The walleye is a great game fish to pursue. Here in Minnesota (the land of 10,000 lakes) it is the state fish. Many fisherman here pursue the walleye exclusively. The walleye a gold prize, a beautiful fish to catch. Plus great eating! It is a fish I pursue here in Minnesota often during the open water season. The walleye can be found in major lakes and rivers.
How do you catch a walleye . What is the best bait? The Walleye is known as a finicky biter at times . The best bait in my opinion is the crankbait. I use a shad rap number #5 deep runner. Trolling works very well. I prefer rod holders for your boat.
I would recommend a reel that has a line counter. I would recommend a book named precision trolling which has all your crankbait types and how deep then run per what kind of line you are using. My experience is you will find active fish in 16ft of water or less on rivers. Scientific studies show that in tracking studies walleye spend most of their time (in rivers ) in 16 feet or less.
How to troll a crankbait such as a shad rap deep runner #5. I troll the shoreline flats at about 1.5 mph. I let out 150 feet on my reel. I know that this bait on 10# fireline will run down to 16 feet without weight. I snake troll (wide zig zag) patterns in 10 – 17 feet. Color perch color is my favorite followed by a natural silver shiner pattern , gold, and fire tiger.
Sometimes you will want to troll deeper than your crankbait will run. Example there are two major rivers that come together. The water is 25-30 feet deep your bigger fish hang in this spot. To get down that far you use a snap bait. It is somewhat like a close pin. The pincers have the line wrapped a couple times to it. On the other end of the close pin (snap weight there is a ring where you would out a 3 ounce weight). The snap weights are available at any good outdoor shop. To use the snap weight first let out 40 feet of line then attach the snap weight. Then let line out unit you hit bottom. For 30 feet I find you let out approximately 110 ft of line.
When trolling crank baits you cover a lot of water quickly , locating active fish. Troll at 1.5 mph. This is what I like about this method is your covering much water.
Another great method is to fish for walleyes in the weeds. Specifically the deep weed edge . The deep weed edge is where the weeds end. Typically here in Minnesota it is 10-12 feet. Use a small 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig (no heavier). I like the northland weedless weed weasle. Type the jig with a leech or gulp alive minnow type bait. Mark the weed edge with 2-3 marker boys. From open water cast the jig to the weed edge. Twitch the jig slightly and work it slowly back to the boat. Especially watch the line when the jig is dropping.
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