Tips for Catching Walleyes
As always it will be hard to find a better bait than the spot tail shiner. The shiners have had a pretty good run already this spring and should be available in most bait shops. The wind is still having a big effect on water temps as the colder water is still getting mixed with the warmer surface water, so make sure to look for the warmest water you can find on your particular lake. I will have both jigging and rigging rods ready in my boat but I will tend to use the jigging rods if they will produce. The two most effective jigging techniques this time of year are pitching and ripping. For ripping I will use either a 1/16th or 1/8th ounce jig tipped with a shiner – for ripping a jig that has a longer, wide gap hook is going to work best for you. Hook the shiner through the mouth and out the gill and then back through the back of the minnow. For pitching I will use either an 1/8th or 1/4 ounce short shank, wide gap jig. Vary your retrieve until you can determine what the walleyes are wanting.
Phil Jensen
