What do you use?

[Christopher Quast]

Just curious what your bait or baits or rigs of choice are used for fishing walleyes during cold water periods such as during opener and the follwing couple of weeks?

[Scott M]

When water is this cold stay away from leeches that will ball up. Fatheads and shiners work well on live bait rigs jigs and slip bobbers. The flash of a spinner blade with a crawler hooked up works well off the bottom on a bouncer. Some guys will even start in with night time cranks.

It's kind of a personal opinion question.

I look at the opener and following weeks as striking while the irons hot. It's the reason that something like 40% of the entire year's walleye harvest happens in the first 3-4 weeks. When the water temperatures get warm enough and spawning is over, walleyes will feed really hard. They are more vulnerable to anglers during this period than any other time of the year. Wait longer and the water gets warmers, fish can be harder to find, and eventually this year's crop of baitfish hatches and begins to fill the void in the walleye's diet, making the fish less aggressive and likely to chase down an angler's offerings.

[Team Otter]

Plain hooks, jigs and minnows are a good start.

[Seabass77]

Just one note, leeches only ball up when they go from a warmer water temp to a colder one. Leeches are not balled up when they are at the cooler at the bait shop. Guys use leeches on Mille Lacs all season long.

[TrophyEyes]

I was going to say, I never have had them ball up. If you keep them use to the cold water they will be fine. I would also try Gulp leeches lindy rigging if you are really worried about it. I have more problems keeping shinners alive than I do leeches balling up.

Presentation speed is far more important than what tactic you are using in my mine opinion. You have to be moving much slower this time of year, as they can be very inactive right after the spawn. Jigging, slip bobbers, and lindy rigging with multiple drift socks are my methods. I have caught some of my biggest fish before June 15th.

[LMITOUT]

Slightly step on the leech and that'll keep them from balling up too when they hit the cold water.

[PerchJerker]

I'll start with a jig and shiner or maybe a jig and fathead if I'm missing bites or ther's panfish around.

[Northlander]

Ill be jiggin a minnow and slow trooling spinners and spin n glows. Plastics will be used a lot as well. Water is cold so plastics should work well. A bare hook with a small bead above it just dead sticked will bring some home as well.

[Stick in Mud]

As mentioned before, slip bobbers are excellent, too. I supppose it depends where you are fishing, but where we are going it's very busy, so it's kind of nice to sit still and let the other guys stress out. And, if you can get yourself on some fish, they are about as productive as anything out there.