Walleyes and weeds

[Weed Puller]

Our 'home' lake, Big Stone, located on the MN - SD border is very weedy and what I would consider for the most part a very shallow lake.

My question is - in search for eyes in the late summer early fall when the weeds are at their peak, what are some of your best methods for fishing a lake with A LOT of and very HEAVY weed growth. I am getting to the point where I may just trailer the boat....get up a little earlier and try some new water. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Bigfishhunter]

What type of weeds? For cabbage I like to pitch jigs into pockets, let them fall slow, one or two twitches, maybe more, then reel up and pitch to another, just work it this way. I have fished bobbers in coontail too with some success. The bobber allows me to suspend the bait above weeds that grow thick on the bottom where other lures like jigs get all gunked up.

[MAJ1966]

I have tried a technique called rip jigging. I tied on a 1/4 ounce jig head and a 5" kalins lunker grub. Pitch it in the weeds and rip it through them and let it fall a bit and rip it again. As you can imagine somewhat heavier line is required for this. I have caught a few walleyes, but not very many at all. I have caught more northern than anything else.

[Bill Krejca]

I prefer a jig head as light as I can cast with a twister tail tale type grub. Fluorescent orange head, chart or white grub. The light head will sink slower than a heavy one, use an overhead spinner to further slow the sink rate and inprove the weedless factor.

In weeds, I feel I need something that is more visible than the ordinary, plus a bait that will stay in the area longer so the fish don't lose it in the impaired visibility that are part of the weed environment.

Bill Krejca

[RJmjZ]

Split shot the edges of holes, bottom composition changes, and mid lake / deep side weed line pockets. Watch the light. Fish the side of the weeds that provides the most underwater shade. Use good old fashioned nightcrawlers with just a tad of tail inflated. You want to do the tail inflation not so much for the benefit of the tail staying off the bottom, as much as you want your bait to fall slower.

[chubby darter]

This may sound a little crazy but try "combat fishing." It has produced numerous limits of eyes for me in a very similar lake in SD . I like to use a No. 4 broken back rap in firetiger or minnow. Troll alongside and weave in and out of weedbeds (were possible). Vary your speed from 1.5mph to 2mph until you find what speed the eyes want. I use a line counter with 15 pound test mono. With 30ft of line out runs the plug at 2.5ft to 3ft deep. Keeps me about 6inches off the bottom. You will snag numerous times each pass, but with a little patience you should fill your livewell. Good luck:rock-on:

[Burr]

Not really many new suggestions, cuz everyone else gave really good answers imo. Only thing I'll add - to fish right in the weeds, the Northland weed weasel, or Lindy's version of the jig with a weed guard. It's pretty amazing how clean the weedless jigs stay.

Also, I'll often rig my plastics to run weedless. Typically when a fish hits in the shallow weedy water they nail it hard, and with plastics rigged weedless, I nail em hard right back. I also run plastics on spinner rigs, with split shot.

I've found it's important to not get frustrated by the other species. You may catch 10 northern, 15 sunnies, half as many perch, before you hook into the one walleye your looking for. I was quitting long before I got to the walleye, frustrated by the other species. Then a friend of mine told me he went through 12 dozen crawlers to catch his limit of walleyes. Hmmmmm. Just gotta keep sorting through the other fish. Also, don't be afraid to use a leader. Remember, your going to catch alot of Northern before you get to the one walleye your looking for...

And, spend all your time in the cabbage.

[Stoic Cynic]

If you now there are walleyes in the weeds, try slowly swimming a jig just fast enough to keep it out of the majority of the weeds; just give it a quck pop after you bump the very top of them. 9 times out of 10, the hit comes immediatly after popping the jig free of the weeds.

[Danger Dan]

Shallow eyes are great. For something different that will excite you try a 4 inch hollow belly swimbait on a plain weedless non-weighted frog hook, the kind with the wire that wraps around the hook eye. Don't worry about how the swimbait is running, in the weeds it's of little worry. We see a lot of eyes in 2 foot of water laying in the weeds in the middle of the day..........they don't all go deep in daytime.

Toss the swimbait out on the frog hook and have a ball........the thicker the weeds the better......oh be ready for a fight.........

[Terroreyes]

I haven't done it for years for walleye, but casting Bomber Long-A's or #5 Shad Raps and twitching them or a stop-n-go over the weed tops worked real well.

[Stoic Cynic]

Tonight I was fishing in about 20' of water than had weeds coming to within 6' of the surface (the lake if far fuller than I have ever seen it). The normal jig and jerkbait strategies failed me. I had been doing well elsewhere on the lake free lining crayfish, so I figured I'd try sort of swimming a live crayfish over the weeds and got 1 (less than 14"). Running crayfish under a bobber isnt especially effective since it impedes the natural action. What I tried that worked very well was to hook a live crayfish about 3" long with a single wide gap bait hook through the tail and put a medium sized floating strike indicator about 18" up the ling then freeling it as usual. The crayfish's natural inclination is going to be get down in the weeds for cover. The combination of the hook in the tail and the buoyancy fo the strike indicator kept the crayfish thrashing around a lot and kept it from getting too far into the weeds. worked like a charm. I have something new for my bag of tricks;)

[RJmjZ]

I maybe sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong. . . forgive me. When you said "night" maybe you meant evening - twilight or before. Because veggies switch from dissolved oxygen producing in the sunlight, to fish harmful carbon dioxide at night, I normally wouldn't fish weeds at night unless I absolutely knew for sure crayfish were abundant there, the water was high, the wind the day before or that night was blowing into those weeds. Fish just over them and just outside the weeds yes, but not in them. Your bait set up making noise is a tried and true approach at night – glad you found it.

[Stoic Cynic]

@RJmjZ

While I was unaware than aquatic plants produced carbon dioxide at night, I am certain there are large numbers of crawfish in the area. The layout of the area I am working on this particular resevoir is basically just past the bottom of a face of loose medium to large (into the hundreds of pounds) rocks than descend at an approximately 30 degree incline. At the bottom of the rocks is a small amount of sand and pea gravel, after that, as you move progressively deeper, you hit basically a solid wall of weeds (which is too large to avoid on this lake due to its private status and no guest boats allowed. The weedbed is near unfishable with any standard walleye tactic as well as many of my bass presenations. The crayfish far more abundant than average this year, surpassing the shad as the primary forage. It has been quite windy, and small amounts of runoff are still trickling through the inlet, so hopefully no damage done, the water is staying plenty oxygenated. That'll make think twice before ripping x-raps over the top of them

[RJmjZ]

First off, I’m jealous. ;0) Neat little lake set up you have for yourself. From what you described, you have some good conditions going for you as well. One more note – if you need it - would be to get super accurate at working the shallower shore facing weed line - not the lake facing deep weed line. . . That little stretch of gravel and sand between the big rocks and the weeds will often act like a fish highway and ought to be a killer at night. That, with the leftovers from the wind and then the run-off providing both oxygen and current, all being at the right place and time, is what it’s all about.

[Stoic Cynic]

I'd love to fish the stretch between the rocks and weeds, but it is cruised by large numbers of carp as well as small (<10") bass. The crayfish like to crawl under or into the rocks as well given the option, so keeping them a bit away helps unless you like going through 5$ worth of hooks a night. I may try dropshotting a small crayfish along that edge tonight to see if that will keep at least te carp at bay...

[RJmjZ]

Take your bow and arrows with you and get rid of them "suckers". Actually, you ought to make a day of doing just that - everything will be different after you reduce their numbers.

[RJmjZ]

Those little dink bass are in that niche for a reason. But eyes are the dominant predator in this case and they will go to that gravel highway at night. You say the weeds are impenetrable but you know there are some big momma eyes in there. There are some big momma bass in there to. Take a clue from bass pros (have I sinned for asking you to take a tip from bass fishermen? ;0) ) , and punch those weed mats with heavy 1oz+ jigs with Texas rigged big plastic trailers. Bait-Caster, Heavy braid line - 40-60# , is the ticket. Once inside the canopy, the weeds thin. Yo-Yo your bait up and down slowly. When bit, and you will be, set the hook hard twice, and then keep tension while moving the boat to the fish. Another tip is to use a casting bubble 18" - 2' up the line. That way, once inside the canopy, the bait won't drop further than you have the casting bubble set. Have your bait do the hootchie cootchie wiggle in place, and Yo-Yo to your hearts content. Hang on brother, you may be pulled from the boat.

RZ

[Stoic Cynic]

Take your bow and arrows with you and get rid of them "suckers". Actually, you ought to make a day of doing just that - everything will be different after you reduce their numbers.


Believe me, I would not mind getting rid of some of the carp, but since the lake I am reffering to is along the main highway through town, I think local authorities would not be quite as keen about the idea...


They are also an absolute blast on a fly rod when fishing gets tough for oter species.

[RJmjZ]

Check into whether or not is legal to bow-fish carp. Then, even if it isn't - talk to the town government folks about an idea. If the water is on the states right of way/easement, or under their management, you may have to take your idea up the ladder. Idea: Once a year when the carp spawn, organize a carp bow -fish tourney. $50.00 – 100.00 entrance fee per fisherman. Half of the proceeds to the winner, and half to underprivileged kids as the government decides. How could they say no to helping to eliminate two grave concerns. Even the biologists will back you up when you get them to admit publically that too many carp is not good for the water, and costs the operation of the reservoir more overall. Based on that alone the homeowner and business folks who depend on that water will jump on the yes side of a petition because it has a chance to ultimately lower water bills.