Shallow Water Spring Walleyes

Shallow Water Spring Walleyes

By Nick Johnson

Springtime is that classic time of year when walleye anglers get to dust off the open water gear and pursue this beloved species of fish in a wide array of scenarios and presentation styles. As I have mentioned before, the spring prespawn, spawn and post spawn periods of time offer a better than average chance at catching a truly large walleye. Not only are big fish a possibility, the numbers can be up there too!

There is a stereotype surrounding spring walleye angling though, just make a trip to the local dam or lake and you will see what I am talking about. Hordes of anglers at times standing shoulder to shoulder below a dam is most certainly not an uncommon sight. These locations can produce good fishing, and they often do, but so many other areas get overlooked. Even in lakes you’ll see the anglers vertical jigging structure or slow trolling along deeper edges, deeper than shallower.

Often times those deeper fish this time of year are in a more neutral inactive mood. Not always the case but generally speaking. The fish that have turned on their feed bags are pushing up into shallower water, capitalizing on the forage present and if they haven’t spawned already they head shallow in search of good spawning habitat which in many cases is gravel.

Where anglers drop the ball is not fishing the shallow water stuff. I’m talking six feet or less and sometimes as shallow as one foot. In lakes and rivers with poor visibility a given portion of the walleyes in that system will use this shallow water habitat during daylight hours. In clear lakes you can still find a few fish shallow but generally the low light periods and into night are better.

While many of us who walleye fish have experience fishing dams and spillways, the methods here are pretty straight forward. Rather than spend time discussing this, I would like to touch on the shallow water bite that takes place in lakes and reservoirs because I truly feel that this is gravely overlooked. It may not be the golden arrow to catching a limit of walleyes all of the time but when conditions are right the action can be absolutely dynamite and I will bet you that your competition from other anglers is minimal if nonexistent.

The one nice thing about fishing shallow in lakes is that you don’t always need a boat. Boats do have the advantage of covering a lot more water in search of active fish but in a lot of our lakes this fishing resource can be accessed from shore and especially in waders. Many of our lakes and reservoirs in the state have walleyes thanks to stocking efforts from the DNR so chances are you may not live too far from an opportunity. Reservoirs such as Saylorville, Red Rock and Rathbun can be a little tougher simply due to their sheer size but they most certainly have fishable populations of walleye.

So what if you don’t have a boat? What are some of the potential options here? Well I will start off saying that most of my spring walleye fishing is not in a boat so I have a decent amount of experience here. In reservoirs, anywhere you have rip rap or rock along a bank or point is a good starting point. Couple that with some wind coming at the rocks to help push bait and warmer surface water into it and it only sweetens the deal. Places like Rathbun, Big Creek, even Brushy to name a few are classic examples of where this type of shoreline structure can really produce. My favorite ways to fish these areas from shore is with two primary strategies. One is a jig and 3-4 inch minnow style plastic cast out and slowly twitched off the bottom back in, and the other is a simple slip float presented just off the bottom with a large live minnow or a leech. Natural colors are a safe bet in a lot of conditions, especially clear water or on bright days but you can always mix it up with some chartreuse or orange, or even purple in stained waters and overcast days.

In some of these large bodies of water you will have creeks that feed in from the backend of the bays. Just after a good rain these creeks run muddy and the incoming water will produce a defined mud line coming into the clearer water of the main body. This can even happen in the main basin when incoming muddy water from the feeder stream or river sweeps past points where the adjoining bay holds clearer water. Whether it’s a lake, reservoir or river, walleyes key in on this mud line which also concentrates forage species and it can be a dynamite spot to fish along while these conditions are available.

In the northern tier of the state, for example, one can find many lakes that have more gentle depth gradients from shore. These are best fished from boat but can also be fished effectively in shallow water using waders. Lakes like Spirit, Silver (in Dickinson County), Storm Lake and Clear Lake just to name a few. In these situations it pays to have a rod capable of long casts to cover more water. You can still fish the tradition jigs and live bait presentations but I prefer shallow minnow style crankbaits like the Rapala Flat Rap or Shadow rap. The baits have a very exaggerated wobble when retrieved and have the added bonus of suspending in place when paused, which can be absolutely critical for semi-aggressive fish.

In lakes with murkier water the bite can occur throughout the day but in most cases the morning and evening periods are best. At times the night bite may be the only ticket for producing numbers and big fish. When venturing out at night, as always keep safety in mind and slow down presentations even more. Places where a creek feeds in or current presents itself, especially when walleyes are in the swing of spawning can be deadly.

If fishing from a boat take caution to the amount of noise made in the shallow water. The walleyes are no less spooky than any other time of the year and even a trolling motor can push fish out of an area if you aren’t careful. Position the boat so that you aren’t roaming right over the area you intend to fish and make longer casts when possible. Slow trolling bottom bouncers or lindy rigs is absolutely effective for fish staged a bit deeper but keep this method out of the ultra-shallow water. The lakes near my home, excluding Brushy, have a lot of cabins and when the docks start to come out I love to slowly poke along and cast jigs and crankbaits up around them. This style of fishing is more in the bass anglers wheelhouse but can also produce walleyes!

Whether you fish from a boat or shore and like to target spring walleyes, don’t forget the shallow water. Like I stated before, this is a very overlooked strategy to many anglers and hosts some of the most aggressively feeding fish this time of year. Pay attention to the water conditions, water temperature and have patience. The hot bite may only happen at certain times of the day when the walleyes push up shallow. Good luck on the water!