What’s Biting in May in New Hampshire and Vermont?

May Means Walleye 

Before and during the walleye spawn, most anglers in proximity to the Connecticut River will find a spot, whether it’s a current seam, rocky reef, below a dam, or the mouth of a tributary, then quickly anchor and start fishing. If there are no bites within 20 minutes, they will move and repeat the process until they find fish. The most popular baits are a jig and live minnow or a jig and plastic. While I’ve had a lot of success doing this over the years, I have been developing a more mobile strategy. It’s something Midwest anglers do plenty of, moving to the walleye instead of waiting for them come to you.

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While my fishing locations remain the same, I rely on current and my trolling motor to cover water and use search-and-reaction baits instead of remaining stationary. Ned rigs, drop-shots, blade baits, paddletail swimbaits, jigs and plastics, and hard-bodied minnow baits all do a great job of covering water and tempting walleye. 

Blade baits are a great way to cover water by either casting or fishing them vertically while drifting. The Acme Tackle V-Rod, Rapala Rippin’ Blade, SteelShad, and Spro Carbon Blade are great ones to try. Hard-bodied minnow baits like the Rapala Jigging Rap and Rippin’ Rap, Acme Tackle Hyper-Rattle, Rat-L-Trap, and Northland Tackle Puppet Minnow serve a similar purpose.  

You would be mistaken if you don’t equate Ned rigs and drop-shots with walleye. For Ned rigs, use the largest heads you can find, at least an 1/8- or ¼-ounce, depending on depth and current. The largest I have been able to find are from Northland Tackle (Nedster Elite Series), VMC, and Z-Man (Pro ShroomZ, Football NedZ and Finesse ShroomZ), although there are likely others out there. There are a million baits to complement your Ned rig, but some I think work well around here include the Northland Tackle Eye-Candy Jig Crawler, Gulp Alive Minnow, Spro Sakura, and multiple offerings from Z-Man (Finesse ShadZ, Finesse TRD, Trick ShotZ—try them in The Deal color). Most of your standard drop-shot bass plastics will work just fine for walleye. My friends and I have been killing them the last couple years on Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worms in green pumpkin.

Finally, paddletail swimbaits, jigs, and plastics should be in every walleye angler’s tacklebox year-round. A plain ball-head jig works for these applications, but there are some specialized walleye jigs that shine. B Fish n’ Tackle’s H2O Precision Jig, Kalin’s Google Eye Swimbait Jig, and Big Bite Baits True-X Swimmer Head are all great choices for swimbaits. For a jig and plastic, the Deep-Vee series from Northland Tackle and VMC’s Neon Moon Eye Jig are hard to beat. I’m also excited to fish some spinner jigs this year, something I have had good success with in the past but haven’t done for years.

You can’t go wrong sticking with the original Flasher Jigs from Reel Bait Tackle Company or trying a newer Deep-Vee Spin from Northland Tackle. Because of the blade, these really excel in current and discolored water.   

There are more paddletail swimbaits and plastics than you could fish in a lifetime. As anglers learned how effective these baits are for walleye over the past couple decades, tackle companies have responded accordingly with more walleye-centric choices. Everyone has their favorites, but ones that won’t leave my boat are Kalin’s Tickle Tail and Tickle Shad, B Fish n’ Tackle’s AuthentX Pulse-R and AuthentX MOXI, and Northland Tackle’s Eye-Candy Paddleshad and Minnow. 

Please let me know how you do on walleye this spring and which lures work well as I’m always looking for new things to try.

The other thing on my mind this May is panfish, especially since I didn’t get my fill this winter. Depending on how the spring shapes up, early to mid-May should be great for these fish throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. Big river backwaters and shallow coves in lakes and ponds ought to be alive with black crappie, bluegill, and pumpkinseed.  

This is a great chance to take home a meal or just catch lots of fish from boat or shore. It is an even better opportunity to introduce a youngster to fishing because catching can be fast and furious with minimal tackle needed.

A 6- to 7-foot medium or medium-light spinning rod and light monofilament (or braid with a fluorocarbon leader) are perfect for this type of fishing. A simple bobber with a hook and worm will always get a bite. If you want to get more intricate, try a slip bobber in combination with live bait or a jig and plastic. A small (1/8-ounce or less) jig with a short hook shank is perfect in combination with a 2-inch plastic, which can be a curly-tailed grub or one of the other hundreds of offerings available.

Those Z-Man micro-finesse plastics I mentioned earlier for ice fishing will excel here as well. If there is a breeze, cast out and let the wind and bobber do the work moving your bait around. When there is no wind, keep your rod tip high and twitch the bobber just enough to make it move an inch or two. Let it sit motionless for 20 seconds or so and then repeat the twitch. Casting inline spinners, Road Runners, and small jerkbaits or crankbaits can also work wonders. Best of all, once you locate the fish, there are usually plenty to be caught in a small area.

Gabe Gries is a fish biologist and member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. Contact Gabe at [email protected] if you have a question or suggestion for a column.

Source: https://onthewater.com/whats-biting-in-may-in-new-hampshire-and-vermont

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