FISHING IN SPRING
Spring fishing is normally some of the best fishing available to us all year. You only need to find a lake with fish. In northern Ontario walleye season opens the third Saturday of May. The walleye will be found on rock outcrops and points.
The biggest mistake made by fishermen is to ignore using live bait! Using minnows and jigs or beetle spins are the most productive way to fish for old marble eyes. Bouncing either of these off the bottom will land you a good supply of walleye. These fish will be found in fairly shallow water usually only 5 - 8 feet. The determining factor is finding a point that the fish are holding on. These points are normally located near some growing weed beds or incoming creeks.
Jigs need to be the lightest ones that will get you to the bottom. Using twister tails tipped with live minnows work very well when jigging. The colors you use will be determined by the water color. In stained waters I have found chartreuse to be one good color, others are hot pink, yellow, and red. Fish can be very finnicky in early spring and tend to only mouth the bait. Good feel and sensitive rods will land you these fish.
Another falsehood is the fish don't bite during the day. I have fished the last 2 weeks of May for 30 years and have caught walleye at any time of day. You only need to find them. There does seem to be a peak time from about 5:00 PM till dusk when they seem to be more active. Catching fish at noon is not unusual though.
For those of you that want to troll beetle spins and Rapala's work well. Troll beetle spins right on the bottom at a fairly slow speed. Rapala's need a little help getting down as we generally use #13 floaters with split shot about a foot - 18" up from the lure.
Later, in mid to late June through July nightcrawlers and crawler harness's work almost as well as minnows. From July through late August fishing tends to be more of the morning and late afternoon variety unlike spring. This is not to say that we haven't caught fish during the day, but not as many. When the last week of August and the beginning of September set in fishing becomes a little more active again.

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