Prior to our region’s spring turkey hunting season’s implementation, May was THE month for angling. With just about all our most abundant and popular fish species’ seasons open (bass and purebred musky being the lone ones closed until June, although bass can be caught and immediately released), anglers could fish for everything from walleye to trout to assorted panfish. That list also included such popular fish as pickerel, pike, tiger musky, crappie, bullhead and sunfish. So other than perhaps woodchuck hunting, all-around sportsmen and women encountered little to conflict with their fishing.
But then came the introduction of spring turkey hunting, and as our density of wild turkeys increased and spread, gradually more and more local sportsmen became attracted to that, thereby choosing it over the dedicated days of fishing they’d done in the past. Although spring turkey hunting can only be done until noon, arising well before dawn meant many sportsmen opted not to “burn” themselves out by also spending their afternoons fishing. So, for some, it became a hunt or fish situation with the former winning out.
That said, this drift from May being such a popular and effective month for fishing is actually a benefit to sportsmen who choose to fish rather than hunt, and also to those who hunt but still spend an afternoon or periodic day fishing. After all the fishing is just as good, but there will be fewer anglers on the water than occurred before the turkey hunting craze pulled so many away.
Of all the May fishing seasons opening, one of the most popular locally is the walleye. Because our area tributaries of the Susquehanna system hold an excellent population of these tasty gamefish, and the fact they’re not overly difficult to catch during this initial month of angling for them, I’d rate them the top attraction right now.
Being over-sized members of the perch family, walleye feed on a wide variety of prey, including worms, night crawlers, minnows, crayfish and leeches. Most any artificial lure that imitates any of these will catch walleye. The walleye also tend to group in schools in the deeper pools, so if one is caught, there are usually more available.
Ever since northern pike showed up in the Chenango River back in the 1970s, the fascination of catching one of these large predator fish with the mouthful of sharp teeth has spread, attracting increasingly more anglers to fish for them with each passing year. With the sleek, and powerful torpedo-shaped bodies, a pike of even five pounds can put up an impressive fight when hooked. Not particularly valued as a food fish due to the abundant bones, the enjoyment is in the catching. Medium to large live minnows and lures that imitate them are the standard fare used by pike anglers.
Since most species of panfish spawn in the springtime, they’ll be found in the shallower waters of lakes and ponds now. Sunfish and, where available, crappie are favorite and plentiful targets for anglers this month. While sunfish nesting beds in the shallows are readily visible and the areas to fish now, crappie tend to seek out submerged cover such as sunken treetops, flodded timber areas and dense weedbeds. Worms and micro-size jigs will take the sunfish, but crappie prefer small minnows or tiny jigs suspended below a small float so it’s just off bottom in their spawning areas. Anglers may also catch yellow perch while fishing for either.
