Does anyone want to edjumkate me?

[Jeremy A]

Ok, so now the truth comes out. I suck at catching eyes in the eary spring...


so Is it even worth fishing for walleyes after iceout, or should I just stick to my habit of northern fishing in the spring, and hold off on the eyes till early june or so?

If Eyes are active early, what is the best tactic for finding and catching them?

[Roger Mayer]

Ice out walleyes......


I have caught them on surface plugs after ice out. But my most consistant way is just using a leech on a small hook, no weight on the line at all. A long noodle rod helps with casting distance. I just let the leech do it's thing.

Nice sand bars hold walleye as shallow as 2 feet during a cloudy day.

Back bays that warm up also hold walleye in the spring. Mouths of small creeks and rivers hold them.

And remember.......HUKED ON FONIKS WERKD FER MY!!!!!!!!!

Roger Mayer.

[Jeremy A]

LOL, thanks Roger

[eyedoktr]

I fish the springtime mostly at night in about 5-10 feet of water. I like to use a dark brown 1/8th oz. bucktail jig with no live bait. I will also cast minnow type baits (suspending rattlin' rouges work great)over the areas that will normally have weeds in the summer. If I can find where a creek enters the lake or even where there is run-off coming in, that's a big bonus. Good luck.

[Eyez]

Hey Jeremy, you should drag yourself up this way this spring, and we'll go hit some good spring spots. In past years I have spent alot of time on Albert and Poinsett in the spring, and the spillway east of Poinsett on the big sioux is a good spring spot too. There tends to be a bit of a lull right after ice out, but it's usually a darn good bite by the time the water hits 42 or so, mostly for smaller males. Or you could always go to Waubay or Bitter, there will probably be good fish up shallow in the trees, so long as there is a sand or gravel bottom there, like around the islands on Waubay.


Eyez

[River_eye]

Regulations up here in Manitoba don't let you fish right after ice-out, season starts the second Saturday in May.

What I look for right off the bat is any streams coming into the lake or river, and shallow, sandy shorelines and weeds adjacent to any potential spawning grounds. In spring I never fish in more than 10 ft of water, and will often cast really light jigs tipped with just a minnow up to the shore or the weeds in less than 2 feet of water. A slow retrieval is a must, as the fish are fairly slow at this time of year. I also occasionally troll crankbaits parrallel to the shore at a depth that I've caught a coupple fish at.

So could you give me a few tips on catching pike in the spring?

River eye

[Jeremy A]

Eyez, I am coming up to travers as soon as the ice is gone.

I think I know where you are talking about on poinsett, and with that in mind I know what what kind of cover everyone is talking about now. Guess I should did you the hip waders and make sure they don't leak.

Rivers Eyes, perch colored spoons, on a rocky shore line, near inlets, shallows.

Also Dead bait works well from my understanding. pike are already in prespawn before iceout, so when you can fish they are looking for food. but they like winter kill food, so dead bait rigged to float head down works pretty good.

On the fishing minnesota web site they talk about glassing the water from bluffs, they say you can see logs just swim away or sink out of site. this is a good way to target your fish.

[Walter]

Where is travers?

[Jeremy A]

Lake Travers, is just north of big stone lake on the MN SD border. I guess you can get some big pike around the dam.

[Bottomfeeder]

Early spring walleyes spawn in either lakes or rivers. We fish nothern Wisconsin lakes for the opener each year, and for many years we hired an excellent guide.

His philosophy was:
1. Start in the rocks. Jig and a minnow.
2. After they move off of the rocks, fish the wood. Jig and a minnow and slipbobbers.
3. After they leave the wood, fish the weeds. Jig and a minnow and slipbobbers.

We also fish rivers where we vertlcle jig with jig and a minnow. Match the speed of the river with the boat, make bottom contact and stay verticle.

Good Luck
Bottomfeeder

[AquaMan]

Ho, buddy! Spring is some of the best fishing around. Don't give up.

Post spawn eyes are in shallow and feeding hard. River mouths (Both in the current and in the eddies) are a bonus since the eyes are looking to spend the lease amount o energy and harvest the greatest amount of food. They are tired and hungry for the spawn. Since the bait fish tend to gather at these points to feed as well, the eyes will be there. Top water, jigs, shad raps..toss them all and have a blast. Fly fishing is even fun this time of year. Evenings are good, too, since they cruise the shallows then in search of easy pry and the water is highly oxygenated this time of year. Trolling the sand flats off the shore line in about 5-10' can produce some phenominal fish. Yeah, Spring fishing is some of the best!

Zowie, I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhg, this weather really sucks dead leeches.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.·´¯° --- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"

[the viking]

yigs and wimmows, it don't get no better dan dat...like to go to travers wit you all, but wer goin' bowling,....'member?

[Backwater Eddy]

Hay Jeremy who is the nut who wrote that article on the pike on FM.com?

:)