Great Lakes Walleye Lures

[hageman.2]

I'm working on an article for Great Lakes Angler Magazine and need some input on what lures are used around the Great Lakes and some of the bigger walleye waters away from Lake Erie for winter walleyes. What are the popular lures used in Saginaw Bay, Bay of Quinte, Lake of the Woods, Bay de Noc, Nippinsing, etc. I have Lake Erie covered. Thanks for the help!

[Backwater Eddy]

For me if I'm headed to LOTW, Lake Winnipeg, or the Red River for big walleye, you can count on me having a good selection of Salmo Chubby Darters and Salmo Zippers on hand. I caught 4 in the #14 range last winter on them, so I'm a fan of the Salmo Chubby Darter to say the least.

Got the new #3, #4, and #5 Holographic Salmo Chubbys in today...man..are they HOT! Uf-Da..Uf-Da..Wait tell ya see the new Holographic glows!

Even found some exclusive Gander Mountain pattern Luminescent Blue Dace in #3, and #4, and a few of the much coveted #5's.

Another must have in my box is the Reel Baits Red Tail Flasher jigs and the Plain Jane jigs by Reel Baits. I do a combination of river ice fishing and lake ice fishing and they have proved to be highly productive in both situations.

Iven's Slammers is a darn good jig too, and the assorted Buckshots and Lindy flyers, all have there day on the ice in turn.

[manitobawalleye]

ed's choices are great lures for lake winnipeg
but i use 2 others with great success as well.....
Rapala Rattlin Raps and Kopper Live Target Golden Shiners....
couple these with a deadstick when you are on fish......
beside your hole have another hole 18" away. in this other hole you have a sure hooking bait like a Hawger 2000 with a back hooked shiner or livie
you call in the fish and if they do not take the other bait is in their face.....

another thing that works well on Lake Winnipeg is spoons.....Buckshots and Pimples
sometimes fish have to be lifted off bottom 3'-4' even 6' before they commit
sometimes they peel off and leave at 4'.....i call them peelers
here i do something different after noticing it.....
I drill another hole 18" away
my deadstick rod is set on a bucket within easy reach
the lure is set at the depth where they seem to be peeling off.....
all the time this other lure is visible ion my flasher....
when a fish comes into my spoon and i need to lift him i start lifting
all the time watching my flasher.....i will lift him to the depth where others were peeling
carefully watching my flasher....
when i see him stop at my deadstick depth i reel up the spoon fast and reach down and jiggle the deadstick....and usually they are now mine...

if you are going hole to hole and calling in fish and have a looker that you cannot raise
and seems non commital...
make sure you are carrying another rod
reel up and throw back a small lure
throw down a size 3 Chubby Darter in Luminescent Grey Dace....
9 times out of 10 they cannot resist the little morsel....

[Papascott]

On Erie I use mostly Jigging Rapalas size 5-7 mostly. Bushots and Pimples are go to spoons. Rattle Snakie spoons are a great lure just getting harder and harder to find and lastly Little Cleos have had their hot days too.

Scott

[fishinmachine2]

I fish Saginaw Bay quite a bit and we use mostly Do-jiggers in both #1 and #3 sizes!! Colors seem to change alot from day to day but most time chart/chrome and orange/chrome are good go to colors!!

Scott

[hageman]

Thanks for the input. Looks like there's a few new ones coming out this winter-Moonshine Shiver Minnow and Lindy Darter in expanded sizes and colors look promising.

Anyone know a source for the old-style "swimming jigs" The banana-shaped painted ones that are molded out of lead & a single hook, especially the ones with an eye to attach the stinger hook clip to?

If you do searches for swimming jigs now, all you get is the Bass jig with the big skirt that apparently is the rage.....

[Kevin Lee]

I would say the most used lures on Little Bay de Noc are the standard Jigging Rapala's with glow green tiger being the best color in size 7. Ice Darter's were a new jig on the market last year and turned out to be really hot with holographic purple and holographic green rainbow trout the two best colors. I would probably give a nod to the holographic green rainbow trout being a tad better than the purple though. Moonshine's Shiver Minnows were also good with red grapes being one of the best colors. Buckshot Rattle Spoons are good when there is any kind of current present. If current allows, the William's Wabler is hard to beat up here, especially after cold fronts...