There are so many baitfish on some locations and what is surprising is that some of our best fishing often happens when we quit marking baitfish. Interpreting your electronics is crucial but there are some myths to what to look for. On tough days, you will have to put the lure right in front of the fish but there are also many days where it seems like you catch more fish by fishing five to ten feet above the fish and making the fish move up for the bait.
If the water is extremely clear (17-22 feet of visibility), I’ll go to 10 pound test on the leader. Typically, bait fish that are getting pushed by predators will school vertically into balls. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but the difference between 1.8 and 2.5 means you’re covering 25-30% more water over the course of the day, which can be huge.
That’s why I’m always trying to push the envelope from a speed standpoint. “Get up early, stay up late, fish all day, the grass can wait.
My go-to summer walleye technique would have to be trolling a Pro Tackle Propeller Rig with a bottom bouncer. There is always a lag between predator and prey as the walleyes are often one step behind. If water temperatures are around 70 degrees, you should probably be going around 2.2 mph.
Imagine massive schools of smelt stacking up along a deep ledge for example. All in all, I’m a fan of experimenting and letting the fish tell me what they want.The other thing you want to consider is how fast you’re trolling. Walleyes will often roam over open water as well, but these fish can be harder to find consistently on some fisheries. I’ll go around 1.8 mph when it’s below 70 degrees and 2.5 mph when it’s above.
A lure that can touch down in thirty feet of water simply moves much more water than a much smaller lure behind lead core or snap weights.
Today, Mitchell hosts the popular outdoor program Jason Mitchell Outdoors which airs on Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Midwest. Cover ground at 2.5 or 2.8 miles per hour, looking for fish. The propeller itself is really just a tiny spinner, but it does an excellent job triggering bites.
My ultimate goal is to go as fast as I can go and still consistently catch fish.
Pulling in and off the deep mud flats is a classic pattern on Mille Lacs. As far as the bottom bouncer goes, I’m usually using a 2-ouncer, but I’ll change it up as necessary to whatever keeps my line at a 45 degree angle while trolling. Walleyes will spend much of the warmer daylight hours out deep off points and channels following schools of shad. The moral of the story is don’t fret if you aren’t marking baitfish on a location as long as the baitfish were stacked in the location the day before. Once you find the location and fish, you can fine tune running depth, lure and color along with speed. One thing to note about midday walleyes is not all of them will be willing to bite. As the summer wears on however, I still find myself going back to the big billed, deep diving lures that you can flat line down to deeper depths by just using thin diameter braided line. I like to use Sizmic Shads that are 4 to 6 inches long, rigging it on a 1/4 oz Kalin’s long shank swimsuit hook. What happens so often however is that the fish eat for a very intense window and become more difficult to catch.
We’ll have fresh reports for you all throughout the summer.Jason Freed is a full-time guide with Leisure Outdoor Adventures3rd Annual Blackfish Classic Tournament Hosts Record TurnoutGet the latest new tactics, gear, rigging tips, fishing reports, top destinations and more delivered right to your inbox!Recieve the latest information on new tactics, gear, fishing tips, fishing reports, and top destinations right to your inbox! Lindy rigs are still going to be catching fish. That allows me to place my bait back into the school of walleyes without resetting my boat and trolling back over them. Another great spot is the water column from the top of the weeds to the surface of the water, even if it’s only a few feet of open water.
I’d rather give them something unique: a different profile, maybe a gaudy color, a pink or a purple, something they don’t typically see. In most cases, we are trolling multiple rods and often use planer boards to spread out lines and to cut a larger swath as we cover water. My go-to is the While I love to catch walleyes on crankbaits and slow death during the summer, the bite I look forward to the most is casting Many people talk about this being a reaction bite, but I don’t necessarily buy into that thinking.