Fishing Michigan

I know I had brought this up before, and since its so late in the walleye season, I just might do it again next spring, but here are some pics.  Told my Unc about the crank idea, and he said he just read about guys on Saginaw Bay using spoons for flashers, hated to tell him that I have been using them on and off for a few years now down on Erie.  He thought he might have sprung a new idea on me I think.

Also, for those who haven’t tried this trick yet, two helpful hints.  Its hard to run these without spooking fish if you plan on running a diver or inline weight in front of the flasher and then your choice of bait; spoon or harness.  If you have a couple of reels spooled with lead core, then good choice with this combination.  If you don’t have any spooled up, no worries, go and get yourself a snapweight kit and try the 50/50 system.  If your kit doesn’t have dive charts, look into a Precision Trolling Guide to get the info you need.

These are the spoons I run.  Also there are some stores like Jann’s  (Jann’s Netcraft) that will offer spoon kits.  Which means there are spoons, and you add the split rings, good quality snap n swivel,  then you have some fairly reasonably priced flashers.

One of the bonuses of getting away from the crowds is the quiet time that one can have to himself.  At the cabin one night, I sat up  with some loose leaf paper and a pen and started brainstorming up new ideas that I could apply to trolling for walleye and giving some old ideas or concepts a new twist.  I had the Precision Trolling Guide out and was just flipping through the pages and came to the section that listed the many baits produced by Storm (before Rapala purchase).  If there was one bait that Storm ever produced that was a dud in my book, it was the Lightnin’ Shad.  I realize that some folks have probably caught fish on these, but I am just not one of them.  I had sevaral of the largest baits produced, some I picked up when they first came out, some when I found them for two bucks at Big Lots a couple of years back.

It was at that point my little light bulb popped on, and I came up with a new application for these baits.  I wanted a diver, that could get down deeper with less line let out that a disc or jet.  Yet, I wanted to be able to long line them back behind the boat as another trolling option.  So I get home, start removing treble and split ring from the belly, kept the split ring on the tail and removed the treble back there.  Now all I have to do is find some good ball bearing snap n swivels for the tail split ring.  Then its simple, run my leader back for a spoon or attach a harness.

Take a look at the samples that I took pics of earlier.  Big deep diving bill, large rattles and a prism flash with its’  tight wobble in the water.  The qualities are deep diving,  its’ got flash, wide body profile  and makes a lot of noise.  Its got everything and more than any diver available on the market has today.  AND, you may have some already in your tackle box ready for some tweaking,  and trolling behind your boat.

Yesterday I pretty much threw out the whole concept of the 45 degree angle when you troll with bottom bouncers.  Vertical is the way to go with that technique.  Scrap the whole idea when drifting, one rod, always in your hand, then bring back the 45′ concept.

This is fairly important this time of the year when the fish seem to be scattered and not schooled up over square miles.  When you find them, stay on them as long as you can.  Use the wind, or use your electric trolling motor to control the movement of the boat, but stay on top of the eyes you find.

Depending on the speed of which you are moving, the weight of the bouncers will help you stay in that optimal 45′ angle from your rod tip to where your line hits the water.  Under normal conditions these four weights will meet your needs; 3/4, 1, 1.5, and 2 oz bottom bouncers.  If the boat is moving so fast that you need a heavier BB, then you should be under power from your gas motors.

That’s the big water technique,  if on inland lakes where the conditions do not normally become so extreme add a 1/2 oz BB, and subtract the 2 oz bouncers from your arsenal.  You follow the same concepts, but it is an extremely rare moment when you need to go heavier than 1 and 1/2 oz.

Sometimes all it takes is one day to get things turned around, and it sounds like Monday was the day.  Email just in from Captain Mike @ Matthew’s B&T:

One thing you have to love about the guys at Matthew’s Bait and Tackle, they DO NOT sugar coat it.  If the fish aren’t biting,  they won’t try to BS you, just to keep the business coming in.  Another good reason to give these guys your business,  its good to have honest people on the other side of the counter.  Hopefully Jason is right, and the fishing does turn back on as the water cools off in a week or so.

You have to notice the BRUTAL honesty there.

Have you ever read an article about fishing with Bottom Bouncers?  Keep those lines from the rod to the weight at 45 degrees for optimal performance, right?  Not necessarily and sometimes completely wrong.

Where do these articles come from?  Strictly speaking they are written from experiences gained in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Canadian waters.  45′ is more of a rule of thumb for those drifting with the BB’s in order to keep the right angle for control and feel of the rod.  Its a great technique for those inland bodies of water where wind and current can play less of a factor.

Switch around to the Great Lakes and throw the concept out the door, unless you are drifting.  Bigger water =  deeper water, more current and lots more exposure to wind effects.   Go big, or stay home as the saying goes.

If you are looking for walleyes out in Erie where the warm weather has driven the fish down deep this time of the year, stay on the bottom, fish the bottom, heck….POUND THE BOTTOM.  Taking that term from a jigging concept, it can apply roughly for trolling with bottom bouncers as well.

I have two rods in the front of the trolling spread always rigged with BB’s, and I want to keep things from getting tangled up with my boards and other lines.  This is where you throw that 45′ out the door folks.  Run your bouncers as straight down as possible, 4 ouncers rule most of the time.  I have rigged a few BB’s with extra weights, so in rough waters, 7 oz bottom bouncers work best for me in this application.  I am even trying to match concepts with the Detroit River handliners and rig a 1/2 or 3/4 lb weight, those are 8 and 12 oz rigs .

My harnesses are already pretied at 10 to 12 foot long.  That can lead to some problems if you run your weights strictly on the bottom.  It didn’t take long SEVERAL years ago to realize that my spinners were dragging bottom,  either getting nicked by zebra muscles or gathering huge clumps of the lil’ buggers.  I would have line breaking or if they went unnoticed, I would be dragging around small colonies of muscles for 100’s of feet.

Luckily I came up with a solution fairly quickly that required very little thinking on my part on the spot.  Do not simply stick the rod out and release the weights, by the time it hits bottom they have already gone too far towards the back of the boat.  Give the rod a slight toss towards the front of the boat.  Don’t get crazy here, its a heavy weight and will carry the right distance with a flick of the wrist.

When the bouncers finally hit the bottom, close  your bail or give your reel a crank to stop the release of line. Lift your rod up slightly, crank in a bit line and set the rod in the holder.  Literally, now you are no longer BOTTOM bouncing.  What you are doing is no longer dragging your harness on the bottom,  keeping the fish interested and increasing your catches.

What is bouncing is your rod tip!  Every wave gives the rod action.  Even in calm water where the rod hangs below like a downrigger rod, you are fishing smarter than before.  Every bite, tug and run is telegraphed back to the rod for you to see.  It really is a better way to detect and interpret what is going on below with your bait.

When most folks in these parts think of walleye and jigging, the concept that comes to mind involves 1/2 oz to 1oz jigs, medium heavy or heavy rods, the Detroit River and fast currents.  If you are heading North of the border, scrap that idea totally.  Get it out of your head before you get stuck in a rut that just won’t produce fish like you have been accustomed too.

Canadian jigging for walleye can still be done in the vertical sense, but be prepared to let go on the heavy equipment.  Expand the thought process to better suit a shallow bite, working weed edges, all with a little more finesse that you than what you have done in the past.

My rod is a St Croix Avid, medium, 6′3″ with an extra fast tip.  Even this rod could be considered too much for inland lake walleyes that you will find across Canada.  Ideally, the medium light in the model series would be the perfect choice.  BUT, if you are any situation like I am, its hard enough to explain how, with all the rods I have, I would ever need another one.  Another day, another purchase.  Sometime in the future, I will do something right,  and sneak that rod into the arsenal.

Why a 6′3″ rod?  Why not 6′ or 6′ 6″ or 7 ft even?  To be honest a six foot rod would not be a bad choice for all around use.  The the six and half and seven foot rods are ok for doing some casting, but seem way to long in vertical jigging that might come up on your trip.  The 6′3″ is a workhorse,  call it a jack of all trades, and master of all.  Its just right for jigging off the side of the boat while you work and edge or rock pile.  It really shines for casting jigs to precise locations.  For the bass heads, the medium action is great for sniping spinnerbaits around docks and boat houses.

Since this is still jigging, no matter the method, I still want my braid on the reel.  The Power Pro casts well in a side arm motion, easy to whip to the spot of your choice.  I still want to be directly below the rod tip as I can,  when attacking vertically.

Attacking?  Yep, I look at each trip, study my needs, wants and outcomes.  Love to look over maps and locate positions before I go out each day.  Half  the fun is looking things over and making it work on the water.  My attack approach is my battlefield plan, divide the lake into sections and conquer.  Even in today’s times where GPS and sonars rule, get a map before you make your trip, find those likely spots that will hold eyes and formulate your course of action.  Eliminate some areas that you just do not need to check out, save the time for the spots you know will hold fish.

My needs for a trip North will be the rod and reel set up already discussed, but what to use for ammo?  An old In-Fisherman video, titled “The Greatest Walleye Lure Ever”, or something very close to that, was all about jigs, and their uses.  Northland offers me the biggest selection of jigs for fishing walleyes on any body of water, so most of my jigs are from that company.  Stand-ups, Weed-Weasels, Whistlers, Roundballs, Tungsten, Glows and live bait jigs all make the trip with me.  And I forgot my floaters, perhaps there in lakes of Ontario, is really where the floating jigs shine the most.  From 1/8 oz jigs and weights, up to half ounce varieties.  Will get into the half once later, but for jigging and casting jigs, 3/8ths of an ounce should be  your limit in size, with 1/4 oz being the most used more than likely.

I have never been one to really embrace preserved baits like minnows and leeches, but won’t argue their effectiveness.  For some guys, they swear by them and who is to argue with success.  For the most part I am into the whole packing my fresh 500ct crawlers into paper bedding, and loading up on the plastics from the shop upstairs.  Plastic worms, leeches twisters and minnow baits all the make the trip.  Northland Slurpies, Berkley Gulp and other walleye formulated batis are all packed up for their individual techniques and uses. 

This is actually one of the more productive ways to stay on top of walleye whether its early spring on the Great Lakes, fishing inland lakes or on your Canadian trip.  Come to think of it, its a pretty good way to stay on top of the schools in late fall too as the fish bunch up in shallow while feeding at night.

What do you need, the tackle changes slightly from inland to big water fishing, but mostly just in the line choices and maybe the rod as well, depends on your locale.  When choosing your line, I am still sticking with my 8 or 10 lb Power Pro.  I want my line to be as directly below the bobber as I can to help in recognizing the slightest twinge on the float’s  action that might indicate a strike.  The Pwr Pro helps with its thin diameter in cutting in any possible current action below the surface.  The biggest difference is actually in my selection of strengths for my leaders.  On local inland lakes, or in Canada, I will use a 6 lb Vanish fluorocarbon leader.  Big water and fishing at night, I switch up to 10 or even 12 lb fc leads.

What do you need for rigging your float?  There are several types of bobber stops available on the market, I like the thread and bead rigging.  Always rig your stop above your bobber!  This helps in keeping the float upright for higher visibility, better casting because your extra weight is at the end of the line,  and quicker detections on a bite.  If you rig the stop below the bobber, it becomes harder to cast in deep water (too much line out), and the fish can swallow the offering before you know what’s happening.

Inland lakes, keep it simple.  A hook and split shop are your prime choices.  On the bigger waters of the Great Lakes, you want to switch over to a roundball jig or even a Fire-Eye Minnow ice jig available from Northland.  Anchor you jig behind the dorsal tail of a shiner, and let the minnow swim against the action weight of the jig.  A wounded struggle  happening below the float often entices light biting walleye.  Ice jigs are not just for the frozen water months folks, they have GOOD applications year around, and often out produce the traditional jigheads.  Course you can rig just about anything you like on these presentations, a minnow, leech or crawler work just as well. When water current conditions are at their best, a plastic twister tail provides enough action to get the job done.  Regardless of the type of jig that you use, try a glow jig at night to improve your catches.

In extreme conditions, where the walleye are finicky, a clear casting bobber works best.  Most times I like the bubblegum colors available from Lindy on their stick bobbers.  Just easier to see, and at times miss when you look away and then come back to the location.  At night a lighted bobber rules.  It might be a glow stick above the bobber, for a glow in the dark type.

My rod choices vary.  I like the 8′ slip-bob St Croix Walleye Tournament rod for its length and action.  The rod is long enough where I can drop it straight down from the side of the boat, place it in a holder and get to work casting jigs, cranks and rigs. Its medium light action is just right detecting bites, and it telescopes away for storage and travel.   If its too pricey for your tastes, I also have a 7 and 1/2 ft Avid ML that I use for slowly trolling livebait presentations like a Roach Rig with a walking sinker.  The rod easily doubles as a slip bobber rod.  There is also a Premier spinning rod, available in a 7′6″ ML model.

For big water presentations, specially piers in the spring and fall, an 8ft, 6 inch steelhead rod in the Wild River St Croix series works best.  I like the longer handle while working the drift.  Same reason I like it for steelie fishing on the Huron River in Flat Rock.  Its easier to manipulate the drift and keep contact with the bottom.  Its a medium action rod, and casts better with the heavier jigs or weights that I am using.

This type of fishing, can be reworked and tweaked to apply to several types of fish species.  Could be pike all the way down to crappie and gills.  Change sizes, baits,  strengths, lenghts and weights to match your quarry.

This time of the year seems to be the time to cross the border and hunt Canadian walleye.  Its a unique type of fishing not usually practiced here in Michigan, mostly due to the lack of numerous quality inland walleye lakes.  That’s not to say there are some good exceptions to that statement, its mostly a local bite with local pressure though.

The techniques practiced in catching our northern neighbor’s walleye population is still widely practiced in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Finesse, downsize and keeping it simple are the rules.  Gone are the 20 lb test, for the most part gone are the divers and spoons.  Leave the #5 or #6 colorado blades at home, get back to the basics.

Medium light and lite action rods rule, even though you will have a reason to bring some medium action rods with you as well.  The fancy rigs are replaced by a hook and split shot, working a slip bobber takes the place of trolling (not entirely) and 1/8 or 1/4 oz jigs are your casting favorites.  Floating jigheads are popular, rigged like a bass fisherman’s carolina rig, by using a small egg  or split shot sinkers.

Pack up your arsenal of plastics;  paddle and curley tails, minnow bodies and leeches all make the trip.  For the most part minnows are non factors, unless brought in salted.  You can bring in crawlers, but must be packed in artificial bedding.

I will have some tips coming up with some techniques in the next few days.

and the Perch fishing isn’t to bad either.

Here is the latest report from Mike and Jason from Matthew’s Bait and Tackle: