Walleye Fishing

Oh man Fit, you just missed some great seminars put on at Gander Mountain by Lance Valentine covering all the angles on walleye fishing. I mentioned them a while back in another thread. It was a series of six that he is doing of which the first four are done.

He has a series of pamphlets that he put together that explain all of what he covers in the seminars. If you come to the next seminar next Monday in Pontiac at 6:00 you can probably buy them all. Not sure about that but you probably can.

Another possibility, you might try his website, [email protected], to see if you can get some of the info.

I fish for walleye more than bass personally and love it. I have to say that I learned a lot from him that should help me tweek my skills quite a bit.

I am not sure how big your Searay is but you definately need a way to control your boat if you want to fish the rivers which is where most of my success has been. I use an electric trolling motor on the bow of my boat and it is a must. If you just want to fish the lake you can probably just drift but you are at the mercy of the wind in direction and speed. But there is just so much to cover and so many complexities that it would be impossible to even scratch the surface in this thread. If you think that you have some idea of what you are doing and just have some information you need clarified let me know and I would be happy to try to help you out.

Jim

That's exactly right Topwater,.....I use a 1/2 or 3/4oz ball jig,....a 4" curly tailed grub (colors vary depending on h2o clarity)
and a lively 3-4" minnow hooked "upside down"...that makes them squirm like crazy trying to "right" themselves...I usually use pink, white, chartreuse and orange jigs......and white or chartreuse grubs....but in all honesty,..I think the squirmin' minnow is the reason for the strikes more often than the color of the jig/grub combo! Just mix and match and play around with different combo's until you connect.......but keeping your line as vertical as possible is deffinetely critical with that type of presentation. It's a riot when your on fish too.....you can get a limit in a matter of minutes!! I love walleye fishin' when it's easy like that,....but I love to bass fish ALL THE TIME!!!..LOL
Good luck..
Mac

Looks like you are getting some great advice above TPF. All of what has been said is right on the money. The river techniques probably will be your biggest challenge without a trolling motor for controlling your drift to match the current. It is absolutly essential to keep your line vertical when jigging for feel of the bite and to prevent snagging.

I have drifted LSC withe crawler harnesses and have done quite well. I like using a harness with a copper blade and red beads most of the time on a 3-way swivel with a bottom bouncer. This can change depending on weather conditions/sunlight. My most productive spot for this type of presentation has been south of Metro Beach. There is usually a group of boats out there doing just that.

It is also pretty good down by the Delphine Channel or the dumping grounds can produce also.

But I really like the rivers. The Detroit is probably my fovorite. Conventional jigging is used on it but the St Clair takes a presentation all its own durring daylight. Most of the bait shops along the St Clair can tell it how it is done. Ask what you need to "chug" and how to do it. But again, you need an electric trolling motor to control boat drift. You might look into whether you can mount one on the transom of your boat. This would not be optimum but might work. It would have to have some power to be effective on your size boat. Just some thoughts from an amateur who loves walleye fishing.

By the way, Mac is right about the spring on the river. It can be awsome if you know what you are doing and can control you boat effectively. I get worked up just thinking about it. In fact, I think I am going to go paint some jigs. Can't have enough of them.

Jim

Randy,..I'll be at the XPS booth all weekend...doing rod handles and selling shirts, baits, rods, reels, line, etc..etc...I've got 2 seminars too.....friday at 9:30am and saturday at 9:30am!! I sold my 901 to a dude in Minnesota and I'm getting a Ranger.....I signed with Ranger's Pro Staff this year!!,..I've got a 520DVX ordered with a 225 Opti!! The boat is colored in the 35th anniversary scheme....it's awesome. (see their website if you're interested) It's going to have my "Scales and Tales" logo inlayed in the carpet too....it's the same image as my avatar.....I'm going to be doing a lot with them this year too......traveling to 4 FLW events and fishing in 2 of those 4 as a co-angler. The first one is Beaver Lk., and I'm supposed to pick up my boat while I'm down there if it's ready. Right now it'll be verrryy close......the completion date is April 10th...I'll be down there from the 6th-12th!! Drive home the 13th....ahahaha.....I'm sure it'll be ready though....I was told they're usually done 2-3days before the date!!...I hope so anyway....We'll get out together a couple times this summer!
Seeya this weekend sometime...stop by!!
Mac

http://www.rangerboats.com

(Click on the 521DVX and you'll see the 35th anniv. color scheme) It's much better in person too!!! LOL

Perfect Fit, some good advice was given in here. I'll throw my $.02 as well. You can never get enough.

What I like to do is listen to the Lakeside Tackle hotline to find out where the Walleye are biting. That number is (586)777-7008. I have it on speed dial, that's how often I call it in the Summer . It's never let me down, Capt. Dan gets some damn good information on there(although he tends to be a bit obsessed with Lake Simcoe). Nevertheless he always has good information. I lake to put the boat perpindicular to the wind direction, shut off the engine, pull the motor out of the water, pop open a cold one, and just drift. Saves gas, saves aggravation, and I almost always boat a Walleye or two. Plus I can sit down and take a load off. That is after all, one of the aspects of fishing.

One last piece of advice, forget about Anchor Bay. Because of it's shallow depth, it tends to be warmer than the main part of the lake. This warmer water is ideal for Musky (or so I've heard), and some Northern Pike to an extent. Myself I have NEVER caught a Walleye in there, and I've tried numerous times at different times of the day, different times of the year throwing ever bait both live and artificial imaginable....and NOTHING! I'm convinced no Walleye live there. Although I could be wrong. All I know is that when I fish south of Metro Beach all the way to 9 mile, I'm usually in the garage filleting Walleye by the end of the day. Take it for what it's worth. Good luck.

Tony