Spinners Aren’t Just For Spinning

      Most walleye fishermen think it’s necessary to get a spinner blade spinning to catch walleyes. If you take the time to experiment, you will find many instances when a blade that’s just flopping around and not moving fast enough to spin will produce two or three times as many fish.  When a good spinner bite suddenly dies, or heavy bottom bouncer/spinner pressure on a certain structure begins to slow the bite, try slowing down, moving with the wind, and just get your blades to flop around a bit.  It's a method that will trigger trophy fish too.

Morris The Walleye

      Set a ball down in front of a cat and he’ll look at you like your crazy.  Roll it swiftly away and he’s triggered to jump on it.  Predatory fish have this same instinct when a big crankbait comes whizzing by.

Sunglasses

     UV protection is extremely important to the health of your eyes and being out in such a glare/UV rich environment means many of you aren’t protecting your eyes well enough!  The important part with sunglasses is you need to eliminate UV rays from entering the eyes.  UV rays are responsible for damage to the eye lids and the formation of some types of cataracts.  Look at your labels—According to physicians at the Mayo Clinic, you need glasses that block out at least 99% of UVB rays and 95% UVA rays.  Polycarbonate lenses are a big plus since they protect your eyes in case of an impact to the eye area.  Polycarbonates also effectively block out UV radiation.  Only purchase sunglasses with this iron clad protection.

On Board Charger

     With onboard chargers you want a bank for each battery in your boat.  So a 24 volt bowmount system along with one 12 volt starting/accessory battery means you’ll need a three bank charger.  Yes, you’re engine will charge the cranking battery, but it never hurts to keep it in top condition between use.  10 amp banks are usually enough to get the job done, but going to a 15 amp bank is advised if you really suck the life out of your batteries.  Another feature to look for in an on-board charger is a charge indicator so you can easily tell if the batteries are “done” at a glance.  Chargers leading the pack with walleye fishermen will shut off the moment a battery is complete. 

Here's one more piece of classic advice that should help your spring and early summer fishing...

The Spawning Canvas

     The peak spawning water temperatures for walleyes is 43 to 48 degrees.  Some walleyes will spawn earlier and others into the 53 degree range.  But, the bulk of spawning will occur when water temperatures stabilize in the above range.  It’s a short period, often times taking only 1 week to get the bulk of the spawning completed.  The length of day also influences spawning.  No matter what the water temperatures are doing, you will find that walleyes spawn at roughly the same time in a given location each year.  When the proper length of day parallels the ideal water temperatures you get a fast and intense spawning period.  When water temperatures get out of skew and remain cold, you’ll find a spread out spawning period.  Also, colder water temperatures tend to slow the dispersal from spawning areas and warm water speeds it up.  These factors can influence how far from spawning areas you decide to fish in the spring time.  A cold spring can also help you with summer fishing.  July may find walleyes more in a June pattern with a colder season.  Running thoughts like these through your head is a great first step when attacking a lake for the first time of the year.  Many fishermen could be out rigging the mid lake humps, but you might find more walleyes using closer to shore reefs and developing weed beds during a cool year.  With an exceptionally warm spring you’ll find the opposite.  Walleyes showing up on mid lake or open water areas earlier than tradition says.  Identify your canvas with which you have to work with to initially break water down.