Photo by Ron Sinfelt

For a walleye fanatic, it seems like an eternity from the time Wisconsin state statutes say tip-ups and jigpoles must be left at home in March and the first Saturday in May, which everybody not paralyzed from the neck up knows is opening day of the general fishing season.

Opening day comes at a minute after midnight. On some heavily pressured lakes, navigation lights will indicate a flotilla of boats staking out spots for fish when the clock says there is still a fair amount of Friday left. Some people cruise the shoreline looking for those telltale glowing eyes reflecting in a spotlight's glare in a mission not unlike shining deer. Others have taken advantage of flat, clear waters and polarized glasses to see that splash of white on a walleye's tail.

Either method will narrow the learning curve on a lake you're unfamiliar with. Most of a lake's walleye biomass will be cruising in waters less than 10 feet deep when opening day rolls around.

Although electronics and GPS are invaluable for locating rocky-rubble offshore humps, transition zones off of old creek channels and similar hidden ambush points, there is a great deal of potential walleye-holding water you can see from the boat launch -- especially if the launch is near the lake's inlet.

This is one time of year when those folks who believe all the little fish icons on their electronics are fish can play even with more experienced anglers on waters where the fish are relating to the shoreline. The sonar unit is of little value in finding fish with a casting presentation that may be in less than 3 feet of water, and sometimes within inches of the shore.

Wind can concentrate walleyes looking for food on the windward shoreline, especially after several days' blow out of one direction -- usually south or south-southwest this time of year -- as nature tries to shake off the winter blues. This is perfect for stacking fish along the warmer northern exposures of lakes where waters will warm quicker, thus attracting baitfish that pull in predators.

Walleyes are hungry now because there is relatively little food in the water column. Insects may not be out yet. Young-of-year baitfish aren't a factor. Looks like crayfish and anything spring rains push into the water becomes lunch. Maybe this is why orange or crawdad-colored jigheads, stickbaits and shallow-running crankbaits are so effective, even in clear lakes during the first few weeks of the season.

I've always been a big fan of bucktails and plastic tails on jigs for walleyes, especially in spring and fall. There are a bucketful of soft plastic Thumpin' Grubs and Thumpin' Worms in my boat that have already proven effective on waters that open before the general season. More exciting is a Ziploc bag full of orange and black bucktails tied on 1/8-ounce jigheads. A 1/8-ounce jig is plenty heavy for a swimming presentation in lakes less than 10 feet deep. Besides, a bucktail from an orange buck has to have good mojo. Any deer smart enough to dye himself blaze orange to avoid hunters should prove a lucky choice when his flag is tied on a jighead.

Such are the thought processes that bubble through a Wisconsin walleye fanatic's mind before opening day. The following is a look at some great lakes to put your new philosophies to the test just a few short weeks from now.