Safety Pin Walleyes

[tgruenke]

I have heard a lot of people using beetle spins I know they will catch walleyes. Has anyone ever taken the soft plastic off and replaced with a gulp style bait? DO you think this will work?

[gurkster]

Beetle spins would not be my first choice for walleye. I would put my gulp bait on a jighead and use it that way instead. That said, try it and see, maybe it will be the ticket.

[Northlander]

Yes it works great in weeds.

[PerchJerker]

A beetle spin is really just a spinnerbait and you can tip it or dress it with whatever you want, even live bait, even live bait behind the plastic. It's going to be most effective in shallow water, and when the fish are willing to chase a bait. I wouldn't say it's a typical walleye bait, I'd lean towards a jig and gulp combo as gurkster mentioned. Good luck.

[riverrat56]

In-Fisherman had an article a few years back about "Bass" Spinners and walleyes. Shallow weeds are the place to be if you want to give it a try, like you said tipping the hook with a more walleye style plastic was the prefered method. From personal experience I can say that shallow walleyes will eat anything they decide is a meal, Mimic Minnow Spins have put alot of fish in the boat for me in the past. I fish them in almost a blended style between a jig and a crank, short rips like jigging but during a steady retrieve like with a crank. Trying to keep it near the bottom or the weed tops.

[LMITOUT]

Yes, they do work.

The plastic comes off the hook and usually goes into the garbage as soon as it leaves the package. Gulp works great as a replacement bait, as does a real minnow.

Trolling them shallow along or over top of the weed line is the ticket. Don't cast them.

(shhhhhhh! Don't tell anybody!)

[Northlander]

I love casting them into shallow weeds with a paddle tail or twister tail or gulp shiner on it.

[tunrevir]

These are a great eye baits as folks have already Very versatile much like a jig. You can do the reel and flutter, straight reel, slow drop and hop retrieve, a drag retrieve much like you would use with a regular jig. I tend to view the beetlespin body as a neutral to negative body style as the spinner is the attractant and the body doesn't do a whole lot. The splittail minnows are similar a more subtle body where you impart the action. Next you haave the paddle tail minnows which have a slightly more aggressive wiggle along with the spinners attractant and lastly, you have the classic twistertail grubs which tend to be most aggressive with the body and the spinner wiggling the whole retrieve. I like to toss these baits along the weedlines or fish them over weeds using a slow speed retrieve on lakes and will use them to cast shorelines with woody, weedy cover and rip rap shores in rivers. I love pitching plastics in shallow rivers both spring and fall for walleyes and have caught everything

from pannies to muskies on these baits. Sorry for the sideways pics but that is the way I take them when one handing them while wading:)

Tunrevir~

[riverrat56]

Trolling them shallow along or over top of the weed line is the ticket. Don't cast them.

To each his own I guess...Nothing I love more than catching walleyes while pitching to shorelines or weeds.

[trolloni]

Well theese posts pretty much settles the question walleyes smack em ! everything else does to from gills to muskie .

[tunrevir]

The walleyes this weekend were loving the paddletail and spinner combo as well as the smallies and pike. I like to use these around woody cover with a weedless jighead and you can get right into the thick stuff without many hangups. The other advantage to using these baits is they are alot cheaper then casting cranks where there is alot of wood and rocks where they can get snagged. The downside to these baits is that if you are fishing an area with alot of pike you will need to go to a leader as they will engulf the whole bait and the snap swivel in the blink of an eye!

Tunrevir~