Lindy Walleyes

[huntfish44]

Anyone have any good tips on lindy rigging that will help an angler put more walleyes in the boat...

Thanks a million!

[fish2live]

here is what i do first i use lindy rock runner sinkers and then a 5 - 7 foot leader of flouracarbon with a blood red or chartruse hook. seems to put fish in the boat one of the biggest things that can make or brake you imo is the leader length, sometimes they like it short sometimes long. and use as light of weight you can get away with.

[big musk411]

Get youself a good drift sock. I got one 2-3 years ago and its priceless.

[gunflint]

A couple of key things when it comes to Lindy rigging are: The rod, it has to be sensitive enough to feel the pick up. Feeding the fish line after the pick up and speed, the idea is not to tow bait around the bottom but to present live bait in such a way as it swims right in front of a walleyes nose.

[WaveWacker]

Where to start?? There are so many different variations of rigs that can be used in a given situation. In general however here is what I would go with. Keep as light of a slip sinker as possible. I like to stay as vertical as possible and still feel the bottom. Typically I'll run a 3/8 oz. sinker but will vary up or down given the situation. As mentioned above a good sensitive rod for feeling bites. Many times I don't feel a big "tug" but just some weight on the line with just subtle pulls. On average I'd say I run a 5-6' snell or leader.

The main thing however is to fish where the fish are. I depend greatly on my electronics for finding some fish first and then try to entice them to bite. The majority of the battle is to be able to know the structure in a particular body of water and then being able to position yourself in the best locations on that structure. What I mean by this is to pay attention to small little twist and turns on a piece of structure. At times it doesn't take much change in bottom contours to hold fish. Good Luck

WW

[Tyler Holm]

I've seen times when a simple red bead added to a lindy rig can produce more fish.

[Team Otter]

Another thing that is important to note is leader line and sensitivity. When I do "rig", I like to use Fireline above the weight to help work in conjunction with my rod to feel the pick up as "gunflint" already indicated. After the weight, I like to use 4 - 6 lb. mono so the presentation "hangs" better in the water. Leader length can be very day to day, but I'm usually somewhere in the 7 - 11' range.

[Tyler Holm]

Holy HammerToes,

11' leader. I've use 8' before and It's sometimes a chore to net the fish. I can't imagine 11'

[bmc]

Use one of the braided no stretch lines, like power pro or fire line for your main line then a mono-lindy rig. Super sensitivity with the power pro!!! I can't even begin to explain how this has improved my lindy rigging fishing, especially in deep water.

Brian

[tunrevir]

One thing that I have found that can also help the bait presentation when moving at really slow speeds is to grease the last two feet of the leader with fly line floatant. Makes the crawler or leech drift along ohh so naturally! Works really well with split shot rigs but also with the Lindy type rigs.

Tunrevir~

[eyefishii]

My 2 cents.. I like Owner walleye snells and for the "bead" thing go to the craft store and get GLASS beads. I think they give you a better clak clak on the rocks.

[Jay R]

Just a quick tip, long leaders are no problem for lindy rigging just use a boober stop to adjust your leader length.

Whats the leader line choice of the experts? Mono, Flouro,?? Does Floro sink to much in the longer leader lengths? Thanks I'll hang - up and listen

[Team Otter]

This is not WCCO.

I like to use Mono.

[Northlander]

All great advice. Only thing I may ad is to keep sinker weight as light as possible and dont just drag it on bottom. Also keep hook sizes down so bait can move naturaly. No #2 hooks on leeches.

My favorite rigging line is still Trilene XL. I have tried tons of others but always wind up with the old tructy XL on my reels.

One other thing. Pay attention to what beeds you use. Some float and some sink.

[walleyefisher0990]

what about rod preference? Spinning or Baitcasting? Ive used both and just curious what you guys think? I like to use spinning rods, but alot of people that i fish with use baitcasters. Would there be a real big difference.

[Team Otter]

When Lindy fishing, you're always waiting for that "pick up", which often times can be very subtle. With that being said, I think a person has a better feel for the fish with a spinning rod and that is what I use for Lindy fishing.

[AQUAJOE]

I agee with Team Otter Spinning is my choice to.

[Northlander]

I also like a long spinning rod with a sensitive tip. I just got a 7'6" medium light with a extra fast tip from Midwest Rod and Reel and Im thinking this will be my go to Lindy rod this year. Plus it will work in the north shore streams and for jigging in current.

It may be too fast for the lindy rigging but we will see. I guess if I were to look at a good all around rod for rigging and jigging it would be a 7' med/lt fast action.

[Bruce Mosher]

What I like to use for Lindy Rigging is my Foam Walkers. I use Fireline and then a Foam Walker, a plastic bead, a Snap Swivel, and then tie on a leader made out of Floro Carbon or 8 to 10 lb. test Trilene XL. At the end of the Leader I usually tie up a Red Bead and a Red Gamagatzu hook and put my leech on. If I want a good Floater to go extra slow with and stay in the Strike Zone I use a piece of my Ice Buster Bobber Foam (approximately 3/8 to 1/4" in length) to float my bait up. Simply cut off a piece of yellow foam and put anywhere on the hook. You will even save yourself alot of money with these foam floaters. The Foam Walker actually wobbles in the water when moving giving your bait a little action. If you stop your retrieve it Stands up (never tips over) and the bait is a few feet back off the bottom because of the floater and the leech is working against the foam enticing a strike. I do alot of stop and go retrieves. Mostly when I'm anchored in deeper water in front of a point. I throw the Foam Walker with a leech in shallow and will pull it back a few feet and wait. Nothing their pull it back a few more feet and wait for the Bump. You can then feed it line or lower your rod tip and sweep it home. This works great!!

The Foam Walkers are sold on this site or check out www.todaystackle.com for more information. The 1/2oz works down to 15', the 3/4oz works down to 20' and the 1-1/4oz works down to 30' Troll these very slow just like a Lindy rig and you'll be happy. Bruce Mosher

[Northlander]

Bruce is correct the foamwalkers are part of my arsenal when Im doing the slow "Lindy Rig" type fishing. One thing I do is wrap the lead weight to the bottom of the walker with 2# test line. That way if/when I snag up I can just snap the weight off and dont lose the whole rig. Put another weight on and Im set to fish again. Quicker and cheaper. I even have used the foam walker as a bobber in a pinch. Works just like the icebusters but only black.

A 2oz. foam walker would be great for deeper current applications Bruce. Dont ya think?

[Bruce Mosher]

Yes if you go deeper and the wind possibly picks up you will need to add more weight to keep in contact with the bottom. I have used up to 3oz on the Foam Walkers. They will handle a little more but I was talking about 3oz for casting purposes. If I need to cast quite a distance then 3oz is the maximum I will put on the bottom. If I drop it over the edge of the boat then up to 5oz will work. The Foam Walkers not only work for Walleyes, I have used them and caught Catfish, Salmon, Bass, Sturgeon. The "drop Line" of 2lb test works well if you just want to break that off and save the rest of the rig. I have even put a split ring on the bottom and then added the drop line. Another tip to mention is putting a black plastic slider piece onto your line where you would have the Foam Walker attached. Then you attach the Foam Walker to the snap swivel to the black plastic piece that will slide up and down your line. This way you dont have to cut the top of the Foam Walker to be able to attach it to your line. One thing that happens once in a while while Catfishing with a heavier weight attached to the bottom of the Foam Walker is that a Catfish will really shake while being netted and the Foam Walker would go flying off the line. So this plastic piece "Tube" with a snap swivel hanging straight down which you would attach the Foam Walker to works pretty good.

As you can see the Foam Walker is not just a weight attached to your line. It is the most versatile Lindy Rig system made. Plenty of features and options for the Fisherman. Have fun!! Bruce Mosher

[rms]

Fish the sinker on the lindy rig like a jig--by that I mean find the bottom then hold the weight off the bottom about 6". Occasionally check to see that you're close to the bottom, don't drag the weight on the bottom. Also, keep an eye on your graph and use floaters if you're seeing a lot of activity up off the bottom. One thing I like to do is peg an in line float on the leader about 10" in front of the bait. Adjust the leader length to get your bait the right amount above the bottom.

[Bruce Mosher]

Two summers ago I went to Lake of the Woods with a Guide from Roseau. We Both had Foam Walkers on, but he had a Northland Spinnner on and I had a Floater hook. Both Leaders were the same distance from the Foam Walker. Their was absolutely no wind, and we were very slowly trolling with the electric motor so our weights (Foam Walkers) were dragging bottom most of the time and my buddy's spinner was definetly dragging mud. Mine wasn't because I had a floater hook. He caught 5 Walleyes before I switched to a spinner and proceeded to drag in the mud and catch Walleyes! But I've been to Lake of the Woods before and caught all of the Walleyes I wanted with a Floater hook. But you are right, most of the time you don't want to Drag Bottom all the time.Alot of the time when I want a spinner I use a Gold scale Smile Blade, 3 to 4 plastic beads, and a red Gamagatzu hook. The Smile Blades really work great for a spinner. They are mylar plastic (light weight) so they spin at virtually no speed. Great set up with the Foam Walkers. Have fun, Bruce Mosher