| Active aggressive fish grouped up in predictable | | | | Spawning itself will not occur until very late in |
| locations on a full blown walleye feeding frenzy. | | | | March or April depending on how far north and |
| Sound like fun? If it does, then you'll want to take | | | | South you live. Folks up in Canada see even later |
| full advantage of the walleye fishing opportunities | | | | spawning times. Water temperatures coupled with |
| as the ice melts and we transition to spring. The | | | | longer daylight hours will kick off spawning, for |
| fish are making some major moves and they're | | | | these two factors signal the end of the ripening |
| ready to play ball! Make no mistake about it. | | | | process for the females eggs. |
| As the days lengthen and the first few hints of a | | | | The best part about late ice is the walleyes start |
| spring thaw take place, the walleyes begin | | | | to show up in very predictable locations. It's a |
| readying themselves for spawning. They group up | | | | time of year when walleyes act as if they're |
| in high-forage areas, usually - but not always, | | | | literate-It seems they begin reading all of the |
| adjacent to the spawning sites. Their number one | | | | ezine articles that tell them where to be and what |
| goal? To chow down on what's left of the forage, | | | | to eat. It's a very easy and satisfying time to fish. |
| and build last minute reserves for the stresses of | | | | Practically anything works and obvious locations |
| spawning. | | | | produce good catches. |
| Grouped up, aggressive fish become competitive | | | | The drawing power of rock is strong as we |
| with one another when a meal presents itself. | | | | approach spawning times, so it's no surprise |
| This is the time of year when ice fishermen can | | | | working areas of the lake with rock occurring at |
| use a flashy, bare jigging spoon, and have fish | | | | multiple depths is a productive tactic. |
| literally fighting over it. A small, finesse type | | | | On dingy shallow natural lakes you can catch |
| presentation on the bottom at dusk will go | | | | males up in two or three feet of water as they |
| unnoticed, as fish tend to ride up higher off the | | | | cruise along future spawning shorelines under the |
| bottom, each one trying to get ahead of the | | | | ice. Basin contours cutting up nearby these rocky |
| other for the first shot at slashing into | | | | shorelines make a sweet spot even sweeter. |
| opportunity. With heavily depleted forage numbers | | | | Fishing basin flats out from spawning inlets is also |
| and a feeding frenzy frame of mind, you can't | | | | another good bet provided the ice is safe. |
| lose by fishing aggressively. | | | | On smaller Inland Reservoirs we find roadbeds |
| This is also a great time to rip jig a big Chubby | | | | and timber adjacent to the rip rap dam produce |
| Darter five feet off the bottom. The calling | | | | well starting in late February up through ice out. |
| power of these baits when worked hard is | | | | As males trickle out of these areas and set up on |
| unmatched. While fishing pressure can slow the | | | | the deep flats straight out from the rip rap dam, |
| bite and cause some minor adjustments in | | | | we find the big females moving in. March is a |
| presentation, it won't shut down an area | | | | great time. Not only to catch numbers of |
| altogether like it would during first ice. The fish | | | | walleyes, but the elite class of fish swimming in |
| must take in high amounts of forage to prepare | | | | your lake. |
| for the spawn- Period. | | | | |