Walleye Strategies

[Crappie_King_04]

Question I have been fishing chub lake these last few nights for walleye and I'm in 18 feet of water and we had a camera down spotted some decent walleyes that came in but wouldn't bite I was using a Northland buck shot rattle jig tipped with a crappie minnow or head. one night we got them to bite but after we got this cold snap it seemed like a light switch just turned off. any suggestions on what to use or do to get these walleyes to bite. jigging techniques? Jigs to use? Bait? any suggestions would be great

[Jiffy]

Ask northlander what to use. He is an expert on fishing tackle.

[Lostit@theHole]

I have noticed the same thing. Walleyes and perch are very finicky. They'll swim up and take a look and turn right around. Most fish that do bite are on a whole minnow and a deadstick. Jigging seems to scare them off sometimes. As it gets towards dark they'll hit pretty good, only for a short while. Good Luck.

[Surface Tension]

Northland buck shots, Swedish Pimples, Go Devils and JR's Flasher spoons are all good to jig with. Theres times when switching up to something with a slower drop will get eyes that are turned off by the faster drop of the earlier mentioned jigs. Angle Eyes are perfect when you get fish in that mood. Also dead sticking or a bobber rod in the shack along your side your jigging presentation often gets hits from eyes that would rather not hit a moving jig but the jig next to it will pull eyes in.

Having a flasher gives you the advantage of seeing how fish are relating to your presentation. My jigging movements for eyes are always a slow lift and followed by a free fall. When an eye shows up I stop that movement and quiver my jigs. If that doesn't get them going I'll raise the jig up and quiver it some more. If I go back to raising and the free fall drop its always 1' above the fish I've been working, never dropping down to its level. Theres times when I'll work that same fish for 5 or 10 minutes. Still not all fish end up with a hit but that flasher gives you the chance to adjust your presentation where as fishing blind wouldn't.

[Northlander]

When eyes get real finicky like they have been with front after front coming threw I try this. Take a real small jig or a bare hook and small shot and put a ice buster bobber on it set for about 3' above where you see fish. Trim the bobber so it just bairly sinks very slowly. Then drop your bait in and when it gets 3' above the fish it slows way down with the resistance of the bobber. At times this will get those neutral or unagressive fish to hit.

Another thing to do is go as small as you can and slow. Might even be a ice ant with waxies to get strikes from eyes. Like ST said at times you really have to work them. Try several different baits from spoons, jigs, vertical, horizontal, swimming rattling, glowing etc. etc. etc. Half of my fun is trying out different baits all the time. If I catch a few fish on one it will stay on longer but if I dont catch anything in 5 minutes and Im seeing fish I switch baits.

Also on these type of frontal conditions a deadstick or bobber at times outproduces jigging. Also a well placed tip up can be deadly.

Jiffy Im not a expert I just buy too much gear! At least thats what the better half says. " So you dont need anymore now right?" She just dont get it does she?

[andy j]

Good pointers guys! Crappie King, how is the panfish fishing on Chub? I was thinking about trying off the weedline off the access on the north end for sunnies and crappies, is there a day bight for crappies or only a night?

[Neiko]

Crappie King, How is the ice out there? A couple of us plan on hitting Chub Monday. What type of bait do you use for walleyes there?

[Crappie_King_04]

Thanks much for the pointers guys...as far as ice goes there is about 11 inches of ice with cars and a truck driving on the as of 12/21 pretty iffy if you ask me but there choice...and for the panfish I havent fished much for them but it seems to me the bite is very well towards evening best place to find them is rightin bass bay and the bay right off the public access they seem to be in the weeds more than on the weed line.