Spring Into Walleyes
Spring time walleye fishing is an amazing thing. A big part of being a successful a fisherman is understanding what pattern a specific type of fish is in at the time of you're fishing trip. Establishing a basic migratory pattern is a basic approach that helps determine the location of concentrations of a specific type of fish. What successful fisherman often do is schedule their fishing trips around these patterns.
Walleyes are what we are using for this example. One good place to start is to determine a river in you're area that Walleye's are known to spawn in. Keeping in mind that the Walleye's in Michigan waters normally spawn in the beginning of March through April. It's important to understand the local fishing regulations in place for that area. There are many areas that have their own regulations in place to protect the Walleye while their in their spawning run. Knowing where the Walleyes are going gives you a place to target .Determining where they are coming from is the next step.
The Detroit River for example is known to have migrating Walleyes from the second half of March into the first part of May. Take into account that a majority of the fish are coming from eastern areas on Lake Erie. The timing of the migration will very from year to year based on spring time conditions.
Knowing this about the migration of the Walleyes in this area. I would ask myself the following questions. When am I heading to the area in relationship to the general time frame of the spawn? How good has the fishing been in the river up to the point of my fishing trip?
Most people go to the river no matter what the answer is. Truth be known if the walleye don't seem to be in the river yet. Fish the mouth of the river down the lake shore toward Luna Pier which is where the majority of the fish are coming from. Have you determined it's late in the spawn as you're in the area late April. Again you may want to think about the mouth of the river and down toward Luna Pier as that's where the fish are headed.
The bottom line is there are lots of indicators you can use . The first thing is determining where fish spawn in the you're neck of the woods. Here are a couple of tips for fishing the Detroit River and Lake Erie in the spring. Dirty Water is prevalent in the spring time. High winds and run off both effect water clarity and effect where the fish are and how they bite.
If the water is dirty in the river itself switch from vertical jigging which is the most common method. Start running Crank Baits. It can be as simple as running a Three Way Rigs or bottom bouncers with a floating Rapalas behind it five feet or so. When selecting colors to bring with you it's a good idea to consider crank baits with bright custom colors. Good Quality custom painted baits tend to have much brighter colors available. This is a great advantage when it comes to dirty water.
When fishing the Lake Erie shoreline target anywhere inside 18 feet of water. One rule of thumb is to target the top half of the water depth. Areas to look for are the Banana Dike, Stoney Point, Brest Bay and out in front of Luna Pier.
Captain: Ernest Miller