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Learning to Walleye fish this year - looking for tips

robw

By robw,
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robw Newbie

robw

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Hey folks

 

Have been a bass fisherman for a long time, and decided to try for walleyes on purpose this year.  Read some articles, have a buddy with the boat, and we gave it a shot Friday, but was verrrry slow.  Caught a 22 inch and had another similar size spit the hook boatside, but that was it for over 5 hours.  (excluding bass, sheephead and a goby)

 

We trolled worm harnesses, a couple minnow and perch looking rapallas, and trolled with a jig.  Spent most of the day off Hamburg in anywhere from 15 - 30 feet of water.

 

What pointers do you guys have for newbies?  Any places in lake Erie we should try for early season?

 

 

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wooly Newbie

wooly

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With a boat out of Hamburg, get yourself a set of planer boards and riggers. Getting your bait away from the boats wake is #1 priority for both suspended eye's in open water, and trolling the shallows...unless of course you're bottom bouncing lead. Pay attention to your depth finder for hungry eye's under baitfish schools. 

At the very least, talk to the guys at the marina launch and bait shop and you'll hear all kinds of info of what the hot bite is happening on lately. Listen to the radio chatter and adjust your tactics accordingly.....BUT DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR,lol. One thing that will remain pretty constant is the depth the big schools are running at. I don't mean to say it wont change from day to day...and good luck keeping up with them, but once you've narrowed it down, you've already accomplished a pattern to take advantage of when they do get hungry if they aren't already.

 

Color of bait, water temp, the thermocline depth, and wind variables will all play into your daily success, or lack of when fishing Erie eyes. On real slow days, it never hurts to vary your speed while trolling if a constant is not producing. Start out as slow as your motor will allow and jack it up from there. I've always done best between .08mph and 2.8mph. Sometimes bumping the throttle is all that will provoke a strike or release, and conversly, sometimes you gotta cut it back to let your bait drift back down to them...all about the presentation then! Some days it's just a matter of which way your boat is going....float 2 miles with the wind and never get a hit..., but turn that boat back into the wind, and you can't keep eye's off the line! I used to do a lot of eye fishing out of Dunkirk off "The Stacks" and "Purina" and Sturgeon Point and the Catt with some good success. A lot of those charters down that way are real good guys about sharing info when there's no tourneys going on, so maybe a walk down the dock before you launch will get you headed out of harbor in the right direction. Good luck out there and hope to see some big azz 12lb'ers outta ya soon!

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wooly Newbie

wooly

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In my rush to reply last night, I forgot to mention you can also accomplish depth control, and getting your bait away from the boat by using Dipsey Divers, or Jet Divers off a flat line. No need to invest 1000's of dollars in offshore gear. Just clip one of these babies on, and wait for the fish to bite!

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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Wooly i spot on with getting the presentation away from the boat.  Inline planer boards are a good choice as well, most all pro walleye fisherman use them for the ease of use and the space they do not take up on the boat.  Trolling speeds around 2 to 2.5 is a good start. Troll into the wind, pick up and make a wide girth around the spot your fishing and start over.  A succesfull tournament fisherman never ever trolls with the wind.  If you are catching sheephead you are trolling to slow.  Walleye like to hug the bottom and suspend a lot.  Put several presentations out at different depths till you find what is working.   Clip on lead is a good way to get the lure to where you want it as well.  I have walleye fished a lot out of Dunkirk and Sandusky with great success.  Just dont go in the bombing range lol.  Make sure you tune your lures before sending them out as well, meaning hang them over the side of the boat and make sure they track straight and not of to one side.  If they track to the side bend the eye of the lure a little left or right till its tracking straight.  Reef runners, thundersticks are a good choice.   Blueand silver, black and silver are good color combos.  After awhile you will notice that one particular one will outfish another lure of identical features when it comes to walleye.  Its all about that particular wobble action it gives off.  When things are slow and you know you are on fish dont be afraid to hook a nice fresh fat crawler on one of the hooks either, this little trick has produced pretty well over the years when things are slow.  Keep quiet on the boat, no radio, the less noise the better which is one reason back in the tournament days a fiberglass hull was more appealing to us than aluminum ones.  A chop on the water especially on bright sunny days is your best friend when it comes to walleye fishing.  Constant tension on the line when hooked up is a must, dont pump the rod up and down or you will lose fish after fish.  If you use inline planers or clip on lead have a buddy unclip them and do not let him just let go of the line, keep tension on it and slowly release the line without giving it slack.  If your not marking fish in the 15 to 30 feet of water dont be afraid to hit 60 feet.  Keep an eye on bottom structure, a flat smooth bottom is a poor producer for me, rocky is good, edge of drop offs are great, edge of reefs etc. Even a light depth change is good walleye like some sort of structure no matter how slight it may be.  When dark hits fish shallower water.  A guided trip in your regular fihing spot will give you tons of info to go on as well. Man I miss the tournament tour.  Happy Fishing!

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tuckersdaddy Newbie

tuckersdaddy

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Never tried trolling. in the rivers and small lakes we just bounce lead off the bottom. lots of different colors, styles, and sizes of plastic, an assortment of bucktails, and sometime crawlers or a combination of any. Sometimes stick baits are the ticket. very your presentation, and keep swapping until you hit on the right combo. its not uncommon to be having a good run, then all of a sudden everything goes dead. change the color, weight or speed and bang your back on again. i completely agree with bottom structure and depth breaks. walleys see vertical (at least thats what ive read) and strike up. in the rivers i found that to be the case. flat bottom sections seldom produce, but when the flat breaks to a hole, game on. Hope this helps.

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Red Experienced

Red

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Yea you can s fish down at squaw island earlier this spring they were gonna fence the fishing area off but that idea ended getting shot down. I'm glad it's a really good fishing spot especially for pike walleye and musky

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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Tuckersdaddy makes a very good point!  Never fish under them fish over them.  Walleye will not descend to bite or inhale in the case of the eye.  If you are marking fish stay at there depth or better yet just above them.

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  • 1 month later...
robw Newbie

robw

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sure did!  have to work on my fish pictures techniques, usually only shoot deer  :)

 

Brought these 9 home, 17-23 inches, and 2 perch, since they're just sooo tasty!

 

Got ~ 16 in the boat, and had 3 or 4 spit the hook boat side.  Gotta work on slowing the reel-in down

 

Back out to the reef on Sunday!

post-633-0-20704900-1374340165_thumb.jpg

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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sure did!  have to work on my fish pictures techniques, usually only shoot deer  :)

 

Brought these 9 home, 17-23 inches, and 2 perch, since they're just sooo tasty!

 

Got ~ 16 in the boat, and had 3 or 4 spit the hook boat side.  Gotta work on slowing the reel-in down

 

Back out to the reef on Sunday!

 

Well done!!

 

I'm going to need some tips on how/what you used.  What rods??  I'll probably start to accumulate the goods this winter in preparation for next years bounty.  Thanks.....................

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robw Newbie

robw

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Twice we've been out with good luck, been using worm harnesses, with a nightcrawler.  They seem to prefer to have gold on the spinners, either solid, or tri color gold/silver/orange / red.  Tried dipsey divers on 2 rods, just the harness on 2 others, and the dipseys didn't catch as many, but will try them again tomorrow.  Most fish were in ~30 ft and hugging the bottom.  Needed a 3 oz sinker to get the setup down to the fish, trolling at ~ 1.5  Also didn't seem to matter which direction we went, caught fish going in all directions.  Was crazy hot out there, almost no wind, sunny

 

Truckers, good comment, I do always check the water regs for where I fish, keep em on the phone actually.  We were on lake Erie so it seemed appropriate to link them

 

Will let you know what rods / reels we have.  Is my buddie's boat and gear, ( the best kind!) so will have to check

 

Since the freezer has a lot of fillets now, will only be keeping 24" and bigger tomorrow!  Hope I get some pics for you!

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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Good luck tomorrow. Do you guys hit it real early? My buddy told me his buddy who is hammering them is on the water by 5:30AM and done with their limit by 7:30 or so!!

I'd be curious to hear what your gear was. The rods you were long lining with, was that a lead core line?

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robw Newbie

robw

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Not the busiest day, but we boated 9 walleye, and kept these 4.  Were getting them on harnesses, and 2 on a smelt plug.  Joined the caravan of boats trolling the US - Canadian border, 56 - 59 feet deep  Perfect day out there!  Time to start grilling these fillets for dinner

 

 

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  • 10 months later...
robw Newbie

robw

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So, last year I asked for some advices on how to catch walleyes.  Spent lots of time on the water with my bud (and boat owner :) ) tried many spots, depths, speeds, lures, harnesses, etc, and did OK last year.  But now it's a new year, and we are starting to figure things out.  Caught this one today, 9 lbs I'm a 6 ft tall guy and the fish goes from shoulder top to mid thigh.  Buddy landed a 6 lb as well, and boated 7 nice walleye fishing out of Buffalo

 

post-633-0-40057700-1402965089_thumb.jpg

 

 

Thanks for all the advice, see you on the water!

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