Fishing slow on opening day for Michigan walleyes

While my partner Greg Sochocki was putting on his foul weather gear for the April 29 opening morning of walleye season, I noticed a fellow launching his boat alone. I walked over to the dock at the Rust Avenue launch ramp on the Saginaw River and grabbed his launch rope to give him a hand. He was appreciative and announced that he was fishing alone because all of his buddies had decided to fish the Bay on the opener this year, but he wanted to fish the river because “it’s tradition,” he said.