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We went stripe fishing at Smith Lake in Alabama yesterday. Caught 7 in the 10-14 lbs range. 5 of the 7 were caught on the gizzard shad or scad 2 oz. spoons. Way out fished everything else including live bait. Jigged the spoons down as far as 56′. Worked great…best spoons on the market.
Sid Minton
As the water starts to warm up in late spring, you will find that the Walleye will go a little deeper or hide in the thick weeds. At this time of year the jigs or jigging spoons work best for me. Sometimes I attach a short twister tail to my jigging spoon. I make sure the jigging spoon and the twister tail are a bright colour. If you use a twister tail make sure it is unscented. You can also attach a small minnow to the jigging spoon.
I often jig straight down in thick weeds in the 5 to 10-foot range or off rocky points or shoals where there are drop-offs. When it’s windy, then I just drift and jig over the hot area.
If you enjoy fishing for Northern Pike and Walleye (Pickerel), Besnard Lake, north of Prince Albert Sask, is just the place for you. The people at Besnard Lake Lodge will take good care of you and if you don’t catch any BIG one, let me know, because you will be the first. Arriving at the dock after an enjoyable day of fishing with Saskatchewan’s finest guides, the staff will pick up your catch and take it to the modern filleting shed where your fish will be filleted, labelled and frozen. When you go you need to take the XL Spoons from Pelican. I have never been disapointed by them.
In the evening the big females start to come shallow whether it’s to return to their spawning beds or feed on minnows along the shore. Big Walleyes do get caught during the day but if you are looking for a 10-pound plus trophy, evening and night is your best chance. Troll really slow and really close to shore or along the weed lines with the Pelican pumpkin or golden trout trolling spoon and have lots of line out. You may want to stop the boat and cast if you find a sand bar or sandy bottom that is within close proximity to the weeds that they hide in during the day. When casting make sure you change to a casting spoon. On bright clear evenings you could also expect success with a fire tiger spoon.
You can cast or troll with lures along the shore and catch Walleyes. In my experience the trolling spoons have worked great since the digitally designed spoons came on the market. I now have the Pelican yellow walleye spoon and the sardine spoon in my tackle bag. These worked wonders for me in clear water or on bright sunny mornings and evenings. During darker times or in less clear water my favorites were the pumpkin seed and the golden trout lures. Make sure you use the trolling spoons for trolling. They work much better for walleye since they are not as bright.
In the spring, the smaller males stay shallow and close to the spawning area. The bigger females tend to take off into deeper water during the day. If you are looking for numbers during the day, jig in the shallow water. If you want to pick up bigger Walleyes, try going a few feet deeper but still in the same area.
Many times I’ve been challenged that some fishing lures are too expensive. I would like to suggest that quality of a lure often determines the affordability of a lure. You need to consider how long the lure will last in your tackle box and what is the likelihood of actually catching your prey with the lure. If the lure is worn out or looks terrible after little use it becomes very expensive. If the colour fades or the lure or parts of it rust it won’t be much good to you. You may have paid less, but it’s still been more expensive in the long run.
For these reasons when I buy fishing spoons I buy the Pelican Lures. Generally they cost the same as the Eppinger spoon but they outlast them or any others on the market. They are also the toughest fishing spoon I have ever seen. A Pike or Musky can chew on these lure as much as they want without damaging the spoon at all.
Which are the most affordable fishing lures? The ones that you don’t need to replace often are the most affordable.
If you want to fish with jigging spoons, use a 1/8 oz or ¼ oz spoon; I have found that white, yellow, or green colors have worked the best for me. You can put a tiny piece of worm on the jigging spoon to increase strikes but at this time of year it’s usually unnecessary.
In the early spring, the Walleye are right close to shore or congregating around areas with sand like a sand bar or a Wild Rice bed with a sandy bottom. They will also be found in the weeds or around any rocks, which are close to an area with sand. The location of sand is very important because that’s where they spawn. They will also spawn in river current. At this time of year the Walleyes are very aggressive and will hit just about any lure.
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