Gettin' down to the fish????

[ClintG]

Like I've said before, I'm new here and to walleye fishing so go easy.

Have a great little walleye lake here in central Oklahoma that I fished for the 1st time sunday. Picked up 2 fish via trolling cranks. Since I'm just getting started all my gear is for striper and hybrid fishing (i.e. making do with what I have until I can get all geared up). Trolled the deepest diving crank baits I had but could only get down to about 14'. Caught 2 18" walleyes in about 1.5 hours. Problem was fish were all over the place at 20-25'. Tried jigging spoons, bright colored jigs even tried small live shad but only caught fish trolling. Need some suggestions for equipment to get down there. Cost is an issue right now as I'm rigging a boat also. Where would you invest your money in tackle if you were just gettting start keeping in mind it's late-mid summer and fall is coming up soon (bottom bouncing rigs, down-riggers, dipsy divers, more jigs). And don't worry about being specific all this stuff is new to me.

[Jbr]

Deep running reef runners will get you down anywhere from 20-35 feet just flatlining. Use 8/3 fireline.

Most need to be tuned a bit, be very gentle tuning them a little bend goes a long way with these.

[Steven Borowski]

Why not try some Jet 20s. They'll supposedly go about 25' feet down withy about 125' of line out, depending on line diameter and speed trolled, of course.

There are a good selection of lures that will dive 20' or deeper.

How about snapweights?

You might want to get ahold of the new version of Precision Trolling. It's the trollers Bible.

[Kolby]

I would go by a handful of bottom bouncers, run these in conjuction with two hook spinner rigs and crawlers around 1.5 to 2 mph. This system allows you to cover water, stay in the fish zone, is easy to use, and very very effective.

Use a baitcasting set up and bring your boat up to speed, free spool the heavy bouncer to the bottom and lock the spool up with your thumb, after the rig rises off the bottom, free spool it one more time and lock in your reel once it hits bottom. Your all set, hang on!! Remember, once you find some fish, it may pay to stop and drop some live bait or jigging spoons on their heads!


Kolby

[ClintG]

Thanks for all the feed back. I've been looking for a good source for bouncers (over even making my own) and have also thought about the dipsy divers. Looks like bouncers, maybe a diver or two, throw in a couple of reef runners and I'll be set for a little while.

I tried droping live shad on their heads each time I caught one trolling(a good striper fisherman always has good live shad on hand)but they never took the bait. I figure trolling was triggering a reactionary stirke. Vary rarely seen fish so stacked up and not slayed them. Then again, these are walleye and I'm the new kid on the block.

[Toolman]

ClintG,

For around $20 (approx.) you could pick up an Offshore snap-weight kit. This is about the easiest way to reach those depths without buying any new baits or additional gear/equipment. 2 to 3 oz weight will put about anything bait you run in that zone (assuming your speed is within normal trolling parameters). There are numerous ways to get there...lead core, dipseys, jets, deep divers on superline and all have their place. The snap weights would be my suggestion to you for a starter. I would also really recommend that you spend another $25 and get "Precision Trolling". Best money spent for a troller.

Tim

[ClintG]

What is the big advantage with the Offshore clip weights vs. just using a 3-way swivle?

[Toolman]

To be honest, there may be no advantage. I've never run them simultaneously. I've used 3-ways quite a bit with Rapala stick baits in Canada. They work great for trolling floating cranks or spinners just off the bottom.

Tim

[SUPERTROLLER]

Using a snap weight allows you to place the weight farther up the line to avoid any spooking problems. It also keeps the bait at a more uniform level because any bounce of the weight is further isolated from the lure. If you are in a 2 ft. or better roll, your line is jerking up and down and surging alot. This may be too aggressive for walleye under many circumstances.

My suggestion would be to get some size 20 Jet divers or Dipsey Divers. You might want to also get some planer boards to use with the Jets. This would spread your lines and give you more coverage in your pattern and get lines away from the boat and the boards can be used when fish are shallower at other times of the year. With the Dipseys, you would get both depth and spread. Your lure selection might be in need of few different baits too. If your don't have baits that will dive deeper than 14 ft., are they mostly short fat baits? These would be bass style baits. With Fireline and some thinner deep diving baits such as Deep Husky Jerks, ReefRunners, Deep Little Rippers, Rattletots, Walleye Divers, and #9 Shad Raps, You will be able to get to 20 ft. or deeper without having to empty your spool of line. If you decide to buy either the Jets or Dipseys, you can only run shallow diving plugs or spinners behind them. A deep diving bait will pull the back end down and not allow these devices to dive properly.

[SS2]

Just to be different:

Look for an upward migration near dark and try between 7 & 14 ft just before dark and up til 10 or 11 PM with your existing baits. Troll electric if possible. If there is structure, they may move up onto it.

On a budget, for 20 to 25 ft if your running 6 to 10 lb dia line, I'd lean towards the big lipped large reefrunners but snapweights or 3 ways have merit. About any release clip will work with a 1 or 2 oz bell sinker or use a half hitched rubber band. For me, 3 ways or bouncers come into play if the fish are in the bottom 5 ft or so. The reefrunners will also work with leads as short as 10 to 25 ft on boards for high fish.

Keep a few $ back for some sticks (HJ's, rouges, ripsticks, little rippers, etc) to use when the fall nite bite starts. Long A's can work.

W/O checking, I think ST forgot to mention small flutterspoons can be awesome behind divers.

Regards,
ss