Slip Bobber Tactics for Walleye ARE Extremely Effective When Done Correctly by Jason Mitchell For some anglers, the thought of using slip bobber tactics for walleye seems like a boring concept. Akin to watching paint dry on the side of the barn. Throw the bobber out, let the bobber sit and wait… and wait until a fish swims by. While you can just sit and stare, you can also fish slip bobbers with a much more aggressive mindset and if you fish slip bobbers correctly, you are hustling and adjusting the entire time until bobbers start getting dunked. Slip bobber tactics for walleye can be so incredibly effective because of the precision involved. You can stick or drift through the "X" for long periods of time and let good live bait do the work. A lively ... [ Pound this link... ]
Clear Water Walleyes – Clearing Up Late Summer Walleyes
Pro Fisherman Mark Courts had to adapt to nail giant clear water walleyes. by Ron Anlauf Things change, that’s the way it is. There usually isn’t much you can do about it either, except maybe adapt. When it comes to clear water walleye angling there have been plenty of changes, including water that has been getting clearer and clearer. Some of it has been good and due to more diligent efforts to clean up the environment like restricting agricultural runoff and limiting drainage from leaching septic tanks all of which can add to a lake’s fertility and produce more algae blooms and reduce visibility. The bad has been the spread of invasive species like zebra mussels which filter nutrients from water and can sterilize a system and limit the amount of forage available to plankton which ... [ Pound this link... ]
“CRANKTIMIDATION” Cranking ‘Eyes with Authority
Slam dunk crankbaiting techniques for busting the backs of summer walleyes (Crank-tim-a-da-tion): A fearfulness of crankbaits. Lacking the confidence to trust bodybaits. To be utterly intimidated by hard-bodied lures. Ex: “Tom suffered from cranktimidation, not having the confidence to employ the lure even when the fishing conditions were ideal for casting or trolling a crankbait.” Seems we’re always hearing the term “confidence bait.” It’s the lure you throw with your chest pumped and head full of self-assurance. Might be a jig. Perhaps a spinner and crawler dragged almost pompously along the bottom. Maybe even hanging a leech under a slip-bobber with your chin held high. You’ve hooked walleye after walleye on the technique over the years. It’s the first outfit that hits the water…no ... [ Pound this link... ]
In The Zone For Vertically Stacked Bass By Brett Richardson
The first migrations of the late winter / early spring can be interrupted by multiple fronts and high wind conditions. This scenario forces migratory smallmouth and largemouth bass to be stacked vertically throughout the water column, as both groups of big fish and solitary giants make their way toward secondary staging locations. Many trophy bass hunters experience good results with slower horizontal presentations during this early time frame until fronts arrive. The stacking bass factor seems to elude many, as bass tend to have a miniscule strike zone and are suspending. These groups of fish can be located in various depths through the water column and generally in neutral to negative mode. Throughout the decades, I've seen this scenario every season and have made a habit of locating ... [ Pound this link... ]
Go Small or Go Home
by Matt Johnson Modern day society continues to push the mentality of doing things “big” and bold. “Go big or go home” is no longer just a term used on the sports field, but also rather in the office, at the factory, or even in the classroom. We are wired to take things to the max and “push it to the limit.” But what about fishing? Or better yet, what about those first few weeks after ice-out when the panfish are still in “ice mode” trying to find their appetite? “Go big or go home” might send you off with the latter, but “go small or go home” could be the ticket to an amazing day on the water. So what does “ Go Small or Go Home ” mean exactly? For me, it means keeping you ice fishing tackle with you when you first hit the open water scene. When you sit back and think about ... [ Pound this link... ]
Erie Walleyes Angler Take Notice of Perfect 10
By Abe Smith Charter captains on the Great Lakes don’t waste much time testing every new lure that hits the market. They know the two or three best baits for trolling for walleyes and that’s that. Don’t even bring a new lure to the party. So, when a lure crashes in from nowhere to enter the ranks of elite Lake Erie walleye baits, the old timers get a little upset. Solid belief systems are shaken. Old confidences are questioned It happened last fall in the Central Basin. The Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue counted coup on walleye and topped the performance of every hardbait competitor, old and new. “By season’s end a lot of captains had all but abandoned the traditional trolling lures they’ve used for years,” says angler Matt Hougan. Derby winner If Hougan gets exuberant over the success ... [ Pound this link... ]
Winter Strategies for Spring Success
by Garett Svir The ice season is coming to an end but don’t throw out the larva or put away the ice fishing jigs quite yet. You might find success using winter strategies for spring success. After ice out, crappies will start to make their way from the deep water haunts of winter to shallow black bottom bays. It’s not spawning time. These fish are searching for the buffet line. Black bottom bays soak up the heat of the sun like a sponge and hold bug hatches necessary to start the food chain. Crappies sneak in on warm days for a quick meal long before the spawn begins. While minnows are a great producer once water temperatures have warmed, ice out slabs require finesse presentations. I think the experiment stemmed from my unpreparedness for the coming season. Winter jig boxes and larva ... [ Pound this link... ]
Panfish in the Abyss – Late Season Ice Fishing
Both bluegill and crappie often suspend or move out over deep water basins on many bodies of water each winter. Deep and basin are often relative descriptions to describe a large offshore bowl of deeper water but more specifically, look for the bowls or basins that bottom out between fifteen and forty-five feet of water. Most of these basins are typically soft bottom but points and other structure that protrudes into these basins are often a harder bottom structure. The rock that intersects or protruded into a basin is really an overlooked location for panfish but often, we often find fish drifting through this open water suspended off the bottom. Breaking down these basins for suspended fish can be intimidating but there are many adjustments you can make to become much more ... [ Pound this link... ]
Ice Fishing No Weeds
There can be surprisingly solid ice fishing, where there are no weeds, for panfish on lakes and reservoirs that lack classic weed growth. From an ice fishing perspective, good weeds in the wintertime often correlates with good water visibility. Poor water visibility, turbidity or exposure to strong winds might create panfish water that might offer at least shallow weed beds during the summer but by winter, most of the weed bed is down. There are also some reservoirs particularly in the Great Plains States built to provide irrigation and the drawdown prohibits good weed growth from ever developing. Many anglers mistakenly believe that most great panfish water has good aquatic vegetation. That is not the case and lakes that are devoid of any aquatic vegetation often require completely ... [ Pound this link... ]
Ice Fishing for Walleyes with Rattlebaits – Walleyes, Ice and the Rattlebait Revolution
Ice Fishing for Walleyes with Rattlebaits Get out ice fishing for walleyes with rattlebaits. Rattlebaits not only sink fast, they increase your coverage area exponentially by propelling waves of attraction hundreds of feet beyond the hole. by Nathan Shore They are children of the run-and-gun, born with the advent of trolling motors. They sink fast, require fast retrieves and vibrate with a tight, fast wiggle. Rattlebaits hum, rattle and roll to quickly cover water and call fish in with sound and vibration. When ice fishing for walleyes with rattlebaitst this quick sink-rate adds another productive use, as well. A few years back, walleye anglers rediscovered the effectiveness of lipless rattlebaits under the ice. Locked into one location over one hole at a time, the ability to cover ... [ Pound this link... ]