Short Strike > Stinger?

[Fuzzbient]

I've sure been getting a lot of short strikes and have been thinking about the best ways to handle it. Are others experiencing this as well? Is adding a stinger the quick fix for this? Would a single #6 hook be best to avoid fouling the stinger on weeds or do most people use a treble stinger?

I have been using a spinner rig tipped with a Gulp leach trolled slow but many of the walleyes hit the tail and let go. I boat the aggressive ones but I bet there are some beauties that I miss.

[PerchJerker]

I've never used 2 hooks in a leech, seems like it would wreck the action of the leech? I'd suggest giving them another second or two before you set the hook, or try shortening up the leech.

I really don't use stinger hooks very often, just seems like I don't get as many bites with them.

[Walleyeguy32]

I have fished with a stinger and not had it impaled into the bait. I just let it hang freely alongside of the bait. It this seems like it would not hamper the action of the leech/worm/minnow. Try this, it may or may not work for you.

[Borch]

I've had better luck just dropping more rod tip towards the fish a bit longer.

[hotlips13]

i've had this happen to me a lot more within the last month using the same tactics.

i usually fish with the bale open and my finger on the fishing line. when i feel the bite i let a lot of line out to prevent fish from taking the end portion of the leetch/crawler. when i let a lot of line out, the leetch/crawler stays in their mouth or right in front of them for a longer time, as long as i keep letting line out. if they're real touchy, i'll let more line out than normal to give them time to put the whole leetch/crawler into their mouth.

bottom line is to leave the food in front of their face for a longer time, especially in dirty water.

also, try using real leetches and see if they hit it better, they may realize its not the real thing and let it go.

[hotlips13]

i forgot to add that it may also be smaller fish just nibbling on the ends of the bait. sometimes with real leetches i can see the difference between teeth marks and scuff marks, the latter i attribute to panfish

[Fuzzbient]

I will have to try real leeches and see if they take it better. I tend to use the finger on the line with the bail open method and let it out until the run stops, but am not finding them taking it after the initial few taps in many cases.

[Team Otter]

How slow is slow?

[Fuzzbient]

Slow == just fast enough to get the spinner moving on the bottom rig (1 - 2mph?)

[paceman]

What size weight are you using. I once read that if the wieght is too heavy the walleyes have a hard time inhaling the bait and the result is short bites. I now use just enough weight to get near the bottom. I constantly switch depending on the wind and depth ....

[Team Otter]

Slow down to less than 0.5 mph, take the spinner off and trade it in for a plain hook and bead and down size your weight to keep the presentation at a 45 degree angle or less and see what happens.

[Borch]

Good point TO. If I'm getting a lot of short strikes I usually switch over to a live bait rig. This usuallt takes care of the problem.

But I also fish spinners with the bail closed and drop tip to the fish with some light pressure. This results in very few missed fish on the spinner rig which I usually pair with a bouncer or 3 way rig.

I almost never feed the fish line when pulling spinners. The folks who do in my boat miss twice as many fish as I do just dropping the tip back towards the fish. Most of them have made the adjustment.

[PerchJerker]

I don't use leeches very often, and use them on spinner rigs even less ....... but when I fish leeches on spinners I usually use a tiny flicker blade, on a metal clevis that spins easily at the slowest of speeds. Like Borch, I fish my spinner rigs with the bail closed and and when I feel the strike I drop the rod tip, as soon as the line gets tight and I feel the fish I hammer them.

The biggest walleye ever caught out of my boat on Mille Lacs came on a tiny spinner rig with a leech, behind a bottom bouncer. I rigged it for my wife and put it in a rod holder so she could devote her full attention to her book and her cocktail. All the fish she caught hooked themselves or got hooked as she grabbed the rod out of the holder ---- walleyes from "eaters" to a brute that was pushing 30 inches.

[terrible_fisherman]

I was using live leaches on a bare hook lindy rig set up last week for a couple hours and lost a lot of leaches due to short strikes (probably pan fish nibbling) but boated three walleyes. I ran out of leaches so switched to a spinner rig pulling a berkley minnow grub and the short strikes totally stopped. The next four hits I had four walleye. I think a lot of it depends on there feeding times but the spinner blade can make the hit a little closer to the hook sometimes it seems.

In any event, I never leave the bail open and let them run. I agree with the above in the idea of just dropping the tip back then setting the hook.

[ratherBfishnJP]

u know terrible i was also watching and reading about letting the fish have the bait. i heard to not only let them have the line but to also stop the troll and put the fisherman over top of the fish for a better hookset then just setting the hook after giving them line.

[Team Otter]

Perhaps we've discovered a new slogan for the HSO videos...

"Drop the tip, set the hook, H-S-O"!

[hotlips13]

i would be careful of the words 'always' and 'never' because we all know one method may be prefered over the other from one day to the next.

try both, bale closed/bale open, and see which is working best at that particular time. if they're not all over your leetch when you get a bite, u may need to leave it in front of them for a bit longer by letting out more line. if they're hammering the rig, you can leave ur bale closed. let the fish tell you what they want and adapt accordingly.

my $.02

[hotlips13]

hey fuzz,

check out the latest In-fisherman issue of Walleye In-sider magazine, july-august-september issue. has a great article about your question and the way he goes about things.

[Fuzzbient]

Thanks for all the tips! I'll pick up a copy of the Insider too. I used the drop the rod tip method Yesterday on some hits and had one monster hooked so good I couldn't get it in before it snapped my 4lb test. It went to the bottom and just sat there for a bit, then shook it's head and was gone. I suppose it may have been a big pike or muskie for all I know.

Again, thanks for all the expert advice! Lots of things to try there.

[slabchaser]

I agree with most of the opinions on here drop the rod tip before going to a stinger. I cant prove that a stinger messes with the action but I sure dont catch as many fish. good fishing

[BlueLundFishrman]

stinger-free is the way to be