Early-Season Transitions

Gary Roach

Another open-water season of walleye fishing is upon us and of course everyone is starting out with high expectations. This is typical after a six week wait while the ice went out and the season opener took forever to get here. Opening day can provide a lot of things, but often when it comes to catching walleyes the opener provides a lot less than anticipated. There are a lot of lakes out there where the walleyes are still in transition and that makes fishing tougher. On top of that, this Minnesota weather we’ve been having is not conducive to a good bite. Rest assured that it is only going to take a few weeks for the walleyes to establish some routines and fishing will kick into high gear for this species.

In the mean time you still want to catch some fish. Here is how I go about fooling those early-season transitional walleyes.

From the middle of May until the middle of June walleyes will be following the schools of minnows that are up on the shallow sand flats or in the shallow vegetation. Find the forage and you will find the fish.

The technique for fishing shallow sand flats requires a moderately fast approach to find fish, yet you want to provide a natural bait presentation. For this I use a Roach Rig with a heavier walking sinker and about three to four feet between the weight and the bait.

I’m not typically fishing this rig right under the boat. The line will be stretched out about 30 to 50 feet from the Lund at about a 45-degree angle. The water you will be fishing is typically eight to 15 feet deep and as you S-troll the Roach Rig over the sand you will connect with the walleyes that are following the baitfish.

Keep the sinker on the bottom and when you do connect with a fish mark the spot and work the area. Those schools of minnows move around and so do the walleyes so you often find yourself getting a few here and a few there when the fish are spread out on the flats.

This time of year the walleyes can concentrate on a rubble point in three to 10 feet of water. This is a great spot to cast a jig and minnow. Use light line so you can really cast that jig a long distance and use a stand-up style jig head so when you’re dragging the lure back to the boat the tail of that minnow is sticking up off the bottom. The walleyes will inhale that jig as it slips past them.

Weed walleyes are often ignored all year long. That’s a mistake this time of year, because there are a lot of walleyes in the weeds right now and they should be feeding.

Let’s start with bulrush walleyes. The water is real shallow around bulrush and walleyes move right up to the edge of this emergent vegetation to feed. The best way to get them to commit is to stick a shiner minnow on a plain hook a foot or two below the surface under a bobber. Cast right up to the edge of the bulrush and give the minnow a little time to work its magic. Some guys like to anchor when they bobber fish. I let the wind dictate this situation. If it’s not so windy I can control the boat with an electric motor I leave the anchor stored. But I will drag out that heavy piece of iron to hold the boat if I think fish are there and I want to position a bait.

Another good place to find weed walleyes is on the edge of newly emerging vegetation. A weedless jig tipped with a minnow is the ticket here. You just pitch the jig to the edge of the vedge and let it sink to the bottom. Don’t be in a hurry to get the jig back to the boat. Just drag it back slowly giving it an occasional hop. Just work that weedline until you find some hungry fish.

The one problem with walleyes during transition is that they tend to be shallower so the sonar is only good to give you a depth reading. To find walleyes right now you have to either fish for them, or find them on an underwater camera. You have to drag the Roach Rig over the flats, you have to bobber those shallows, you have to work that jig. You have to go after them with the lures and techniques that work best in this time of transition. One of my tricks when fish are shallow is to get down a camera and as I drift over a big sand flat I look for walleyes meandering around near the bottom.

It won’t be long before the walleyes will work out into deeper water where the sonar becomes an important tool once again. For now just get out there and fish hard and you might find this early-season transitional period can live up to your high expectations.