Walleye Fishing Tips
1/4 oz. and 1/8 oz. jig heads:
The color of the jig heads is not that important. The color of the rubber or bait you attach makes the difference. In the spring or at night, the Walleyes are in shallow water so you would want to use a lighter jig like a 1/8 oz or even smaller. During the day or in the Summer when its warm and sunny, the Walleyes go deeper so you may want to use a heavier jig like a 1/4 oz.
Twister Tails: Scented or un-scented - 2 inch to 4 inch single and double tail:
In the spring, the hot colors for twister tails are white, bright yellow, bright red and black. As Spring turns into Summer, you will find that white and bright yellow slow down as the best colors. Black always works but you should try a dark smoky yellow or a transparent green as the water warms up. Many people believe that bright colors work in the Spring because the Walleye are still in protection mode over their spawning grounds and that they hit your jig on the act of defending and not eating.
In the Summer, the Walleye don't feed as aggressively as the Spring and tend to change their focus from minnows to bugs and crustaceans on the bottom. If the Walleyes are not hitting, try letting your jig sit on bottom and only give it tiny jigs so it mimics a bug on the bottom. The Walleye will also suck the jig in lightly so always set your hook on any extra weight you feel on the line. If you are fishing on a clean gravel bottom, then drag your jig across the rocks and stones. Don't even bother giving it a jigging motion.
Worm Harness:
In the Summer when it gets hot, many of the big trophy Walleyes go deep. In this case, you should try drifting or trolling slowly in the deep water (20 to 40 feet) with a worm harness. To keep your worm harness off the bottom, many people use a three-way-swivel set-up which is used with Lake Trout Techniques. If your motor trolls too fast, try back-trolling. You have to go just fast enough for the spinner on the harness to start wobbling. Any faster and the Walleyes will not hit nor will you be able to troll with your line straight down. You want your line straight down so you can feel your sinker bounce on the bottom and to feel a fish hit your lure.
Rapalas or Thunder Sticks:
In the Spring, the best way to catch a big Walleye is to troll along the shoreline just before dark or at day-break with a Rapala or Thunder Stick. A 3 or 4 inch Original Floating Rapala or a Junior Thunder Stick with a little touch of liquid fish scent will bring in the big ones.
Rapalas and Thunder Sticks are also good in the summer. You can fish for those suspended deep water Walleyes or troll shallow along weed beds and drop-offs.
In the Spring the best colors are red, chartreuse, blue and most of all "Fire Tiger". As Spring turns into Summer, silver and brown pick up as the other colors die off. The one color combination that works all year is "Fire Tiger". its probably the best color combination ever created.
