Roach likes a challenge, but he likes to catch fish. He proved that big walleyes can be caught in the early season; it just requires more effort and different techniques. If it’s more action you crave, the shallows are where the biting walleyes are.

Some of Roach’s early-season tricks depend on not spooking shallow fish, using fresh bait and covering plenty of ground.

Shallow fish may turn negative if you run over them with a noisy gas engine. To negate that possibility, Roach always uses electric motors when running shallow, even when trolling at night.

The fresh bait and covering ground aspects of early-season walleye fishing were discussed, but many anglers fail to understand how important these factors are.

If a minnow is tired and limp, the night crawler is all stretched out, or the leech is being dragged along, replacing the dead bait with some livelier meat often generates bites. In addition, make sure you are moving between depths and not wasting too much of time on one spot where you had a bite, because walleyes like to spread out.

If walleye anglers voted on the best time of year for fast action, it’s likely the ‘eyes would have it for the early season.