Walleye after the Jackall

Selecting the right baits for those spring time post spawn walleyes can be a mind boggling experience. Especially after collecting new baits and tackle over the course of the winter months from various fishing shows and sales that you have attended. It is amazing how you find small bags of lures that you purchased and forgot about ? For myself I try to keep it as simple as I can when it comes to early season walleyes. Each year I have scaled down my bait selection and rigs when heading up to Northern Ontario for the walleye opener. Depending on how far you travel North or how warm spring has been, usually the walleyes are not long done their spawning rituals. For the most part I like to cast crank baits in the shallows where the water temperatures are warming and the bait is cruising with the walleyes not far behind. Also always have a rod or two rigged with some type of jig offering. Once structure is located or a fish on a crank bait, fish the area a few more times throwing a different crank bait or a soft plastic swim bait. If no taker then I will bounce the bottom with a jig. If there are any sparse weed beds I will definitely get into them with a jig. There are three Jackall crank baits that I like to use for spring walleyes. First being the Soul Shad 68 SP. The shad shaped profile seems to be the shape walleyes and pike like this time of year. The Soul Shad will dive and suspend at approximately 8 feet on 10 lb. PowerPro. It has been designed with a weight transfer system (photo above) which aids in casting plus helping the bait dive true to its maximum depth. The system consists of a metal BB inside the bait which rolls in a channel to the tail area of the Soul Shad on the cast then rolls forward and sticks to the magnet at the front of the bait on the retrieve. I like to crank the Soul Shad down to its maximum depth on a steady medium retrieve then use a stop and go retrieve any time The crank bait bumps a piece of structure. Remember these fish can be fairly lethargic in the cold northern water temperatures. Try and keep your retrieve steady but slow once the Soul Shad has hit its maximum depth. The other Jackall crank baits I rely on are the DD Squirrel 79 SP and the Squad Minnow 95 SP. This spring I will be using the new size of Squad Minnow 80 SP which gives a smaller sized offering. Both baits are suspending minnow baits with the DD Squirrel being a deep diver. In the past few years I have been experimenting with soft plastic swim baits with some success. I have been using the Jackall Glossy Shad on a 1/4 oz. ball jig head swimming it in shallow water areas and catching some aggressive walleyes. The colour that I prefer to use is the orange belly bluegill. The Glossy Shad has a slim body profile.that resembles young early season minnows that frequent the warming shallows. As for rods and reels that I use for these smaller sized crank baits. I like to fish them on a spinning out fit. The particular rod I use is a Shimano Crucial Shaky head spinning rod. Model CRSS71MA paired with a Shimano Symetre 3000 FL spooled with 10 lb. PowerPro line. This rod is designed for Shaky head bass technique but I find it is perfect for cranking. G Loomis WJR752S GLX (walleye series)for jig fishing paired with a Shiamno Stradic CI4 3000FA reel, spooled with 10 lb. PowerPro. This little rod has lots recovery rate by using a GLX graphite blank and a soft sensitive tip but has plenty of back bone with speed to drive the jig home !!. Comes with titanium recoil guides and is super light in weight. Good luck this spring