Walleyes Forever |
Being Versatile Is The Key To Consistently Catching Walleyes
PWT pro from Ulm Probably the number one issue when it comes to consistently catching walleyes is your ability to adapt to ever-changing conditions. As conditions change, so do the moods and/or locations of walleyes. So you need to change the way you fish. It seems like nothing is ever exactly the same when it comes to spending a day on the water. Whether it's the weather, time of day, water clarity, boat or fishing pressure, the environment is in a constant state of change. Sometimes changes can be so subtle that we might not even be able to recognize the change. How many times have you gone fishing and heard, You should have been here yesterday." Obviously, something has changed. The bottom line for you to be able to catch fish consistently is to be willing to adapt and give the fish what they prefer. When fishing, one of the biggest mistakes most of us make is fishing memories. We go back to the same place we fished before and fish the same way we did before. I know, because I fall into the same trap. Old habits are hard to change but often, the best thing you can do is to try something different, when what you are doing is not putting fish in the boat. In short, be versatile. I can remember many years ago, when I fished Tiber Reservoir a lot, the only time I ever changed baits was when the orange spinner rig I was fishing got bit off or broken off. Then I tied on another orange spinner rig. If I didn't catch anything, I used to figure the fish just weren't biting. I have learned over the last 20 years or so, that there are always fish biting somewhere and someone is always able to catch them. This has been true in every walleye tournament I have ever fished. This past tournament season, I caught walleyes with minnows, leeches, and night crawlers using jigs, live bait rigs, bottom bouncers with spinners or smile blades, slip bobbers, and crankbaits. All of these baits and presentations have their time and place, where one will outfish the other for one reason or another. The trick is to know when and where each of these presentations will be work best. Unfortunately, there are no absolute rules or guidelines to follow to guarantee success and to know exactly which is going to produce best on any given day. I guess that is what I like about the challenges in walleye fishing. Since there are so many variables creating the changes in fishing conditions, the best advice I have is to not be afraid to try a different presentation or bait. On numerous occasions, I have seen where a fisherman who is willing to change can make all the difference in the world in putting fish in the boat.
I watched Seelhoff and his partner boat three more fish, fishing the same water I had just been through with my jig and minnow without a bite. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. I could see that Seelhoff was fishing Lindy rigs with fairly long snells and a minnow. Well, enough was enough. Based on their five fish to my none, I switched one of my jigging rods over to a Lindy rig set up with about a six-foot snell, a red bead with a hook and a minnow. I didn't have this rig in the water for more than a minute before I had a fish. Unbelievable. It wasn't long and my partner and I had quickly changed over our other jigging rods to Lindy rigs and soon we were catching fish with some regularity. It was absolutely amazing to me that we were fishing the exact same water I had been fishing for the last several hours. It had seemed that the fish had just quit biting. But by switching the presentation to a Lindy Rig with a six-foot snell, a red bead as an attractor, a hook and a minnow, we were able to get bites from the fish that were still there, but ignoring my jigs. Either the Lindy rig was not spooking the fish like the jig had been, or the minnow swimming was more natural without the weight of the jig. Whatever the reason, it is what the fish liked. In the next hour and one half, we caught several limits of fish. The sad news was that the majority of them were too big for the slot limit. (South Dakota had a slot limit that only allowed two fish over 18 inches and four from 15 to 18 inches.) Even though we ended up having to throw most of those fish back, we sure had a lot of fun catching them. This experience was like several others I have had over the years. In many cases, a fairly subtle change can make the difference between catching fish and not catching fish. Most of these experiences have been eye-openers for me because I wouldn't have ever believed them if I hadn't seen them for myself. So in general, where do you start? Well, the first thing I consider is fish location. Are the fish concentrated in a small area or are they scattered. If they are scattered, then some type of trolling presentation is generally best. My favorite is trolling crankbaits. This is an excellent way to cover a lot of water in a short time. Sometimes this will help you narrow down where the concentrations of fish are. If the fish are concentrated, my favorite presentation is to fish with a jig. If I am fishing with two rods, I fish two different colors or sizes to see which works best. Sometimes I'll tip one jig with a minnow and the other with a crawler or leech. Your best bet, when you can, is to have someone else with you and each run different set-ups until you find one that seems to be working the best for walleyes at the time. I will never forget one day on Tiber Reservoir several years ago. We had been fishing a small point that had the wind blowing into it. The fishing had slowed down and we were catching the occasional fish, just enough to keep us interested and staying put. We had been fishing jigs tipped with a leech and I noticed we were starting to run low on the leeches. So I decided to try a minnow and save the leeches for the friend I was fishing with. By tipping the same jig with a minnow rather than the leeches we had been fishing, I got seven fish in the next seven casts. Again, it was in the same water where I had been fishing the leeches for about two hours and was only catching a fish every 10 casts or so. It was absolutely amazing to me that the same jig tipped with a minnow rather than a leech could make that much difference. It's really easy to get lazy and not try something different when you should - I still do at times. But when what you are doing is not putting fish in the boat, doesn't it make sense to try something different? It is human nature to resist change, but if you are willing to be a little versatile and experiment a little you will probably catch more fish. You don't have to get too carried away, stick to some basics but don't get hung up on just fishing your memories. All it means is that you need to be willing to be flexible and change your presentation to suit the mood and or location of the fish. I have found that changes in size, speed, color, and action can be all it takes. Experiment with each of them and pay attention to what you were doing when you got your last bite. Then do what you can to repeat it. You might be amazed at what happens. | ||
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