Walleye Plastics

[eyepatrol]

What are some good walleye plastics to buy? I'm making a shopping list and getting prepared for the upcoming season. I've never used plastics before for walleyes, but I'm going to try and change my old ways of doing things and use other techniques that I've been told about (ah-hem, Team Otter!)

Thanks!

P.S. - sizes & colors of plastics would be helpful too.

[mistermom]

I'd get 4" ringworms, paddle tails about the same size, and also some Kalins, and some twister tail grubs of various sizes. You probably want to get an assortment of colors because the water clarity and time of day will determine what you want to try. Good luck!

mm

[PerchJerker]

I like the powerbait jerk shad, I think it is 6 inches long. Very fun to fish when the 'eyes are in shallow

[Northlander]

I use a lot of power Shiners as well as Paddle Tails. I have also had some luck with bigger Jerk Shads. Ringworms and Super doos also have their time and place around here. I like the ring grubs in shallow current and current breaks. Often get smallies along with the eyes. Like said above get some "Hot" colors as well as natural colors.

For 3's go 4' or smaller but go 6" or bigger for hogs.

[delmuts]

don't forget a lizzard either.( i talked to Ted T. as he was going into a sport show for a seminar, and noticed he had one on his rod. i asked him about it, and his comment was" i like them some times, just cause i think it [PoorWordUsage]es them off , and they bite!"

[Team Otter]

B Fish N Tackle makes a nice range of plastics for the walleye fishermen. 4" and 6" ringworms are what I predominantly use along with the occasional Mr. Twister. Color is dependent on many different things, so I have a wide variety of each. You can't go wrong by having "too many color choices".

[eyepatrol]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll be sure to add all these to my list.

A question on the ringworms....how do you typically fish these....like you would for bass?

[Team Otter]

Standard lead-head jig works just fine. The plastic can be rigged weed-less or not depending on what type of structure you're pitching to.

[CrappieJohn]

Exude makes a scented plastic drop-shot worm and it is a good one for doing walleye in place of the ringie. Exude twisters are super in colder water. There are other good plastics out there as well. Some better than others.

[markkstanley]

Power minnows work well especially the paddle tail version. Berkley sells the 5" as a salt water plastic but they work just fine in fresh water. YUM has croaker tails again a salt water bait that is effective in fresh water. I've tried the YUM G Shad. Good for pike but no walleyes. This year I'm trying the Exude Crystal Shads the 4" and 6" variety.

[carlcmc]

Ct how do you fish the Exude drop shot worms for Walleye? Drop shot rig? or on a jig?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Carl- I have done well on the 4" dropshot worm running it on a jig, a dropshot(I was fishing bass but had my limmit of walleye before I caught my first bass... ) and behind a spinner rig. They work great behind a spinnerrig/bottom bouncer.. Exude also has a crawler thta works good too.

[Mille Lacs Guy]

I would also add that a lot of guys are finding that regular tail plastics, for lack of a better term are outproducing twister tail plastics by a fair margin. I have noticed this myself and Gary Parsons and Keith Kavajecz have been doing a lot of research on this subject and have found the same thing. I have had my best success with regular gulp minnows on max gap jigs or something similiar.

[CrappieJohn]

I have drop shotted them, jigged them, do-nothing-hang- over-the-side-of-the-boat-with-the-rod-laying-down....I've done about all of it with just about every kind of plastic. What i have found is that the more subtle the natural motion is in the plastic when the water is cold, the better they perform.

[zepman]

Basscatcher,

From first hand experience I can tell you that the Berkley 3" Trout Worms put more walleye in my boat last year than any other lure--including live bait. My sons and I throw these up shallow or around the break and they get just hammered. I believe Exude makes a line of these as well but I think they are 2". I'm going to be experimenting this year with alot of the kinds of plastics that have been mentioned on previous posts but am going to pay particular attention to all the new drop-shot plastics that are comming out. Light,slender, and full of action. Can't wait. Mostly just tip these baits on a 1/16 th or 1/32 long shank barbless jig heads. Happy shopping!

[eyepatrol]

All very good information! Thank you all for responding. I think I've got enough of a list to spend $50 - $75 now.

[CrappieJohn]

Zepp...

Indeed, Exude does make a 2 1/2 inch worm. They come in 7 different colors. I have several packages of these and use only portions of each worm for pannies with outstanding luck. I can't imagine why the waldos wouldn't hit these just as aggresively as those you have mentioned.

[walleyeking#8]

Was wondering what size lead head jig you all use for these 4" and 6" plastics? I have done a lot of jig fishing but have never tried that large of a plastic. I have to admit though that a lot of the walleye fishing shows that I have watched over the past couple of years have shown that the larger plastics do work.

[MuskyBug85]

i love plastics and i usually fish shallow water, under 14 feet, and i use 1/16th oz. generally once and a while i will use an 1/8th but no bigger, just my 2 cents.

[Fish Fry Guy]

Do you guys find a better bite with or without a spinner?

[zepman]

Walleyking,

It really depends on how you prefer to fish these plastics. I fish the larger 4-8 inch plastics on 1/8 to 1/4 ounce jigheads. Almost always with a 3/0 hook. I like to jig or hop these baits pretty aggressively though. Some may prefer to swim their baits through and around cover and I would recommend using a heavier jig with a darter shape head. Maybe 3/8 to 1/2 ounces with the bigger plastics. The reason I personally use the smaller jigheads is that I want as slow of a fall as possible to let the plastic do its majic. Pretty simple fishing and make sure you're hanging on to your rod pretty good when that bait is on the fall. They will smash these baits.

[CrappieJohn]

fish fry....never use a spinner with a jig/plastic.

Larger plastic fishes fine on a lighter head as long as you go to a lighter line and avoid serious current. I fish minnow bait type plastics to 4" in the main channel below the river dams without any trouble on 1/4 heads. Behind wing dams a guy with 6 pound could easily do 1/16 on these baits.

[eyepatrol]

Just to bring this topic back for a brief moment (because I'm going shopping in the near future), what type or size jig should be used with the 4" and 6" shad type plastics?

[Northlander]

Lots of head styles work in different situations. Most important is that you have a long enough shaft length to put the hook back far enough in the bigger plastics and a wide enough gap to still get good hook penatration.

Regular round heads, cone heads and some stand up heads work well when jigging. When swimming bigger plastics I use the cone or bullet heads mostly.

The new Angel Eye jigs work well with plastics.

[eyepatrol]

Thanks for the info Northlander. That is my concern, being able to get the hook point back far enough on these bigger baits to hook the fish. I'll look for those jigs.