Chasing Down June Walleyes
by Mark Leadens

June is prime time for chasing down hungry walleyes and is when some of the hottest action of the entire season takes place. It’s a time of the year that you really don’t want to miss because there are just too many good things going on. For one, the fish are getting their metabolism cranked up on high and two, the available forage base is at a seasonal low. That’s a scenario custom made for hooking on to the Ranger and heading for the nearest walleye lake.

As good as it can be you could easily miss the best that June has to offer, especially if you don’t make the moves that are required to stay with a fish that can’t seem to sit still. Even though walleyes are aggressively feeding you absolutely have to be where it’s happening and it can change from week to week.

The thing about the early summer period is that it’s a time of transition and you better be ready to pick up and move when prior hot spots start to dry up. The first thing you might think of is that your presentation is a little off and it could be, but more often than not it’s where your doing it. If you’re not where heavy numbers of walleyes are actively feeding you’re not where you need to be, not if you want to load the boat.

On many bodies of water the next hot spot is probably a little deeper than the old one and there is a steady progression from shallow to deep. The whole process doesn’t usually happen over night and is really steady by jerks. One of key areas to look for is something a little deeper like further down a drop off, or maybe a hump or reef that’s five or ten feet deeper. You can even look beyond the intermediate areas and head straight for the deepest spots, especially if the spring has been unusually warm. Just how far fish go will depends on what’s available and how many deep water options there are.

Heat’s the key and is the driving force behind how many fish show up in deeper water and how fast it all happens. As water temperatures increase baitfish move deeper and deeper which just so happens to coincide with the moves that walleyes make. They don’t head for deeper water just for the fun of it, they do it because there’s good opportunities there for filling their bellies. In a nutshell that’s what approximately 95 percent of their existence is all about and the rest doesn’t matter, at least not now.

To stay on top of seasonal movements it would be a good idea to try and think ahead of where they might go next and not be afraid to go try an area that nobody has been fishing yet. Just because nobody’s there doesn’t mean there aren’t any fish, it’s just that the crowds haven’t heard about it and are busy working over what they know, or at least what they think they know. By staying ahead of the pack you can run into big schools of fish that haven’t seen a bait in quite awhile, and that’s a terrific situation to be in.

What you decide to you use will depend on how far along the season has progressed and can vary from dragging a live bait rig or speed trolling with crank baits. Cooler temps early in June might call for the rigging technique while warmer conditions late in the month might require something moving a lot quicker, like a crank bait buzzed right through a walleye’s living room.

One of the latest trends in live bait rigging is to use longer and longer snells, up to twelve feet and more. Really there isn’t much need to go beyond eight feet or so, but if it makes you feel better or helps with your confidence by all means go ahead and do so. The thing about a long leader is it gives your live bait more room to act like live bait and is really an ultimate finesse technique. The key is moving just as slow as you can and letting your live bait on that long rope do it’s stuff. A MinnKota and a box of big leeches can be hard to beat early in June, especially here in Minnesota.

Running crank baits through fish holding areas is a great way to find the biters, as well as some of the biggest ones in the bunch. The fact is crank baits tend to catch bigger fish and are always worth a try, especially if you’re after a fish of a lifetime. The trick is picking a bait that will run at the depth you’re trying to get down to, or adding a weight, or maybe using a braided line if you need to get deeper.

Something as simple as using a braid over monofilament can get you another ten feet or more of running depth and might may the way to go. On the other hand if you don’t want to bother and would rather keep it simple just add a big weight like a rubber core sinker about eight or ten feet in front of the bait and get going.