egardless of whether you hunt during the cold-weather months or fish through the ice, the time comes when neither quite satisfies the itch, urge, or need to sit in that boat of yours and jerk somejaws. Simply climbing into your boat while still parked in the garage, going through tackle, playing with electronics in simulator mode, and pretending you’re out on the lake doesn’t cut it. It means heading where walleyes swim and boats often get to bathe year-round.
In other words, "Go south, young man." Perhaps you’ve even considered fishing those deep, gin-clear mountain impoundments in southern Missouri or northern Arkansas, where walleyes run big although often lean in numbers. Too tough a challenge? How about shifting your focus a bit farther west?
We’re talking the southern Plains reservoirs of Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, which offer good open-water fishing for walleyes this time of year. The fish may not be monstrous, but they’re certainly more abundant and usually easier to catch than their mountainous kin. So whether you’re a snowbird looking for a sure cure for cabin fever or live within the immediate region, here are a few key points for tackling prairie walleyes in spring.
Depending on the timing of your outing, you’ll be faced with prespawn, spawn, or postspawn conditions anywhere from mid-February through early April. Here in Kansas, we don’t have a closed season during the walleye spawn, which usually occurs somewhere around the third week in March, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later, depending on prevailing weather conditions and the individual impoundment.
When fishing prespawn conditions, walleyes generally stage in deeper water somewhere in the vicinity of pnme spawning areas. In Kansas, most reservoirs fall into either the flatland or hill-land classifications, with some impoundments exhibiting characteristics of each. Such bodies of water often lack good natural rock substrate suitable for walleye spawning; thus most if not all walleyes tend to spawn on manmade riprap associated with the face of the dam, or perhaps along some causeways spanning flowing water. Admittedly, a few southern prairie impoundments may host a portion of the walleye spawn on suitable main-lake rocky points, and some fish may even swim up rivers and creeks in search of rocky spawning habitat that usually doesn’t exist in the waters within this region.
Knowing this, you can’t go wrong by fishing along the face of the dam, because the fish almost have to be there, or at least somewhere nearby. The challenge lies more in determining what depth the fish may be relating to and what presentation is required to make them bite.
I realize that most good walleye fishermen prefer to actually see fish on their electronics before fishing for them, but down here on the plains, things are a bit different. I prefer to fish for walleyes rather than to look for them, for a couple reasons. First, when you’re fishing along large boulder riprap, many walleyes go unseen on liquid crystal graph units because they can tuck down into crevices between the rocks. The slope of the rock wall also helps hide fish from detection by electronics. Besides, we have so many other fish species in our reservoirs that fish may be present on your screen most of the time. Unfortunately, they may not be walleyes. So your best bet is to fish where you believe walleyes should be. If you see fish stuck to the bottom, that’s great. Maybe they’re walleyes, but don’t count on it.
usually begin by fishing a probable depth based primarily on water clarity. On our clearest reservoirs, which are only perhaps half as clear as most clear northern natural lakes, I begin fishing somewhere between 12 and 25 feet deep during the day; on dirtier reservoirs, perhaps between 10 and 15 feet Experience indicates these are good starting points; fine-tune from there.
My favorite rig for locating fish is a bit untraditional—sort of a new-wave bottom bouncer and spinner combo. The spinner is a Mack’s Smile Blade, a plastic-Mylar boomerang-shaped blade that spins at ultraslow speeds. The bouncer is the Foam Walker from Today’s Tackle (inventor of the Ice Buster Bobber), a foam-bodied stem weighted at the base so it won’t tip over like a traditional bouncer. The Foam Walker works superbly at extremely slow stop-and-go trolling speeds. Since we don’t have the sheer numbers of walleyes in our reservoirs that are present in some northern bodies of water, you must be able to effectively search for fish. Slowly trolling this spinner combo is the best of both worlds; it allows you to cover more water than simple livebait rigging, but still fish quite slowly when necessary. Another local difference compared to more northerly tactics is our preferred choice of livebait. Minnows and leeches are standard tare up norm, nut Gown nere, nightcrawlers seem to outperform minnows and leeches most of the time, even in early spring.
When you contact fish, immediately go back over the spot. If you don’t get another bite, immediately switch to ajig and crawler. Road Runner Jigs are a particular favorite due to their added attraction of a small blade. Give the spot 15 to 30 minutes, and if you don’t get bit, go back to the spinner and bouncer combo and move on. Yet be sure to go back to the spot later in the day for one last try; it’s amazing how often it works, even during the day throughout the walleye spawn and into early postspawn.
If you’re fishing during the actual spawn and decide to stay after dark, change tactics. I like to longline troll minnowimitating crankbaits (usually Storm’s firetiger ThunderSticks), easing the electric motor in about 5 to 8 feet of water along the face of the dam. Depending on weather conditions, consider putting the boat back on the trailer and fishing from shore, casting crankbaits as parallel as possible to the rocky shoreline.
Walleyes (mostly males) remain along the face of the dam after the spawn, but not for long. So don’t get too comfortable with the face of the dam. Once the fish disperse, it’s time to start chasing them all over the lake.
