Early Season Minnow Bait Walleye
By: Tyler Dunn   Tyler Dunn Guiding

The most exciting time of the year for a diehard walleye fisherman is most definitely spring. With the anticipation of the walleye opener just around the corner, most throughout the province have been fantasizing about the upcoming golden adventures since the ice was around. Many will suggest that a jig and minnow is the most productive bait for spring walleye. I don’t disagree. It is definitely the most efficient tactic when you know where the fish are. New and even big bodies of water can often present the challenge of covering huge portions of the water body before you can “sit” on them. The following tips are for minnow baits which are very popular during the fall but can be often overlooked as an early season walleye lure.

Location
Post-spawn walleye can be found in many places throughout a lake or river system. Pre-spawn spots like river or creek mouths will still have fish around but more than likely these will be males which are usually on the smaller side. Not only will classic early season spots hold walleye

but summer spots such as deep water humps, rocky shoals and even the basin will hold fish and usually the big ones. Big female walleyes receive first choice of an ideal spawn area, do their thing and then quickly move back into the lake. This is the point where spawning is finally off the mind of the fish and feeding is now back as the top priority. Opposite of the day, night will bring these deep aggressive fish into the shallows. Walleyes are notorious for cruising shallow shorelines that have access to deep water nearby. This will often happen for a good portion of the night as they search of any unsuspecting prey before retreating back into the comfort of the deep for the day.

Equipment
Medium action, 6 ½ - 7 ½ foot rods are the perfect match for smaller inland lakes and rods up to 8 feet are excellent choices for bigger bodies of water. A fast action tip on the rod will help the rod work as a giant shock absorber. Walleyes have paper thin mouths which will almost always call for a soft tip and a slower retrieve speed when you’re bringing the fish to the boat. Forget the big rod pumps that you give Chinook salmon. Instead a slow and steady retrieve will help ensure a hole is not worn into the walleyes mouth which can be a huge problem with minnow baits. As far as a reel goes, I generally tend to use a round bait casting reel spooled up monofilament line in 8 or 10 pound test in small to medium lakes. Large bodies of water such as any of the Great Lakes don’t think twice about using 14 to 17 pound test especially if you’re using planers or downriggers. Added to my monofilament mainline is always a fluorocarbon leader for superior stealth and resistance against nicks and frays.

Different Depths
Each level in the water column can be attained by using a different method of sinker placement. With the exception of downriggers minnow baits can be presented on top, suspended or on the bottom of the water column with different sizes and styles of weights. Flat lined minnow baits will not generally dive any deeper than 10 feet. Deep diving versions will but most shallow running plugs will not exceed 10 feet without the addition of weight. When I am targeting the top of the water column the only weight I will add would be a split shot. Often times this isn’t even done for weight instead the split shot helps to keep weeds from the lure. The middle of the water column can be reached by adding different styles of sinkers to your line. An egg sinker is one of the most basic sinkers to add. Simply just place it above the barrel swivel on your fluorocarbon leader. A clip on sinker is another great option and can be put on your mainline at any point even 50-100 feet in front of the lure. The downside of this is that you are going to need someone to take the sinker off when fighting a fish. This is a much stealthier technique when compared to an egg sinker especially in clear water. Lastly, the bottom of the water column can be reached by using either a 3-way swivel or bottom bouncer. Personally, I recommend using a 3-way swivel. A 3-way has a few advantages compared to a bottom-bouncer. The first advantage is the price. Bell or pencil sinkers used on 3-ways are much cheaper than a bottom bouncer. Another advantage is you can control the amount of line down to your sinker. A foot or two will keep the bait very close to bottom, while sinker leads of three to six feet will keep your minnow bait slightly off bottom. I generally use a smaller lead on rocks and a longer lead when fishing around woody areas. If you do decide to use a bottom bouncer, tie one end of a 3-5 foot piece of line to a barrel swivel and the other to your shallow running minnow baits. Attach the barrel swivel to the snap swivel on the bottom bouncer and you’re then ready to fish.