may be. Another thing hordes of anglers bring with
them is noise, and lots of it. Holes being drilled and
cars being driven can create a tremendous amount of noise.
When a car or truck passes in the distance, you can hear
the ice cracking long before you hear the vehicle noise.
Whether or not fish can hear it or feel it, they definitely
react to it. They react to it by shutting down, changing
periods of activity, or getting out of Dodge. When you
combine all of these factors with the general seasonal
slow down, you end up facing some pretty tough fishing
conditions. Those are the very same conditions that send
anglers packing, never to return until the next hard water
period. |
Sometime between now and the season’s end, walleyes begin
to show up on those aforementioned areas and are definitely
catchable. The same techniques that produced so well earlier
in the season can still get the job done. That means using
jigging spoons, set lines with floats, and tip ups. Jigging
spoons are a go to bait and always have the potential for
putting walleye gold on ice.
Northlands
Fire Eye Minnow
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Lighter spoons like Northland Tackle’s Fire-Eye Minnow
have a slow fluttering drop and tipped with a minnow (or
piece of one) can be extremely deadly, in the right hands.
When the walleyes are really going they’ll fall for just
about any jigging technique you show them, but when they
slow down you may need to change up a bit to keep getting
your pole bent. Instead of a hard snap on the lift you
might try tiny lifts of the rod tip, followed by long
periods of remaining perfectly still, especially if you
have a fish staring down your bait. If your bait is getting
a serious look without any commitment, try quivering the
rod tip from side to side, instead of up and down. You’d
be surprised by how much action you’re really imparting
to your bait with such a small amount of movement. |
One of the keys to successful spooning is sticking with it,
and not giving up. Jigging a spoon all day without any takers
can be incredibly monotonous. Lack of success may be as simple
as where you’re doing it, rather than how. Even if they don’t
get the appropriate response spoons can be expected to at
least draw fish in close enough for them to be seen on a depth
finder. With an electronic depth finder like the Marcum LX-3
you can watch how walleyes react to your bait and adjust accordingly.
If what you’re doing is working keep it up, if not you may
have to make some tiny adjustments to get a positive response.
If you’re not seeing fish on the depth finder you may have
to make a move in order to find a few takers and will depend
on the area you’re fishing. Shallower areas on deeper structure
may not see much activity until sundown and you may have to
stick it out to know for sure. Deeper edges and breaks are
more apt to hold active fish during the day and are the high
percentage spots. Being mobile is the key and where gas powered
augers and portable shelters like the revamped Fishtrap Voyager
are in order. The Voyager has a retooled heavy duty sled that
is built for long hauls behind ATVs or snowmobiles. It also
has new adjustable padded swivel seats that are super comfortable
and will help keep you on the ice much longer, which is where
you belong. Options like suspending a minnow below a bobber,
or tip-up, may also be in order. Spoons can attract and nail
the aggressive fish while bobbers and tip-ups may coax some
of the slackers. Slackers are not inclined to move very far
(or work very hard) to take a bait. The key is keeping a bait
in front of them long enough to get a response. To help even
further with the slacker factor, try replacing a plain hook
with a smaller jig head. Active minnows can swim up and out
of the tiny strike zone that may exist, while the weight of
a jig head will pin the bait in place. See you on the ice,
one last time.
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