OK, so Saturday was the walleye opener here in NY. Up to last week it had been cold and I was thinking they were still going to be in the river or just on their way out. It had only been in the mid to high 40's. I know they spawn in water that is 45-47, but last week with the 80 degree weather, the river jumped up to 60, at least on the surface. I didn't graph many fish at all, and we didn't catch a one. Out of probably 40+ boats, most only had 1, maybe 2. The best, another guide I know of, with 3 people in the boat, trolling ALL day, got 3 fish. There was only 2 of us and we trolled for about 3 hours. We did catch a few nice smallies and a couple of pike. The largemouth were staged in force. But that's NOT what I was after. I wanted to FRY something that night.
So, do the eyes move immediately out of the river and head back out to the open lake?
Do they hang around a while or stage on the way back out opposite of coming in like post spawn smallies do?
I trolled Rapala plugs, wally divers, crawler harnesses and even tried a little jigging over some structure. Now I didn't have the ideal eye baits for jigging but used a flat head jig with a worm tail dyed chartreuse. Given everyone else's lack of success, I assume the fish had just vacated.
So, do the eyes move immediately out of the river and head back out to the open lake?
Do they hang around a while or stage on the way back out opposite of coming in like post spawn smallies do?
I trolled Rapala plugs, wally divers, crawler harnesses and even tried a little jigging over some structure. Now I didn't have the ideal eye baits for jigging but used a flat head jig with a worm tail dyed chartreuse. Given everyone else's lack of success, I assume the fish had just vacated.
