When it comes to spring walleye fishing, I like to cut the season in half. The first half of the season the water and weather conditions are still quite cold and we’re on the classic “pre-spawn” bite. Fish are not aggressively chasing and you really have to force feed them.
As the spring progresses and the water and air temperatures get warmer, that is when I start getting more aggressive. The fish are in that “post-spawn” mode and they’re ready to start eating. In this article, I discuss how I differentiate these halves and how it impacts my presentation.
Understanding How Weather and Water Impacts Walleyes
The weather and water conditions have a tremendous effect on what presentation is going to work best for walleye. The reason this is so critical is because walleye are ectothermic, this means that their environment determines their metabolism and body operating temperatures. Humans are endothermic, we do everything we can to maintain a constant temperature regardless of the outside extremes. A few examples of how we do that is shivering in the cold and sweating in the heat. Walleyes do not do this. When the water is cold, their metabolism is going to be slow and thus they will be less active. When the water is warm their metabolism will be cranking and they will generally be more active. This is important to understand when it comes to selecting your presentation for spring walleye.
Steak Dinners
Generally, earlier in the spring water temperatures are going to be much lower and that means the walleye are going to be less active. Large walleye are looking for a meal that is worth the energy they expend to obtain it. This means that they want something that is large and easy to catch. For bait selection I favor a 4 inch plastic in this situation as this matches the forage currently in the system at this time and also is the type of bait that large walleye are looking to chow on. They are not looking to run around and eat 15 chicken wings, they would rather have one big steak dinner.
The BFISHN Tackle Authentix 4 inch Moxi Ringtail is a fantastic steak dinner presentation. As far as color I like to use “Great White” when the water is clear and the sun is still around and then “Chart-Silver Flake-White Core” once it gets dark or when the water is stained. “Chartreuse-Orange core” also is a terrific bait for fishing dirtier water in the day or also fishing at night and “Pink/White” is another top option I like when the water is clear and the sun has not sunk below the horizon. Personal preference and experimentation from waterbody to waterbody opens up the door for more color opportunities, those are just my favorites.
I like to put these plastics on a 1/16oz lead head jig. The first reason for that is the surface area to weight ratio involving the light jigs and the large plastics makes the bait swim and float much easier. This mimics a dying baitfish and also has more natural movements and not abrupt up and downs like what a heavier jig would cause. The second reason is that this gives you the ability to float your baits over the top of rocks, boulders and other structure. This reduces the amount of time you are snagged, increasing fishing time.
The last key to the presentation is having the correct retrieve. The rig actually casts pretty well due to the large size of the plastic and also lacks the loud splash that a heavier jig would cause that could scare shallow, skittish walleye. I begin the retrieve once the bait has dropped down to the bottom, you might not be able to feel it so it’s important to pause and trust that you are in the strike zone. The retrieve is a slow, rather exceptionally slow, steady reel. I keep the rod tip pointed down and reel just fast enough to get the tail of the Moxi turning. These baits excel at fishing at these speeds. The ribs of the bait and the tail turning is more than enough vibration and attraction to draw the attention of large, hungry walleyes.
Maintaining a constant retrieve is critical because the walleye is going to see the bait and start tracking it. Once it decides it looks good it is going to absolutely crush it, the fish doesn’t want to waste energy on a meal that it misses. The lack of jerks and aggressive hops in the retrieve makes it much easier for the walleye to track it and also practically ensures that the fish is going to get hooked. The small jig head more often than not is hooked right in the corner of the mouth allowing for easy handling and a quick unhooking to get the fish back in the water should that be what the angler wants.
Compact Baits for Big Success
Towards the middle and end of spring the water is starting to warm and the fish are starting to chase more aggressively. Once this starts to happen fishing smaller baits at higher speeds helps cover more water and contact more of these active fish. This is an excellent way to either fill a limit of aggressive fish quickly or find fish in an area and then begin to thoroughly pick it apart.
For this type of fishing I like to bump my jig size up to about a 1/8oz jig. This increases casting distance and helps give a better feel for working baits more aggressively. This also allows for sharper actions such as skips and hops as well as allowing a better feel for the bait and maintaining bottom contact.
The plastic is going to be different as we are looking for a different type of action with this set up. I favor a BFishN Authentix 3.25 inch Pulse-R, Berkley Powerbait 3 inch Ripple Shad or Berkley Powerbait 3 inch Power Minnow. This is a little smaller bait overall and it can be fished as is or it can be cut in half to give even a more compact profile. I like to cut the bait and use the paddle tail half to put out a lot of vibration into the water. This helps appeal to smaller fish including the more aggressive males that make an excellent bag at the end of the day.
Once again the same color patterns tend to emerge. For Pulse-Rs, I like “Great White” and “Pink/White” during the day and when water is clear. These baits tend to stand out well and give a more natural presentation. When the water is dirty or when it is dark out my favorites are “Chartreuse Silver Flake/White Core”, “Firecracker”, “Chartreuse/Orange Core” and “Goldcracker/Chartreuse Tail”. For the Powerbaits it is hard to beat Pearl White, but similar colors as above can also produce. Once again experimentation and personal preference is going to be critical when selecting the right color for each waterbody.
Spring can be a difficult time for both anglers and fish. The weather and spawn can make fishing extremely difficult; however, having the right plan and presentation can yield some excellent results. There are so many plastics on the market that selecting the best ones seems like a daunting task in itself. The BFISHN plastics have produced incredibly for me since I started fishing them nine years ago. Berkley Powerbait and GULP! baits have also been a staple since I first got into walleye fishing. I have also had more and more success on the Berkley Ripple Shad since I began fishing them more often. The right presentation is critical in spring arguably more than any time of the year. The good news is that when everything clicks, spring is a terrific time to catch a fish of a lifetime. Good fishing!
Related Articles
Looking to learn more about my steak dinner presentation? Check out my article Upsizing Plastics for Goliath Spring Walleye where I detail my entire presentation and location tactics to catch pre-spawn trophy walleye!
There’s also another presentation I love to deploy on spring walleye, casting suspending jerkbaits. You can learn more about this different approach in my article Suspending Jerkbaits for Cold Water Walleye.
