March Madness for River Walleyes
BY BOB AND GINNY RIEGE
March is a transition month for walleyes on many rivers. Two rivers that border Minnesota are the Rainy River and the Mississippi River. These two rivers have an open walleye season in March, and both of them are subject to current. This year both of these rivers have open water sections and they also have frozen stretches. The other thing in common both of these rivers, during the month of March, can be angry swollen, life threatening torrents of water. A word of caution if you are planning a fishing trip to either of these rivers keep your ears tuned to the weather because conditions could change daily.
When fishing a river the important thing to remember is that the current will rule how and where you should fish. In the spring of the year walleyes move up the river to spawn. Many of them look for shallow flats and rock and ruble points to provide shelter and protection of the eggs they are about to lay. When traversing a large flat the walleye is exposed to a lot of cold water. Therefore, the walleyes have to periodically find a place to rest out of the current. One of these resting places might be a depression in the bottom of the river. Here walleyes can recover from moving in the cold water and feed if a selected prey happens to be swept down river by the current.
Other spots may be structure like gravel or sand bars, shallow rocky shoals near drop-offs, wave-washed points, deserted sandy bottom beaches, or bottle necks between two different land masses. Riprap is also good, particularly where current hits the rock, such as on a windy point with deep-water access, or near a culvert where fresh water is filtering through a rock causeway.
Feeder streams funneling into a river represent yet other spots which fisherman should check out. The mouths of these tributaries often turn into fishing gold mines, especially after a heavy rain-washes fresh food and fresh water into the river.
Depending on the force of the current and the water clarity, fish may be as shallow as a couple feet, or in the bottom of a washout hole, or river channel 15 to 20 feet deep. If the current is stronger than normal, the fish probably are hunkered in a slack water area. All anglers must learn that “current” sets the rules for location and presentation when fishing rivers.
When anglers learn this simple rule they can explore the tail out area behind a sand bar or in a depression in a long stretch of river channel. Or they may find fish behind a “break or barrier” like a point or wing dam, or a log or group of rocks. A group of fish could be scattered on a big bar (flat) on the slack-water side of the river-the side opposite an outside river bend where the channel runs against the bank.
The first area to check are current breaks adjacent to a hole. This is where the most active fish will be. I like to start out with a Rattlin’ jig tipped with a minnow and a stinger hook. This type of presentation is a great cold water walleye bait for active or neutral fish. At this time of year I shy away from casting crankbaits, because the walleyes seem to move so slowly that the crankbait is past them before they realize what happened.
First check the hole and determine its size, shape and location, by slowly motoring over it while watching your depth finder closely. Identify the upstream lip of the hole, and then motor upstream 50 to 70 feet and anchor. Use enough rope to position your boat about 10 to 20 feet up river from the front lip of the hole.
Using light spinning gear with 6 to 8 lb. test line, tie a small plain snap and attach an original Rapala or Husky Jerk. About 18 inches above the line attach a rubbercor sinker just heavy enough to keep you bait on the bottom. The rubbercor weight is relatively snag-free, and it’s very easy to change sinker size without retying knots or damaging your line.
Toss the lure downriver into the hole, and let it sit. Don’t move it! It’s usually best to position the lure so it’s slowly rolling, swinging and wobbling in the current, right on the lip of the hole. On occasion, with slight shifts in current, the bait darts a few inches to either side. From time to time, it’s a good idea to drop the bait into the hole or to move it slightly forward, in order to check out a little different territory. Every once in a while you may elect to move it a few feet, but generally it’s best to leave it sit and allow the current to do the work.
The bait will often sit among the walleyes for 5 to 10 minutes before a reluctant fish rolls over and decides to grab it. You may move to a different hole or simply stay stationary over this hole awaiting an influx of new walleyes as they move upstream.
March is a transition month and if you are on either the Rainy River or the Mississippi during this time you will experience the madness that this month has to offer. Many times this month can produce some of the largest walleyes of the year. Hope to see you on the water!