Crankbaits and Jigs

[shoot2retrieve]

I've read a ton of stuff talking about crankbaits and jigs for walleyes. Are these specific for walleye or just like the ones for bass? I've only caught walley on a jighead tipped w/ a worm so my walleye experience is limited. Thanks.

[Bob Jensen]

Bass crankbaits will catch walleyes, but if you're targeting walleyes, you'll want to use a crankbait designed for walleyes. Same is true with jigs.

Walleye crankbaits are generally longer and thinner, bass crankbaits are generally short and fat. Walleyes usually feed on longer, thinner baitfish like perch and smelt and the like. Bass usually feed on shorter, fatter baitfish like bluegills and shad. Therefore, it seems to work better to "match the hatch" when it comes to shape.

Doesn't mean you can't catch walleyes on short, fat baits. I've done it lots of times, although generally I was fishing for bass. You'll most often catch walleyes on short fat baits in the summer.

A couple good examples of walleye crankbaits are the Frenzy Flicker Shad and the Shad Rap.

Usually when we think of bass jigs we're thinking of rubber-legged jigs.

Walleye jigs are usually less bulky. Sometimes they have bodies, sometimes they're meant to be tipped with live bait. Fire-Ball jigs are a good example of a live-bait jig. They have a shorter, wide-gap hook that works great with live bait and also enhances hooking percentages.

Jigs with long shanked hooks and plastic keepers are usually good for soft bait. A Slurp Jig or Mimic Minnow head would be a good example.

Lastly, the soft bait that can be tipped on a jig for walleyes. PowerBait has been around a long time and does a great job. 3 and 4 inch Power Grubs and Power Minnows in the same lengths are very productive.

Gulp! and Gulp! Alive Minnows and Minnow Grubs are also very productive on walleyes.

There are times when live bait will get more bites, but more and more, it is becoming apparent that soft baits are a very good subsititute for live bait.

Hope this answers your question at least a little bit. If you have other questions, please be sure to ask.

Best Fishes,

Bob Jensen

[shoot2retrieve]

Thank you, very informative and helps me a ton. Again thank you.