The Dark Side Of Spring Walleye Fishing

I used to kid my old buddy Art Moraski, alias "the Night Stalker" due to his penchant for fishing after sundown, that night fishing was for people who couldn't catch fish during the day. And do you know what? To some extent, that's still true. Because under certain conditions, daytime fishing for walleyes can turn so darn tough that it's hard to keep your spirits up and your lines down until the fish finally become active around sundown. At that point, the fishing can run anywhere from fair to good to absolutely phenomenal, making you wonder just what those walleyes were doing during the day, when you could have sworn the lake was empty of aquatic life.

The point is, if environmental factors conspire to make early-spring walleye fishing a daytime drought, why not explore the options after dark? Take advantage of the bite when the bite's good even if it costs you a little sleep in the process.

Only local investigation will reveal whether your local waters are good candidates for daytime aversion and nighttime conversion. Perhaps a little of both is in order. The surest tipoff is that when you fish hard, exploring all sorts of options in and around shallow rock spawning areas during the day and come up empty, something's gotta give. When the water temperature's between 40F and 50F, those walleyes have to be somewhere around classic spring spawning sites: rocky inlets, rock shorelines, shallow reefs, the riprap of dams and causeways, and rock shoals in rivers. So if you try logical presentations in likely adjacent areas and don't get bit under the midday sun, chances are it's not your fault. You're probably fishing in the right place and even with the right tackle, just at the wrong time of day.

Don't give up. Just switch into nocturnal mode. Walleyes are notorious nighttime feeders and will generally feed at night in and around shallow spawning areas, even when spawning's more on their minds than scoring a tasty morsel. In some cases, night feeding at this time of year can prevail, to the virtual exclusion of daytime activity. Classic examples? Anytime the water is extremely clear and there's a lack of shallow cover, walleyes usually remain in deeper water adjacent to spawning sites during the day, moving quite shallow after sundown. During the day, they may or may not be willing to feed, but at night, the feedbag goes on in the shallows.

Excessive boat traffic and fishing pressure can push fish activity into the twilight zone as well. Too many depthfinders pinging relentlessly overhead, and too many engines chugging and plugging away, and walleyes may drop tight to the bottom, especially if they're scattered across shallow flats with suitable weed or wood or rock cover to host fish during the day. They're there. They just refuse to respond. But after sundown, when most of the boaters go home and the aquatic world turns inky black and silent, the predators go on the prowl. Include yourself in that category.

And when schools of big suspended walleyes move toward and into the shallows as the sun dips below the horizon, they become vulnerable to simple tactics in obvious places. No more searching for needles in the greater haystack, out in the vast beyond. Instead, they come to you, often right along shore. Be ready.