A Michigan angler shows off a nice walleye caught on a fishing trip with Last Cast Charters Capt. Ernie Miller. Photo by Tracy Breen.

In Michigan, at least one thing is certain: If there are walleyes in a lake, anglers are going to fish it hard.

Walleyes put up a good fight, taste great in the frying pan and look good on the wall. Some anglers jig for them; others troll. Some target them in the morning; others search the shallows in the middle of the night. Regardless of timing or tactics, if you go after walleyes in the spring of 2010, you're bound to have a banner season -- especially on the Great Lakes.

According to professional angler Mark Martin, Several elements will make the spring of 2010 a great time to be on the water fishing for walleyes. "Over the past 10 years, water levels in most of the Great Lakes and rivers in Michigan have been down," Martin noted. "In the last year or so, we have had record rainfall, and the rivers that many of the walleyes spawn in have lots of water, which makes spawning easier for walleyes. The more water there is, the more vegetation there is for fingerlings to hide in and more plankton for them to feed on. Generally, the more water we have, the better off the walleye population is going to be."

Martin has seen a noticeable increase in the number of walleyes in Saginaw Bay. It's no secret that Saginaw Bay offers good walleye fishing, but right now Martin says the walleye fishing on the bay is great. "A few years ago, if a few anglers fished on the bay and caught their limit, it would have been exceptional. Now, catching the limit of walleyes on the bay is the norm. Any angler who knows how to fish and has a boat should find catching a limit of walleye on Saginaw Bay quite easy."

Fisheries biologist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Jeff Brauncheidel says there are many factors that play into whether a fishery ends up having a good year. Every fishery is different. "Saginaw Bay will have a great year in 2010, but not every lake looks that promising," Brauncheidel said. "Everyone loves fishing Lake Erie, and right now the majority of the walleyes in Lake Erie are from the 2007 year-class. Before 2007, there were several years that did not have a good hatch. The 2007 fish will be a few years old this spring and should be good size. However, every year is different, and it's sometimes difficult to tell from one year to the next how good the fishing will be."

SAGINAW BAY
According to charter boat captain Ernie Miller from Last Cast Charters, there are several contributing factors that make Saginaw Bay a great walleye fishery. "There have been several year-classes of walleyes that have had successful hatches and reached maturity in recent years," Miller explained. "Saginaw Bay has everything going for it. The bay has a number of rivers that flow into it and natural production. The fishery receives attention from the DNR in the forms of plantings. There are several walleye groups like the Saginaw Bay Walleye Club that raise funds by putting on walleye tournaments. They use the funds created by the tournaments to plant fish into the bay. Right now, it is not uncommon to fish the bay and see larger numbers of walleyes than anyone has seen in decades."