Turning to Walleye...

[nkuchmak]

Good day,

I was hoping some of you guys could help me out. I am a hardcore trout and muskie angler who spends a lot of time chasing these fish. For whatever reason I have never targeted walleye!

Recently I was invited on a trip to Horwood lake in the Timmins area with a group of friends who know I love fishing. Thing is, the target species will be walleye and I know next to nothing about fishing them.

Our trip is in August and I want to make sure I am adequately prepared for any fishing scenario I might run into. Heres my fishing packing list for the trip.

6'6 medium action spin rod with 8lb test
6'6 medium action bait cast rod with 12lb test

A handful of rapala crank baits like shad raps and husky jerks
Jig heads in different colours and weights ( a few floaters)
twister tails in different colours
a few crawler harnesses and bottom bouncers

Am I missing some sort of key walleye tackle for Northern Ontario? I want to tie up some more crawler harnesses any colour/blade recommendations?

Im looking forward to hearing any responses as you can tell I am new to this thing.

Cheers,

Nick

[wallydave]

Nick, this is the place to look for walleye tips! If your group does some jigging for walleye you might want to look at a light or medium light fast tip rod or two. Check with some of the guys you are going with along with the lodge/camp operators suggestions.
Personally I take a couple light and med.light rods for jigging. Pink and day glow colors were the hot floors this year. Check with the group on the lake, if its a clear or stained lake, that will influence the colors.
Good luck have a good trip and let us know how it went!!

[Phil T]

Of course, if the fish happen to be feeding shallow, your fly rod and streamers (Clousers are great) work very well.

[200Caster]

I always have worms with me, It works well when all my lures doesn't.

[jbmfish1]

I agree with the water clarity thing.. If it is clear.. I am a big fan of fluorcarbon lines.. 6 or 8lb would be fine as long as your rod tip has a little flex to it especially if your vertical jigging...I'd say you have a pretty good selection of lures... I also like some pinkish...purpleish.colored stuff to go along with the blue and chromes and perchie colors.... Where i fish in southern ontario the perch colored harnesses are king that time of year.. I've also had very good luck using bottom bouncers and just a #4 hook and about 4" of night crawler..many times this out fishes the harnesses with spinners..I also like the 3" to 4" soft plastic swim baits I usually use a shad colored... you can chuck them a country mile and fish them a millon different ways..I have the best luck bringing them over the coontail or similar weeds reeling just fast enough to hit the tops once in a while..This can really produce.. but you'll also hit your fair share of pike and if there is smallmouth bass up there they'll knock the rod out of your hands when they hit... I'm a huge fan of the almighty CRAWDAD for walleyes....I catch quite a few walleyes using crawdad colored twist tails when I'm smallmouth fishing so i always have some of them on hand... I even make up some crawdad colored harnesses with oranges browns and green beads and orangeish brown or copper spinner blades.. Thats pretty much what I throw at them!! Hope you can get in to them.. Just a warning they may not be the biggest or baddest fish but they have mystical powers in them that can addict a person on the first fish!!!! Good Luck!! Jeff

[Larry Mac]

Hi Nick, I must say you did your homework and I am impressed. I do agree with WallyDave about the Light to Medium light rods with fast to X-fast tips. When jigging I prefer the shorter 6' to 6'3" rods in that action. I also made the switch a few years back from Mono to Braid for jigging (the sensitivity is phenomenal). Mono has been my mainstay for many years and of course works great. I must also warn you the tap, tap, tap of the Walleye could become very addicting. Have a great trip and let us know how you liked it.

Thank you,
Larry Mac

[Joek3]

I always have a MH rod when trolling or using crankbaits. I have had surgery on both shoulders recently and this seems to help absorb some of the "pull" from the lure.

[nkuchmak]

Thanks for the tips guys. I got some useful stuff and its very good for the confidence knowing i will be prepared. Ill be sure to post some pics and let everyone know how I make out.

One more question though.What size bottom bouncers are ideal when fishing 15-30ft of water trolling with a harness or jig tipped with bait. Thanks guys.

[Lund1993]

Sometimes speeding up can avoid the smaller fish. Also larger cranks can work in fall when walleye gorge themselves preparing for winter.

[Dabluz]

I suggest that you use 6 lb test line instead of 8 lb test. If your buddies are using 8 to 10 lb test line, you will outfish them with 6 or 4 lb test line. Yes, I use 4 lb mono a lot for fishing walleyes when jigging on cleaner bottoms. Have been doing that for over 40 years and have never had a fish break my line. A good reel with a good drag will protect your line from breaking.

I don't use any plastics on my jigs anymore. Plastic is for toys. I prefer just adding the head of a worm to the jig hook or a leech or a minnow where the law permits. Adding bait to a hook that is already loaded with a plastic thingy makes hook up harder.

I like the higher quality jigs like the VMC Dominator which has a shorter hook shank. You can add a trailer hook to this jig too. The hook is super sharp and makes hook ups much easier with light mono.

The line that has done me good for the last few years has been Berkley Sensation. It's a bit more expensive but it is a premium ine. It's actually a copolymer. It's clear and as transparent as fluorocarbon.

For jigging, I prefer longer rods. The longer rod allows me to drift the jig from side to side further when vertical jigging. However, I use very fast action medium light rods.