Walleye's biting on Viking lake (IA)

[Learning]

I heard from a couple of locals that walleye are biting on Viking Lake in SW iowa. They say that they are not huge, 12-16 inches, but they are biting quite steady.

I didnt know walleye were in this lake. Does anyone have any first hand experience with walleye here? Would you kind enough to point in the right direction on where to go on the lake and what to use?

thanks

[BabeLinder]

I can tell you this about Viking: If you try to troll, be prepared to donate a lot of tackle. It is managed as a panfish lake and has gobs of immovable structure in it. I used to fish it several years ago and one year the DNR lowered it to place structure in. WOW. There is plenty in there now. This structure is a good place to start looking for walleyes and all the fish in Viking for that matter. Rocks are the most common place to fish for walleyes, I would wager. Start by the dam, if I remeber correctly it is riprapped. I assume that you are just learning about walleye fishing and these simple tactics will get you started.If you are boat fishing I would recomend jigging spoons. They are simple to use and easily presentable around structure. Also, not terribly expensive. I tip my spoons with a small piece of nightcrawler. I catch a lot of perch and the worm helps for them but Im sure it does for walleyes also. Dont be afraid to jig with the lures a few feet away from the anchor rope. You wouldnt beleive the size walleyes caught 3 feet from the ropes. I just drop the spoon to bottom, reel up a foot or so, and jig. Pretty simple. Put in a few pauses and be ready to set the hook. Also try slip bobbering leeches. Very simple technique that fish cannot resist. You will catch most everyhting in that lake with leeches so that method might get spendy. I like my leeches about a foot off bottom. Another lure that works jigged is Blakemore roadrunners. These are great for the size walleyes you mentioned. Roadrunners are not expensive and you can cast them from shore or jig from a boat. I prefer roadrunners with curlytails but turbotails work good also. If they come with marabou I cut that off and put a twister on. The roadrunner I will just cast out, wait for it to sink to bottom and reel it in. Reeling it in slowly but fast enough to turn the blade.Walleyes love nightcrawlers but so does everything. If you use them in Viking you will spend a bunch of time fooling with blugills. But they will catch walleyes. When fishing from shore,I rig a nightcrawler for walleyes by putting a splitshot about 15" up the line and using a size 6 or 4 hook below that. I hook the head of the worm on the hook, leaving the rest to dangle. It looks like the worm will get stolen but with walleyes that will not be a real problem. This rig I just cast out and slowly bring it back in. Pulling it back about 3' or so at a time, leaving it rest for a few seconds. You can also use nightcrawlers under a slip bobber. My favorite method for summer walleyes? A size 4 Gamakatsu octopus red hook with two split shot about 8" up and baited with the head of a nightcrawler clipped just below the ring. Catches perch too. Walleyes dont have to be complicated. Right now the walleyes are probably mostly deeper, but very soon they will start moving shallower, making them easier to catch. Ask more questions on this board if you have them. Someone will point you in the right direction. Good Luck

[learning]

thanks for the pointers, I didnt know this lake had perch. Are we talking about the lake that is off highway 34 in sw iowa? This is the lake I am thinking of. If your advice was for this lake, I am anxious to go down there now more than ever.

My home water was Spirit lake iowa, the walleye and perch tactics run very similar there, except the snag problems you mentioned.


thanks for the good tips, I love this board in this way. If you ever need any tips on the iowa great lakes, let me know.

[BabeLinder]

I was actually talking about perch fishing in other areas, but yes Viking has a small population of perch. Yes that is the Viking I refer to. Near the town of Red Oak.

[learning]

Where do you perch fish in sw Iowa? I always go up to SPirit lake in nw iowa.