The month of May can bring about big changes; changes in
exactly where you might expect to find early season walleyes
and just how active they’ll be. The controlling factor is
the predominant weather and really is a wild card that can
very greatly from year to year. Warm weather early on can
give the open water season a jump start and push walleyes
into early summer patterns much more quickly than normal.
On the other hand persistent cold weather that never seems
to let up can hold off normal seasonal changes and keep fish
in a state of limbo, delaying what could have and maybe should
have been. When it comes to the early season, warm is much
more preferable to cold and is a biological matter. Fish are
susceptible to their environment and water temperature directly
effects their metabolism. Warming temps increase activity
levels and can result in more fish that spend more time actively
feeding, and is exactly the way you want to find them.
Ron
Anlauf used a summer technique to nail this early season
walleye
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Colder temps can stall out
the normal progression, and restrict the amount of time
that fish need to spend filling their bellies. They simply
don’t need as much sustenance to survive in colder water.
The unusually cold and downright miserable weather we
experienced early in ‘04 put a real damper on things and
held off the good action that normally occurs late in
May until late June and even into early July. Unfortunately
for many anglers they had already thrown in the towel,
and completely missed the good action that finally arrived.
Those that stuck it out found out that the good stuff
occurred a month or more later than normal, but it did
happen and was worth being there to take advantage of
the situation. Understanding how fish are affected by
their environment can go a long way towards putting together
a successful game plan and should have a definite affect
on what you do and where you do it. Colder conditions
call for solid early season presentations including rigging
and jigging in typical early season hangouts like gravel
shoals, rocky bars, sand flats and even weed beds. The
longer cold conditions persist the longer early season
patterns should be expected to produce. |
A late spring accompanied by consistent cold weather can
mean light lining a jig over a shallow gravel bar, or dragging
a live bait rig along a shallow weed line, and doing so much
later than you might expect. Warming trends can quickly shut
down good early season patterns and trigger the early summer
variety, like pulling spinners on deeper structure. Working
deeper break lines with a spinner and crawler is a terrific
early summer presentation, and may be called up from the minors
much sooner than expected. Off shore humps and deep shoreline
points can load up with fish and a spinner drug right past
their noses could be the hottest thing going, depending on
the conditions. Water temperature holds the key to a consistent
spinner bite early in the season, and according to Team Crestliner
member Rick Olson of Mina South Dakota: “A good rule of thumb
is fifty degrees. You can catch fish on spinners in colder
water but there’s other presentations that are usually more
effective.” Although gauges that read surface temps can give
you an idea, they really can’t provide the information that’s
required. For example; warm calm days can see surface temps
soar into the lukewarm range but in no way indicates the temps
at ‘eye level. The Marcum VS560 can be a big help with getting
an accurate read as it’s an underwater camera that can produce
both depth and temperature readings at camera level. Simply
drop the camera overboard and let it sink to the level of
the fish and watch the display for the current readings. Besides
depth and temperature you may also see what you’re after,
or find out that you’re in the wrong neighborhood. Spinners
with multi-hook harnesses like Northland’s Rainbow series
can be extremely effective early in the season, if we’ve had
the proper warm-up. Thread on a big fat crawler and get going
and see if there are any takers. Another option (if water
temps aren’t quite there yet) is to use a single hook harness
and a minnow. Olson will use leatherbacks if he can find them,
or shiners when available. The technique combines the early
season appeal of a minnow with the early summer attraction
of a spinner. Speed can be absolutely critical when using
spinner and live bait combinations, especially early in the
season. Too slow and you’re bait will be dragging on the bottom,
too fast and you may get ahead of a walleye’s activity level.
Today’s G.P.S. units like the 172C from Garmin, can produce
extremely accurate speed information and help you fine tune
your trolling technique. Another rule of thumb in regards
to speed is stay within a “safe” range of maybe one to one
and a half mph. Getting a handle on what’s happening in a
walleye’s world is the key to understanding “the why” and
can shorten up the time spent between hookups. The thing is
if you don’t take it all into consideration you might fall
behind (or even get ahead) of ’ol marble eyes, and that’s
no way to get your pole bent. See you on the water. Ron Anlauf
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