loacating walleye after a cold front

[hardwater fisherman]

last week the temp was in the 70s by day and 50s by night. the last 4 nights it was close to freezing and 50s in the day. went out for the opener friday and couldnt find the fish in the normal places where i fish this time of year. maybe the fish where there and they are just turned off. how long after a cold front should i wait to try again? my sonar is not showing the temp of the water the last time out last year the prop from my electric hit the transducer the water is probably in the low to mid 50s. at this time i fish on a flat of 8 feet or so. one side is a large weed flat and the other steps down into 12 feet and then falls of into 18 to 25 feet. its not a deep lake and mostly sand or mud bottom. one other thing i didnt see any schools of smaller fish like normal. in other years i saw schools of shiners and small bluegills. also i would see pike swirling the surface eating those smaller fish. maybe i need to wait a few more weeks?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

No waiting, go find the fish!

Find the bait and you'll find the predators not far away.

The situation you have at hand is the reason I love trolling so much, you can cover a lot of water and watch the sonar for the bait and fish. It's an excellent way to locate and catch fish. Just keep trolling and looking for them until you either see or catch one, when you locate the fish either turn around and troll back through them or start casting to them.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

going out again tomorrow to give another try. what you said about trolling is what i tried but i never found them. i was trolling with spinners and nightcrawler maybe tomorrow i will try some stick baits or some shallow running cranks. it did warm up today i hope that helped. i also could not find the bait fish. i fished the weed edge but not in the weeds maybe the bait fish were tucked back in them. the weeds are not to thick yet so i will do some casting also. thanks for the input.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

Maybe try deeper too, they've got to be somewhere!

 

[Grub54891]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

Did ya try by any river inlets? If it rained they might be there eating what washed down stream.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

This time of year in the northern states walleyes are very lethargic...It was only a few weeks ago they finished spawning and are spent. Generally its mid june when they become active and are subject to catching..However look for weedline's and do some slow jigging you may wake one up...They will hang very tight to cover or sunken islands or bars..where food takes very little effort.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

went to a different lake and i got skunked again. i know what your saying about them being not too active this time of year. last spring was a hot bite and the spring before was ok three years ago was just like this year. very strange weather it was colder here in march then it was in february we had rain at christmas and no safe ice for half the winter. going to be cold again this week. i know it will pick up again like you said maybe mid june or so. i booked a week off the second week of june so i hope the bite is on by then.

 

[iceangler]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

This time of year in the northern states walleyes are very lethargic...It was only a few weeks ago they finished spawning and are spent. Generally its mid june when they become active and are subject to catching..However look for weedline's and do some slow jigging you may wake one up...They will hang very tight to cover or sunken islands or bars..where food takes very little effort.

I have to strongly disagree here. The 4-5 weeks after spawn are some of the most productive times to fish. I typically catch some of my biggest fish of the season post spawn. They are lethargic, this is why I choose a slow, steady live bait presentation.

3 ways, one floating jig head, one lead, minnow on each and drifting shallow flats is my go to. Slow jigging. Vertical jigging produce lots too.

 

[iceangler]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

Hardwaterfisherman, what are the water temps?

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

as i posted im not sure the water temp my sonar just shows 99 degrees i think its the transducer. i will find out the exact temp this week.
its not legal to use live minnows here in quebec. i wish it was. the only time and place it is legal is on the st lawernce for ice fishing. i have tried jigging with dead minnows. not that great. the water is down this spring and very stained as well. they are calling for rain for three more days followed by cold again. the spinners and worms has worked well for me in the past but not so far this year. i think this weekend im going out on the st lawernce it normally is easy to find them out in the channel or just on the edge. i will probably catch 10 sauger for every walleye but they taste good too.

 

[iceangler]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

I would go with the three way set up and tip with a crawler or leech if minnows were illegal. Also slow death might be worth a shot. If the waters still sub 55 keep the dirft or troll between .5-.75. I usually don't pull 1mph or over until 60+

 

[littlerayray]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

up here in ontario the walleye are in very deep water at the moment its strange for this time of year

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

i think they are laying deep here also. i fish shallow this time year but no luck. i marked some fish deeper but no luck catching them.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

There's a couple other aspects of fishing you may want to consider:

1. Are you just going fishing when it's comfortable and convenient for you? Or are you trying to hit the prime time bites? Dawn and dusk, low light hours are especially good for the Pickeral (Canadian for Walleye) bite. Do you go if it's windy and fish the wind blown shores, wind blows the bait balls to shore and the fish will stack up there to feed.

I've found that if you miss the prime time feedings and just go out when the weather is nice and when it's a good time of day for you, the fish will ignore you and anything you offer. I've gone all day without a bite because I got out on the water too late for the morning bite, the fish gorged themselves before I got there and then they just suspend motionless the rest of the day. Then just before dusk they'll get hungry and bite like crazy 'til dark and turn off again.

The day time fishin'without any bites isn't that bad if you just want to get out on the water and wet a line, but if you want to catch something you better be there when the fish are biting and not just when it's a good time for you to go.

2. I follow the Solunar tables and have found them somewhat accurate depending on weather and water conditions. If the weather and water are right at the published peak feeding times I've found that the bite is usually pretty good. If the weather or water conditions are off at the published feeding time it can inhibit the bite, but I still usually manage to catch a few.

Donj't worry about catching the fish too much, just enjoy your time out on the water... and if the Dore aren't biting, try targeting the Pike or even Yellow Perch.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

i fish alot in winter through the ice i know about the walleyes feeding windows. im on the ice when its still dark and im home by 10 am. in spring i have caught fish from morning till mid afternoon. in the heat of summer i do what you said i fish for the walleye in the morning and when it starts to warm up i switch to pike. in fall i find the evening bite to be the best. it has rained here for three days and it is supposed to rain until next tuesday. i dont think im going out until the rain stops and the water clears up some.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

I don't fish in the rain too much either, unless it's a warm summer light rain... but I love fishin' the muddy water because!:

1. It makes the fish less wary and they don't spook near as easily.

2. Lots of other fishermen hate the muddy water and don't understand how to fish it so they don't go out and there's less traffic on the lake.

3. I've caught some of my best fish in muddy water.

4. Fish will be shallower in muddy water because of less light penetration and muddy water warms faster than clear water

When fishing muddy water use a bright and dark color combination lure. My favorite is called Popsicle, it's half dark purple and half bright pink:

I don't know what it is about this color combination in muddy water, but I catch a lot of fish on it... and a lot of different species too. It is my "go to" muddy Spring water color and I wouldn't dream of going fishing without it in the Spring.

I also have good results with just dark or other dark and light color combinations. Other colors that work in muddy water for me are black/chartreuse, black/blue, and Junebug.

I don't pull out the lighter/brighter colors until the water clears up and the sun comes out, then it's yellow/white, blue/white, pink/white, or just solids of those colors.

Give the dark colors a shot in the muddy water, you might be glad you did.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

i dont mind the rain but it is too cold to go out. it is 46 degrees with a steady rain. i know what you mean about muddy water one lake i fish is a large long and deep lake with one narrow river feeding it. the other guys always say dont go in the river its too muddy. the truth is its always muddy. some of my best fish came from that muddy river. also i fish the edge of where the river water mixes with the lake it seems like the predators are waiting for the bait to come out of the dark colored water. my girlfriend has a favorite spinner bait she uses for bass and pike its all black with 2 blades. the blades have orange tips. i like to use yellows and whites or reds. on dark overcast days with not much sun her dark bait seems to be what the fish like most. it is like you said on the bright sunny days they seem to prefer the flashy yellows and greens.

 

[littlerayray]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

i found the walleye yesterday finally i was using a bottom bouncer and worm harness but they kept destroying my worm harnesses

 

[Teamster]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

i found the walleye yesterday finally i was using a bottom bouncer and worm harness but they kept destroying my worm harnesses

What pound test mono are you using to tie your harnesses??,......

 

[littlerayray]

Re: loacating walleye after a cold front

i was using steel coated worm harnesses they are rated for 30lbs test they would grab my line and run downstream taking over 100 yards of line while i was chasing them down with the boat and after bout ten minutes of fighting i would feel a sickening pop in the line