1 0r 2?

[Butch]

Fishing Lake of the Woods in Canada in late May can be touch and go. A few buddies and I are heading there again this year. The walleyes seem to be somewhat finicky and generally leave us with thank you notes(half worms). The main weapon of choice is the double crawler harness with spinner. After reading the article on Walleye Central, "don't sell yourself short", it's has me thinking switching to single hooks for the sensitive bites.

Any thoughts here??

Butch

[JR]

Lindy rigs, hook the crawler through the center of the body.
Let em have it a bit.

Shiner minnows with a fireball jig is a better option in the cold water though. Use a stinger if need be.

[ArtCo]

I would go with two hooks. In the front a single and the back a treble.

Art

[Kolby]

Experiment a bit, Lake of the woods has a bit of stain to the water doesn't it? Maybe you need to look back as far as the groups of fish your trying to catch. Rather than trying to coax negative fish, experiment with warmer, shallower water, casting jigs or cranks. Any fish found here won't strike short! They be in their just looking for a fight!

Let em go!


Kolby

[bbakes]

A couple of suggestions.
If you don't already, try to get some slack into your lindy rig presentation. Many fisherman simply add a float, which adds a pivot point and can get the job done. I prefer to impart an action on my presentation that accomplishes some slack. Don't simply pull a lindy rig around, pump your rod slowly forward and back, picturing your offering stopping and going allowing for some slack in your line. This created slack will eliminate many "short" hits.
Also, when I find myself Lindy rigging or pulling spinners in 12+ foot of water and getting short hit, I switch to a bottom bouncer and a plain hook. Fish a light, 1/4-1/2 oz bottom bouncer straight down out to about 45 degrees. Feeling your way along. I usually run about a 5-7 foot leader to a number 6 black, red, or pink hook. This is amazingly simple way to attack "short" hits. With the stop and go nature of bumping the bottom, this presentation is deadly. As far as your question of one vs. two hooks I got a little lost. I was not suggesting in my article that spinner rigs should be fished with one hook. Two hooks should hook more fish. However there is a trick to spinners that might help you out. Take a store bought spinner, bite off the swivel, slide one bead of contrasting color down the line till it rests above the spinner. This one bead often moves the walley's "point of attack" further up the spinner, this can only help. Many fish will come on the first hook of your crawler harness, but their is no disadvantage to the second hook. My final word of advice would be to take 20 minutes this summer and head to a dock on clear water. Work along the dock with a Lindy rig, a bottom bouncer, and mess around with hooking live bait in different ways under a bobber, all where you can see first hand what your offering looks like underwater. You may be surprised at what you can learn. If I can answer any other specific questions. Just post.

[Butch]

Thanks for all the insites! I think this year is going to be better then the past 11 we've been hitting Lake of the Woods. 60 degree weather this early is sure to warm the water temps up and create active fish.

Can't wait!

Thanks,
Butch

[Tom Bodolovich]

I fish ontario LOW around the same time and often use a bottom bouncer. I get a lot of laughs but catch bigger fish, only because i catch more on the whole. Also don't give up until dark or just beyond.

[Guru]

Tom,

What part of the lake do you fish that time of year?? If you give me the GPS coordinates maybe we'll run into you.

[PigeonFisher]

Butch, are you the Butch from Horwood lake last May?

[Capt. Paul]

Short bites always seem to call for two hooks on our boat, a single in the front and a small treble in the back. Hook size varies by fish size being targeted.

[Windancer Jr]

I personally never use two hooks. I believe the second hook to often messes up the action of the crawler, especially with the heavy test line that many store bought lindy rigs come with. Keep it simple with a bare hook, long leaders, and light line (6 lb. test).

[Reels]

Try a leech. Im not a big fan of crawlers that early, although some people swear by them.

If you want to use a crawler, try a lindy ring, slow it down, and let the fish have it a bit.


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