Slow Walleye Opener
May 13, 2018
May 12th 2018
With the walleye opener yesterday, I was looking forward to getting out this morning with new clients. Marc had booked the day last December as a Christmas gift and remarkably he lucked out with the weather. We met up at 7:30 and shortly after, were on our way to the first spot looking for gold!
I set out 4 lines as Don & Darren had joined Marc giving me a chance at a full spread. Water temps weren’t great and the clarity was terrible, but I still expected to get bit. A deep to shallow troll was in order as I searched for our first bite! I trolled along and right on cue, our first one was a very short strike. With my speed so slow from the 51 degree water, it was almost inevitable! The next reel to fire was a deep diver and Darren boated the first eye of the day. It fell off in the net indicating just how lethargic they were! A chunky 20 incher soon entered the livewell after a few quick pics and the skunk was officially out!
We resumed our troll with confidence, now that we had proof they lived here! I covered water in search of warmer temps and marked many fish in the area. Unfortunately they seemed a little lock jawed and never really moved to eat. After about 10 minutes I decided to check the lines and to no surprise found a rider on one of the them. Don got to reel in an almost dead walleye of the same size that also fell off in the net. Aggressive, I think not!
We remained in this area for a couple of hours and picked up a few more pike before heading to another section of the lake. I did the same thing here with similar results and only pike to show for our efforts. Time for another move!
This next stop had the reels going almost immediately but pike and smallies were the only two species getting hooked. In fact most of the bass were jumping the hooks when they took to the air! As I didn’t want to keep hooking them, I decided to move out of the area completely and apparently away from all the fish as well. It wasn’t until I decided to relocate again that I realized there were walleye here! As I brought in the lines, one of the deep divers felt heavy and we had our third eye of the day! These fish were so lethargic that the reel never made a sound, even with an extremely light drag!
The next area close by produced nothing but bottom and I didn’t stay long. I wanted to find warmer water and headed closer to where I began. This wasn’t much better and the water color was definitely worse! Visibility was only inches with bright colored lures! We did manage to have a few more fish in the last hour or so and boated three walleye along with a few bass.
Today was definitely a challenge and we worked for each and every fish that hit! Despite the difficult fishing, there was still plenty of action throughout the day, making it a success. They managed to bring a limit of eyes home with them and reel in a decent amount of other fish.
With warmer temps ahead, the fishing will only get better and I will be out to take advantage of the bite. I plan on fishing every day with or without customers in the coming weeks! With several openings available, I hope to see some new faces along with a few regulars, as the fish start to feed. I know this week will definitely increase the water temps, triggering everything to eat. I can’t wait! Better days ahead!!
