Current areas provide another opportunity. Inflowing and out-flowing tributaries are natural attractants. Walleyes, inherently, gravitate toward moving water. It’s in their genes. And by late winter, nature’s friskiness kicks in and fish start heading inward to spawn. It’s all good, aside from the questionable ice. Current and ice don’t mix, so choose locations wisely.

That’s the sunshine show, when walleyes feed by day in crystalline conditions. I’ve saved the best for last, however. Dark or stained lakes put another ace in your hand. Colored water is its own nighttime. Drop below the snow, ice and column of tea-colored water, and dimness and eventually total blackness ensue. Now there’s a day bite.

On a murky lake, the outside weedline may form in only 3, 4 or 5 feet of water. The weeds are toast, but remnants remain. Some shallow rock is probably exposed as well, and that’s another good spot.

In stained water, Smith gets down and dirty. He operates with two packages: jigging and deadsticking. His jigging outfit consists of a 28- to 32-inch Walleye Sweet Heart rod by Thorne Bros. teamed with a Tica Cetus spinning reel and 5- to 8-pound-test PLine Flouroice. That’s a nasty combo. On the business end, Smith uses a W-5 or W-7 Rapala Jigging Rap. Color choice is a function of experimentation. He upsizes the Rap’s dangling treble and places it through a minnow head. Beforehand, Smith cuts off the lure’s nose and tail hooks. Smith says he can’t remember hooking a walleye on the spent barbs, so why keep them around just to snag the bottom of the hole, perhaps throw a fish?

In his second hole you’ll find a Thorne Bros. deadstick rod suspending a lone minnow on a Lindy Frostee Jig in either techni-glo blue or red.

Different strokes for different folks. Genz, in panfish mode, hounds daytime walleyes with a Lindy Frostee Spoon and maggots, not a minnow. His thinking is that a lackluster walleye is more apt to hit the mini-spoon and maggots. As a kid, he recalls days on Mille Lacs spent walleye fishing with his Dad. Even then, before the discovery of maggots, Genz’s Dad would see that one jigging stick was always fixed with a Russian spoon and wax worms. Typically, too, the waxies out-walleyed the minnows.

So be it dirty or pure, there are ways to steal the darkness. Chronicle the following lakes and maybe you can give the lantern a rest. I’m sure you’re sick of replacing mantles, anyway.

LAKE MINNEWASKA

Here’s a lake that’s marked for its panfish, mainly bluegills. Smith won’t snub the ’gills, either. They’re plump and plentiful. But Minnewaska’s walleyes are what he really covets.

Pope County’s Lake Minnewaska, at 7,110 acres, is shaped like a kidney and colored like a prairie lake. Its shorelines undulate with points and bars, and the predominance of the midlake is flat but sassy.

Smith focuses on the north and west ends. Both zones offer a blend of useable weeds and classic flats. Typically, he works the outer weeds in 12 to 17 feet of water. The fishing is best in 22 to 25 feet.

Most of Minnewaska’s floor is composed of sand. So with that in mind, Smith searches for deviations in the sand, be they weeds, rocks or in the case of the deeper flats, where the sand turns to mud (what Smith calls “sub-sand”). Sub-sand is a rich mixture of sand and clay. Edible invertebrates are partial to sub-sand.

Recent Department of Natural Resources statistics tell the kind of story we like to hear. Catch rates are at their highest since 1989. Adding to the pot, the average fish is 17 inches long, or approximately 2 pounds.

Contact the Cedar Bait & Tackle and Cedar Inn (320-239-4300) in Starbuck for lodging and current fishing information.

BIG STONE LAKE

There’s a lot of fishing waiting out west on Big Stone Lake. Its 12,610 acres form part of the border between Minnesota and South Dakota. It looks like a fattened and deadened river because it is one. The strangeness becomes apparent in its water column. Ninety-nine percent of Big Stone is within the littoral zone, meaning less than 15 feet. Accentuating the weirdness is the fact that clarity reigns, but so does a daytime walleye bite. Go figure.

Smith says the key to Big Stone is the old river channel, the deepest sphere of the lake. On a map, you’ll see that it runs through most of Big Stone, but the serious 10- to 14-foot section spans more to the south. Besides the crevice, Smith suggests finding the planted fish cribs on the South Dakota side. The right mixture of weeds can dispense daytime walleyes, too.

Moves are big on Big Stone. Due to its expansiveness and relative featurelessness, Smith explores in 100-yard progressions. Big Stone walleyes are a blend of naturally produced and planted fish. Current DNR data suggests that the walleyes are on par, not off the charts. Jumbo perch populations are skyrocketing, however.