It was late spring in central Minnesota, and we wanted to target walleyes on a warm, Saturday morning. The forecast called for clouds and sun with south winds increasing from 10 mph at sunrise, to sustained 20 with gusts over 30 mph by mid-morning. With this in mind, we decided on a small prairie lake that I guide on occasionally to avoid dealing with huge waves that would be present on larger lakes.

The lake has a good population of small, eater-sized walleyes with a few big ones present, and a strong presence of 20- to 28-inch pike. Crappies are not abundant, but most caught are over 10 inches, and largemouth bass and sunfish are present in moderate numbers. The forage for walleyes and pike is a large population of small perch. We hypothesized that the schools of perch would have moved from their basin haunts of winter to the developing weed line, and walleyes and pike would be moving from the shallows where they spawned to the weed line as well, to feed on the perch.

Expecting the walleyes to be spread out—some still in the shallows, some cruising the outside weed edge, and some even moving out into the lake basin—we planned to cover water with a trolling approach. Once on the lake, we found that the thickest weeds extended into about 10 feet of water, with sparser, shorter weeds from 10 to 12 feet, and then open, soft bottom beyond that. We chose number 7 Rapala Shad Raps and Berkley Flicker Shads, and a boat speed of 1.6 to 1.8 mph to swim our crankbaits about 10 feet down. This required about 50 to 60 feet of line out, using 10-pound test Berkely Fireline Crystal.

We reasoned that the pike would be in the sparser weeds, in from 10 to 12 feet of water, and the walleyes would stay more on the outside edge of the weeds in 12 to 13 feet. The #7 shad baits would be perfect for trolling fairly slowly, generating a soft, wobbling action, and as they moved over and through the sparser weeds and along the deep weed edge.

To accomplish this approach, we used my bowmount MinnKota Ulterra 112 to achieve the correct speed. We were following a weed line along the north shore, with a gusty crosswind and some decent waves hitting us in the side throughout part of our trolling passes; then we turned straight into the wind and waves to follow a weedy point that projected south from the north shoreline of the lake. Pulling a boat into heavy waves with a bowmount trolling motor is always much easier boat control than trying to push the bow into wind and waves with a main engine or gas kicker on the stern of the boat. Plus, to land fish without tangles in the wind and waves, as well as to take video, we would bring in the other two lines when someone hooked a fish and Spot-lock the boat to stay on our trolling pass while fighting a fish. Then we could simply remove Spot-lock, let our lines back out, and resume our trolling pass.

As mentioned earlier, we were using #7 Rapala Shad Raps and Jointed Shad Raps, and Berkley Flicker Shads. We started out with three color patterns: a perch color, since we figured the ‘eyes and pike would be feeding on perch; a sliver/minnow pattern; and a brown-and-orange, crayfish-colored bait. As you fish with different colors down, pay attention to what the fish tell you they want. That day, however, we never established a color pattern, as all three patterns caught fish relatively equally; but many days, one color will rise to the top. When that happens, do what the fish tell you to.

Rounding out the equipment were our rod and reel combos for pulling small baits at slow-to-mid-speeds. We were using St. Croix Legend Tournament Walleye baitcast rods in 7-foot, medium power moderate action. These rods are super lightweight for holding onto all day but also work in a rod holder nicely as well. They are super-sensitive, and the moderate action allows fish to come up behind your bait, inhale it, and get hooked before the rod loads up, producing much more consistent hookups than a stiffer rod.

We pair these rods with Abu Garcia, low-profile baitcast reels spooled with 10-pound-test Berkley Fireline Crystal, tied to a small crankbait snap so we can change baits quickly. The combination of the sensitive rod and the no-stretch superline makes it easy to feel and spot the second that the crankbait picks up even the smallest weed, allowing you to bring the bait in and clear it. A dead-action crankbait dragging weeds, being pulled along, means time not triggering bites.

That late-spring morning, we trolled an L-shaped pattern for six hours, battling wind and waves, and caught a lot of fish. Boat control was much easier with the bowmount trolling motor, and our Amped Lithium batteries kept us going and hardly drained at all. The whistling wind wreaked havoc with our audio, and the bouncing waves made for interesting video, but that’s early-spring walleye fishing in Minnesota. We still had a great time and a delicious fish fry for dinner that day.

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