Swimbaits for shallow water walleyes!

Spring! The most awaited time of year for most fisherman,
at least it is in my book! Being a tournament angler, guide and a weekend warrior all over the Midwest fishing for the past 30 years I truly believe spring is the golden season for big walleye!

Many anglers in Wisconsin have confessed to me that the first weekend in May should be designated a holiday. I agree!

Now that the temperatures have warmed and the days are starting to get longer it is finally time to tie on your favorite walleye lures and start stalking those elusive marble eyed predators. Where are they? What are they feeding on this year? Those questions flow through the minds of a lot of anglers as they begin to look down at their electronics leaving the ramps for the first day out of the year!

I can’t speak for all the lakes and rivers but I can suggest a few tactics that have proven to be very productive on many different bodies of water. First I start by finding the most stable and warmest water temps on the body of water I’m fishing early in the season. By temperature I mean underwater not surface temperature. Walleyes at this time of year are just coming off their spawning beds or finishing up! Temperature is a key!

The first place I look is shallow northern shorelines that get sun all day as well as shallow bays and flats! Shallow meaning 2 feet to eight feet! These places will hold post spawn fish as well as larger females recovered from the early spawn ready to feed! In order to target these fish I use a very common bass tactic but a fairly new walleye tactic, THE SWIMBAIT!

These baits come in all shapes and sizes and depending upon the body of water you are fishing I like to adjust the color to the forage. Blues and whites for clear water and browns and rust color for stained water. What these baits offer is the opportunity to cast and retrieve various depths from one anchored or drifting position. Once a fish is caught I immediately repeat that pattern and cast back to the same area. Walleye are schooling fish as well as predators if they are hungry they will chase a bait. Start off slow and gradually reel in until you find a retrieve that works. I prefer slow and straight!

With all the swim baits there are these days on the market I have knocked them down to a hand-full that I have found successfull. I really enjoy using the Berkley Hollow Belly. With its sleek minnow design and hollow interior, every walleye I’ve caught with this have absolutely inhaled it. My next suggestion is Strike Kings Shadalicious. This bait is very similar in design to the Hollowbelly and just as effective.

These baits come with a weed-less weighted style worm hook, which is great for casting into heavy cover. I swapped these out with a ¼ - ½ oz, bullet or minnow style jig head.

This presentation allows more control with retrieving as well as farther casting with heavier lines. To top everything off these baits have a wonderful, natural triggering capability of a paddle style tail. You don not have to retrieve these baits with lightning speed to get good results. Reel slow, keep the bait steady in the water column and hang on, I have no doubt that you will find this new tactic very productive.