Walleyes Forever |
PWT pro from Powell, Wyo. Everybody, including myself, has been faced with the task of trying to find where the walleyes happen to be today - especially when we take on the challenge of a new lake or reservoir. Where should I go and what should I use? Even stops at the bait shops can leave questions in our minds. To me, the best way to locate walleyes and the quickest way to get to know new waters can be the crankbait. It doesn't matter what time of year. Just after ice-out, we know that the walleyes are headed to spawning areas. But on our reservoirs out West, with water levels changing every year, these spawning areas move. Once again, the quickest way to locate the walleyes headed to those areas is with a crankbait. Water temperature doesn't matter. Sometimes, it only tells us the type of action we should start with on the crankbait. Early in the year, semi-aggressive action usually fits the bill while later on, as water temperatures warm up, the more aggressive type actions work better. But the bottom line is the same - cranks work in all seasons and, most of the time, the crankbait will trigger the bigger fish to bite in the schools that we locate. Sometimes, however, even crankbait believers like me need to be reminded of that. At one stop at a bait shop on a new lake, the owner told me that crankbaits had not worked for over a month on that particular body of water. So, like I always do with water temps in the low 40s and the spawn just coming to an end, I filled the baitwells on my boat with minnows. In two hours time and only one small walleye and several missed strikes, I decided it was time to go cover some ground. We switched to crankbaits and over the next three hours, we boated and released over 30 walleyes and every strike was a bone-jarring strike. No more peck-peck-and-oh-I-missed-another-one. I've had many days just like this repeat themselves over the years. Early Summer walleyes can be caught on anything, it seems, but crankbaits will still catch the bigger fish and just as many as live bait. Then come the dog days of Summer. Forage numbers are at their highest levels and walleyes are full. It seems like we can dangle live bait in front of them forever before they will take it. With water temperatures very high and fish that are scattered during this time of year, it's an ideal situation for a crankbait. Cover ground and expose that crankbait to as many walleyes as you can. These dog days walleyes are full and they don't have to exert too much energy to feed with all that forage out there, but that crankbait is something different - it's acting different and moving faster and a walleye can't let that crank pass without hitting it before it gets away. During this time of year, some fisherman only fish at night to escape the heat of the day. I don't let the heat push me off the water anymore. There have been countless times when I have started pulling crankbaits right in the middle of the day, the time when most other fisherman have went to find shade and a nap, and I've caught and released several limits of walleyes. Several of my biggest walleyes ever have came during this hottest time of day. It's also a great time to be fishing since I often have the lake all to myself on days like this. When Fall comes and the water temperature drops, the walleyes put on the feedbag getting ready for winter. Again, the crankbait can put numbers in the boat and almost always these fish will be the biggest fish of the day. In each situation, we have to experiment with speed, color and which crankbait to use, but once that's discovered, simply switch everybody over the same crankbait and the trip will be one to remember. For me, Normark makes a great selection to cover all the situations we've been talking about. The Shad Rap is usually my first crank to use, especially the Suspending Rattling Shad Rap. It can be fished slow to fast and anywhere in between to give the walleyes what they want. The new Tail Dancer can also fill the bill on certain days and if it's a real aggressive action with a rattle that the walleyes want the Down Deep Husky Jerk does the job. All of these baits come in a wide variety of colors and sizes so that we can experiment until we find what the walleyes want on any given day. Normark is always coming up with new colors and styles every year and each time, it seems, the new baits catch walleyes. What speed and depth should you run? Those are questions I always get asked. The answer is to let the walleyes determine that for us. Watch your electronics to see at what depth most of the fish are holding. Then look in the Precision Trolling guide to determine line length. Snap weights or lead core can be used to get down to the deeper fish. The advantage here is we can use smaller crankbaits or shallow diving cranks and still get down to the depths necessary for any given situation. What line to use is your choice. I like the superlines myself, but others prefer mono. Use the line that you are the most comfortable with and have the most familiarity with. The main thing we want to experiment with here is which crankbait, which depth and what speed is it going to take to catch these fish. Do crankbaits work for all seasons? Yes they do and the results can be surprising both in the numbers and the size of the fish they'll catch. Give them a try at various times of the year and the results will keep you coming back for more. Good Luck and great fishing - with crankbaits! | |
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