Tight lipped walleye

[Lund4Fish]

I'm fishing a lake in eastern Washington for walleye and they've just finished spawning, the water is 54-55 degrees. I think I've located a fair number of fish, but they're not to interested in hitting. What do you Minnesota walleye guys do when the fish are in this negative mode early in the season to get them to hit? Any suggestions?

[Eric Wettschreck]

If you are using the standard jig and minnow combo, try putting a small spinner on the jig.

[Team Otter]

I would recommend slip bobber fishing with a jig and minnow or even Lindy Riggin' with a short snell to keep your bait right at the bottom.

[Lund4Fish]

Oh ya one more critical piece of information. Washington fishing regulations do not allow the use of live bait such as minnows, however we are allowed to use crawlers or leeches, but that's about it. The standard bottome bouncer with worm harness and 1/4 oz. jig tipped with a chunk of crawler didn't seem to produce, at least not last weekend.

[Team Otter]

Slip bobber and a leech.

[goldenwalleye]

Try this. If you can pick them up on your radar, and see your jig then slowly jig them up to the top. Their basic instinct will eventually set in and they will stike before heading back to the bottom. use a spoon based jig, with or w/out minnow.

It works great through the ice. I've had them 18 feet off the bottom before then hit before.

[PerchJerker]

You could look for other fish that want to bite.

Around here, shortly after spawning the big females school up and/or start moving toward their early summer locations, and putting on the feedbag. The fish that hang around the spawning areas are not as likely to bite as the fish that are in transition.

Otherwise, slow down and downsize. Leech under a bobber is a great suggestion, go with large or medium leeches, not jumbos. Go with a 1/2 crawler on a single hook live bait rig, no spinner.

But in general, if the fish you've found aren't biting, look for other fish that do want to bite.

[james_walleye]

night fishing, thats what i do.

[Lund4Fish]

Thanks for the feedback and methods to try on these stubborn biters. Sounds like good information and I'll put it to the test this weekend. Good fishing to all of you guys too. I would guess the MN walleye season opens soon, if it hasn't already? I've fished several of the lakes back there: Mille Lacs, Sand, Leech, Cass, Kabetogama. You guys have some awesome fishing oportunities back there. I've lived in several states from Michigan to Washington and in my opinion, right there in MN is about as good as it gets for fishing.

[Team Otter]

MN Walleye Opener is on Saturday, May 12.

[Walleye71]

Best tough bite rig, single split shot 2 to 4 feet above a hook. I believe the Lindners call it "shoting". Works great in South Dakota, pitching into the timber or dragging it in front of the timber or rocks for you. Presents the bait in a very natural fashion. It is essentially the bobber setup without the bobber.

Good luck.

[Paul]

Try some gulp on a 1/16 or 1/8 oz jig head and rip jig it. some times you can tick them off enough to create a reaction bite.

[insurance guy]

What works out here in NY in early May for walleyes right after the opener is trolling cranks and making darn sure they dig right down on the bottom. We've done that since I was a kid with great success. Just have to mess around with colors and styles but running anywhere from 2 to 3 mph in shallow water will usually get you some pretty solid hookups. A lot of folks advocate the finesse approach which is good but I go for reaction bites with cranks and have always done well with that method in the spring right after the spawn. Our NY opener is always the first Saturday in May which happens to be this weekend

[Team Otter]

The 'eyes in NY must not be quite as smart (or under-fished).

[insurance guy]

Quote:

---

The 'eyes in NY must not be quite as smart (or under-fished).

---

Maybe but think Ron Seelhoff, PWT, cranks, leadcore, 3 mph at Mille Lacs. EVERYBODY said you had to rig em and jig em but he won multiple times doing the same thing over and over again lake after lake. Like him I think there's ALWAYS a trolling bite to be had on any lake at any time and it oftens results in the biggest and most bites, spring, summer or fall.

[Bassboy1645]

I agree...It seems my biggest fish go for the cranks as opposed to jigs or rigs. But there are countless pics of hawgs taken on jigs and rigs...

[PerchJerker]

Quote:

---

think Ron Seelhoff, PWT, cranks, leadcore, 3 mph at Mille Lacs. EVERYBODY said you had to rig em and jig em

---

First, I agree with you that there is always a trolling bite and it's usually the best way to target the biggest fish.

But .... this thread is about fishing in early May and your Ron Seelhoff story is from August, so not very relevant. And you can't say EVERYBODY said you had to rig 'em and jig 'em in that tournament -- not to get too picky here, but there were lots of trollers in that PWT, and there is not much jigging on Mille Lacs in the summer.

Mille Lacs is one of my favorite lakes to fish and I usually don't even bring along live bait after the early part of June .... unless I want some eaters

[Team Otter]

We're talking about tight-lipped 'eyes.

[slipperybob]

I'm gonna try drop shot technique on them 'eyes

[Kyle Sandberg]

Even though you can't use live bait, give Gulp Power Minnows a shot. They look like the real thing and might be something the fish haven't seen. Just my .02