When for Crawlers, leeches and minnows.

[Walleye Express]

Took this question and my answer to it from anoother board.

I always struggle with walleye success very early in the year. From ice out until the water temp gets to around the lower to mid 60s.

Can someone advise what typical timeline can be thought of when considering using minnows, then leaches, then crawler? Is upper 40's to lower 50's too early to consider leaches? What about crawlers?

I'd not like to pass up a bait choice as a possiblilty thinking it's too early to try that bait but also not want to waste fishing effort working a bait type that doesn't really stand a chance.

Perhaps it's a matter of any of them will work regardless of water temp?

Thanks,

Andy

Andy.

Your question is a good one, and one we all ask and think about often. It never hurts to try as many/varied techniques and live or artificial bait choices as you can if the bite is slow.

I've always been a student in the school of thought that the fish look for and key in on what's most abundant in any systems at any given time. So with that thinking I'd use (most often) what the weather and water conditions were serving up.

If to cold, very few if any worms or crawlers are out and about or being washed into the water systems from rains. And the leeches for the most part set out colder temps and times buried in the mud. So I was strictly a minnow man in any waters colder then 50 degrees. I still believe this to a degree, but have always tempered my thoughts about this subject with some rationality on the matter.

I've often spoken about and written that one has to be careful about analyzing what a fish will/should instinctively do while/when comparing it to any rational human conclusions or thinking.

Fish (in all cases) are instinctive and opportunistic. They don't have calendars, plan things ahead of times, and don't realize that worms, crawlers and leeches don't like cold weather.

But we as humans seem to give them personalities and rational thinking brains to often. We all do it at some point, it's simply human nature. But seldom if ever the nature of the fish. Capt. Dan.