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SPRINGIN’ for WALLEYE and SAUGER!!!
By Matt England England Expeditions
Lake Shelbyville is fast becoming one of the premiere walleye and sauger fisheries in the Midwest! April is one of the best months to come fish for walleye and sauger for pure numbers, a chance at a fish full of eggs, and possibly weighing in double digits. The walleye and sauger are beginning their pre spawn behaviors and patterns making this a fantastic time to break out the spinning rods and lead head jigs. The Kaskaskia River is the main tributary for Lake Shelbyville and the headwaters is exactly where to start fishing for these migrating predators. Lake Shelbyville has thriving classes of both walleye and sauger in the 20-inch class and now is when to catch them. One of the best presentations at this time is a ¼ oz. weedless wonder with a firetiger twister tail tipped with a piece of a night crawler. The best technique at this time is to retrieve your jig very slowly on the bottom. Speed is key at this time so be sure to try different speeds until you find the best retrieval speed for that particular day. When fishing active walleye and sauger in shallow water be ready for an explosion of action when that fish becomes hooked. The aggressive behaviors of walleye and sauger at this time gives the angler an advantage when trying to locate and catch them. Massive schools of male walleye and sauger in the same class will be traveling together competing for food making it a special day when you find them. Last year on my guide trips we had days when we caught upwards of 50 walleye and sauger and this year will produce the same!!!
Crappie fishing at this time of year on Lake Shelbyville is truly an angler’s dream. Crappie can be found holding on submerged timber and standing timbers now. Trees not only produce habitat they hold heat making it a natural place for crappie to school during this time of year. Once you have located the crappie and have found the right depth be sure to use a very slow and methodical approach. Crappie will not want to work very hard for their meals so be sure to fish an area slowly to have best results. During the early spring some of the best times to fish is mid afternoon. Once the sun reaches its peak the temperature warms making the crappie more active. Large schools of both black and white crappie can be found holding together at this time. Drop-offs and contour changes are other places that will hold crappie at this time. A crappie can and will change the depths they hold at throughout the day so be sure to try different water columns if you feel the bite has slowed down. Regardless, if you are vertical jigging or slip corking a minnow at a specific depth, this can produce enough fish for the best fish fry of the year!
We are booking dual species trips in April and looking forward to the crappie spawn in May. Hook your date now!!! CATCHING MEMORIES ONE FISH AT A TIME!!! To book a trip call (217)-520-3653 or visit englandexpeditions.com