Walleye Fishing
Walleye fishing has developed a very large following. Walleyes are a mobile fish, known to travel more than a hundred miles after being tagged. Another characteristic of the walleye is the fact that all of it's fight is below the surface of the water. And what a clean looking, crisp feeling, and delicious eating fish the walleye is.
To catch walleyes consistently you've got to think bottom! The fish may be 20 or more feet below, or just a few feet, but the light-shunning walleye normally is a bottom dweller. You can bet the only reason you'll find them in shallow water is because they're pursuing food.
So as you think bottom you should select those lures which will do a job of covering without snagging. One old standby is a #2 spinner blade with a minnow, crawfish, or nightcrawler impaled on a long-shank single hook behind it. This combo is trolled over the bottom, and because the hook is buried inside the bait, it makes a fairly weedless rig.
Where and How To Locate and Catch Walleyes
When fishing a lake, look for those shorelines where rocks are profuse and where they taper off into a clean rock or gravel bottom. Sandy or rocky bars and islands are also likely walleye haunts.
However, after the walleyes settle down to normal habits, there are some patterns for catching them that will get you action if anything will.
One is to troll to locate a school, because where's there's one there usually are more. The old "fish-finder" rig is good for this. Use a three-way swivel attached to your main line. Attach a bell sinker to the bottom eye of the swivel on a two-foot leader. Make sure your sinker is heavy enough to take your rig to the bottom. Behind this, on the rear eye of the swivel, use a floating minnow lure like a Rapala or a spinner-rig with a nightcrawler. The leader shoud be about eighteen-inches long.
As you troll this slowly close to rocky shorelines, the sinker rides the bottom while the floating lures wiggles above and behind, free of snags. It can be very effective at times. Normally, it will produce a walleye here and there, and any of these could represent a school of fish.
In rivers and streams, try both the head and tail ends of a riffle before working the deeper holes. You'll find the walleyes in or below the swift runs, where the eddy water bounces off the fast current, and below dams. As the baitfish move around, so do the walleyes trying to feed on them. If you don't find walleyes after working an area, don't sit and wait for them to come to you. Keep on the move until you find them.
Should you use a wire leader? Well, here a divergence of opinion sets in among veteran walleye anglers. Many experts claim they have caught hundreds of walleyes on monofilament line, no leader, and never had a line cut.
Others claim the length of their lure is suffucuent to keep the walleye's teeth off their line, and thus need no leader. There is merit in both of these schools of thought, yet some anglers use small, fine-diameter, six-inch long wire leaders as a precaution.
Yes, there's no doubt about it, walleye fishing is here to stay. A solid core of fishermen pursue them and forsake all else. Use a three-way rig to locate a school and give ole' marble eyes a try!
