As Forrest Gump famously mentioned, “life is sort of a field of goodies.” The lovable analogy additionally applies to many fisheries within the late winter and really early spring, and walleyes aren’t any exception. You simply by no means know what you’re going to get — a number of extra weeks of secure ice, your very first crack at open water, or, within the occasion of an abnormally heat winter, concern of lacking out?
My pal Captain Ross Robertson makes his dwelling chasing walleyes on Lake Erie out of Port Clinton, Ohio, 12 months a yr. He by no means takes a break, which suggests he has a long time of expertise coping with this transitional interval that always throws you huge curveballs. The reality, nonetheless, is that there is no such thing as a higher time to hook huge numbers of large walleye than late March and early April. However success revolves round having the ability to shortly adapt to altering circumstances. It doesn’t matter what you’re experiencing on your property lake this yr, Robertson has the key sauce.
Hearken to this week’s episode of the Fast Strike Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
State of affairs 1: There’s Nonetheless Secure Ice
Given how chilly it’s been this winter, there’s an opportunity that the ice will nonetheless be a lot thick within the very early spring, particularly in case you dwell within the northern a part of the nation. And you’ll have already been having a stellar hardwater season. What you could discover, nonetheless, is that as issues start to heat up, the fishing will get tough. What labored in January will not be the ticket now. That’s as a result of — regardless of the lake nonetheless being locked up — the fish are altering their habits.
“If you happen to’re on the Nice Lakes in late March, it’s a must to assume this fish are going to be spawning inside 14 days,” says Robertson. “The water is commonly very clear, and now the fish are popping out of hibernation, if you’ll, they usually’re shifting round placing the feedbag on. So, if I’m nonetheless on ice this time of yr, I’m leaning onerous on lures with loud rattles.”
Extra from Robertson: The Best Walleye Lures, Tested and Reviewed
Robertson calls out the Silver Streak Rattle Streak Spoon as his first alternative, and notes that with fish on the transfer, a loud bait is vital to attract them in from a distance. Extra importantly, he additionally suspends a easy jig on a second rod in the identical gap. Robertson says it’s not unusual to attract an enormous fish in with a rattle spoon that could be hesitant to chew, however the dead-sticked jig sitting there doing nothing gives a secondary goal for the fish and sometimes makes the ultimate play.
State of affairs 2: The Ice Simply Got here Off
When the ice is thick, it’s simple to trick your self into pondering it is going to take an eternity for it to go away. However that’s merely not the case. Even toes of ice can break up shortly as temperatures rise. The truth is, years in the past I deliberate an open water journey with Robertson and simply days earlier than the ramp was nonetheless frozen. He wasn’t certain if we’d get out, however the ice cleared 48 hours earlier than I arrived, and we had been handled to a number of the most distinctive walleye fishing I’ve ever skilled.
“What a whole lot of guys do in these first few days of ice out is fish just like the ice remains to be there,” Robertson says. “They aim the identical areas, use Spot-Lock to remain in place, and fish vertically. I’ve even seen guys deliver their ice fishing flashers out on the boat. This technique can work effectively, however I desire to cowl extra water.”
Robertson trolls crankbaits like a Rapala Husky Jerk, however the secret is shifting painfully gradual. He leans on his trolling motor — not a kicker motor — to creep alongside at speeds shut to at least one mile per hour. Although the fish could also be on the transfer, they will not be aggressive sufficient to smack fast-moving lures, so this fashion of trolling gives a slower presentation much like what you’d need on the ice however permits him to cowl a wider swath of water till he finds a pile of fish.
State of affairs 3: It Was an Abnormally Heat Winter
We already know this wasn’t the case within the winter of 2025-2026, however it does occur infrequently, even across the Nice Lakes. In March, many boats are nonetheless winterized in backyards, and it’s not unusual for anglers to suppose that, regardless of the early heat up, the fish will wait till April to get into their spawning patterns. However Robertson says that’s not the case.
Learn Subsequent: Never Fillet Bluegills Again, Use This Method Instead
“The bigger the physique of water, and the bigger the walleye inhabitants, the extra a really early spring will have an effect on the fish,” he says. “However the important thing factor to grasp is that the most important fish spawn first. There’s knowledge to again that up. Trophy-class fish are simply going to spawn every time the circumstances make them suppose, ‘hey, I really feel good with this.’ The larger fish particularly gained’t care in regards to the calendar.”
The purpose Robertson is making is that in case you consider you gained’t miss out in case you wait till early April to begin fishing, you’re each proper and unsuitable. Sure, the majority of the walleyes could maintain off regardless of the abnormally early heat up, however you can be lacking out on peak time for the giants. The one technique to capitalize is to be versatile — if long run forecasts are exhibiting a significant, warming development in late February or early March and the ice is off, don’t wait round. Get the boat prepared and go.
Trending Merchandise
