It’s that time of the year again! Deer season is over. the boat’s put away for the season and our thoughts turn to ice-covered lakes and fat walleye flopping on the ice. But rather than daydream, now’s the time for action.
It’s time to break out the jigging rods and replace any worn or damaged guides,put fresh line on those reels, organize those lures and sharpen those hooks and do whatever else one does when shore-bound.
No doubt while attending to these chores, we’re distracted by memories of that unbelievable day on lake noname two years ago or the “one that got away” when your worn out line broke last year or more than likely, the not -so-good days when those walleyes just refused to eat or--- did they?
If you’re like most walleye chasers, myself included too many times to think about, there were far too many days that could have been so much better. Where did we go wrong? Where did all the walleyes go? More than likely, they didn’t go anywhere and if they did I’ll bet it wasn’t very far away. Far too often we fall prey to the same hole-same lure syndrome but it doesn’t have to be that way!
Think about it; it’s early in the season, the lake’s been quiet for weeks now and “FIRST-ICE” represents the most stable conditions walleye and walleye fishermen could ask for! So where are the walleye? Most prob- ably they’re right where they were when we were out the last time during late October. Just because the lake froze up it doesn’t necessarily mean that the fish have moved assuming nothing else has changed. As a matter of fact, its almost a sure bet that the walleyes are either exactly where they were in late October or at least pretty darn close by. The general location having been established, it only a matter of what to use and how to use it!
Try to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to jigging rods. Two rods will do in most situations. three will cover any situation you encounter. I like to have one rod set up with 4 pound magna-thin for the times that I need to go light. a second rod rigged with 6 pound test Fire Line and a third rod rigged with a good quality,8 pound test monifilament. I always tie a small barrel swivel to the business end to which I attach a 30 inch length of magna-thin leader. This set up not only makes it a simple task to change leader size for finicky biters but eliminates line twist as well. Reels should be of good quality with a very smooth drag. Diawa and Shimano both make dependable models that are moderately priced. Don’t overdo it on rod length. Stay under 4 feet so you can comfortably use it when in a shanty or portable shelter. As a rule of thumb, you have a properly balanced setup if you can let out five or six feet of line and with the lightest lure that you intend to use with that setup, Jig the rod up and down a few inches off the floor and see that you can feel the lure bouncing off the floor. If you can't, either the rod is too stiff or the line to heavy for your intended use. Rods make a big difference too. while fiberglass is inexpensive, it absorbs too much of the "feel". Spend a little more on good quality graphite rods and you won't regret it!
With your jigging rods properly set up, it’s time to look at lure selection and presentation. All too often we tend to worry about color rather than consider what our offering looks like to a walleye and how the fish are reacting to our particular presentation. The hottest new color on the market doesn’t do us one bit of good if our presentation sends fish scattering in every direction. However, this is not to mean that we should be shy about how we present our offering. If it sounds like I’m contradicting myself let me explain. It doesn’t prove a thing to drill a hole, drop into that hole immediately and not catch a fish in the first few minutes.
Generally speaking, walleyes tend to be relatively shallow during first -ice so it only stands to reason that any commotion from above is going to make them awful nervous for a little while. As a matter of fact, walleye spend a lot more time in shallow water year around than most anglers are aware of but that's a topic for a completely different conversation.Rather than drill one or two holes, place a number of holes scattered around or along productive structure. For example, if we’re fishing a long point dropping off into deep water, drill a number of holes along the sloping sides of the point at various depths and off the tip of the point. Now we can go back and start fishing the first holes that we drilled after having given the fish time to settle down.
Back to lure choice and presentation, I generally start with a lure that will trigger bites from more aggressive fish. A good starter would be a Jigging Rapala in a #5 or #7 depending on the typical size of fish on your body of water or a #2 or #3 Nils Master. Many fishermen make the mistake of hanging a large minnow from the bottom treble hook. I don’t want the fish to grab the minnow; I want the business end of the lure to be inhaled so I pinch off the head of a minnow and hook it through the boney part to the rear facing tine off the treble hook. Anything more and you’re ruinning the lure's action. All too often I’ve seen guys resorting to a stinger hook to catch “short-strikers” when using only the head of a minnow will accomplish the same thing in most cases with less hardware to foul up. A stinger hook does have its place but not in this case.
Start with a simple lift-fall-hold presentation making sure that the lure is within inches of the bottom during the hold sequence. If that does n’t produce a take after a few minutes, go to a lift-fall-wiggle presen- tation. If all else fails, try thumping the lure on the bottom during the fall and slowly raise if off the bottom a few inches paying close atten- tion for any unusual feeling; it might be a piece of weed or a leaf but it could just as easily be a walleye. When in doubt, set the hook.
As for lure color, I usually go with natural colors such as silver or gold with a black back, silver with blue back or natural perch. Other colors I always carry include a fire-tiger, all white with just a touch of chartreuse green on top of the head and an all white with a narrow stripe of orange on the belly.
After spending no more than ten or fifteen minutes in a hole, I move on to the next one and repeat the process until I locate willing takers or return to the first hole and start with a more subtle presentation.
You might be thinking “what about jigging spoons?”.There are exceptions to my initial presentation such as during low light conditions or when fishing stained water. My personal favorites are the Hawger Spoon in shallower water and where more weight is needed, I use a Jig-a-Whopper. Some fishermen still swear by the old Swedish Pimple and it does account for its share of fish, so I don’t rule it out. As with Jigging Rapalas, I lean towards natural colors and always tip the hooks with a minnow head for taste.
There are occasional times when a whole minnow on a spoon will turn the trick when all else fails. I’ve found this to be especially true with the Hawger Spoon. At times, walleyes can’t resist the slowly falling and flut- tering effect of a lighter spoon and whole minnow.
After catching any agressive fish in the area, I’ll switch to a more subtle approach with a plain jig tipped with a lip-hooked minnow. Depend- ing on water depth and current if any, I’ll use a jig size ranging from 1/8 to 3/8 ounce in a stand-up style jig. My personal favorites are the Oddball, Fire-ball and other lesser known short-shank stand up jigs. My absulute favorite is a funny-looking, no-named, short-shanked standup jig that I purchased in a kit with assorted sizes and colors.
As with Jigging Rapalas, I start with a simple lift-fall-hold present- ation and then go to a lift-fall-wiggle presentation making sure that the jig is within 3 or 4 inches of the bottom while at rest. A sometimes over- looked presentation when trying to coax neutral or negative walleye into biting is a variation of the lift-fall-hold presentation.
Making sure to have a lively minnow on my jig, I use the lift-fall- wiggle presentation but after wiggling the jig, I allow the jig to rest on the bottom for as long as a minute while watching the semi-tight line for any signs of a pick-up. There are times when walleyes will pounce on a jig hooked minnow nose-down to the bottom when they’ll turn their nose up at anything else.
All else failing, its time to try dead-sticking or in other words, “still-fishing”.Some walleye anglers always have a second rod out for this method but it does restrict your mobility.For this presentation, I’ll use the lightest bullet-head jig possible that will allow me to reach bottom and still maintain a good sense of feel. I start by hooking a live- ly minnow in the center of the body sliding the hook under the skin along the side forward and out again so the minnow can swim naturally. I have a rod holder fashioned from bent aluminum tubing that attaches to my ice sled for this purpose. I simply lower the rig until it reaches the bottom and then bring it back up so the minnow is swimming from 6 inches to a foot off bottom. The same thing can be accomplished by using the smallest slip-bobber possible (one that barely floats the jig with a minnow attach- ed) to suspend the jig and minnow above the bottom. I try to avoid this set up since the bobber can ice up or feel unnatural to a biting walleye. However, this is an excellant rig to use when introducing your children or other individuals with short attention spans to walleye fishing.If the bobber suddenly lays over on its side, dips slightly below the surface,or quickly slides across the hole, set the hook; its probably a walleye.
Other lures not to be overlooked are variations of minnow imitators and jigs. While not all will work on a given body of water, a tackle box would not be complete without them. These include Swimmin-Jigs, Airplane Jigs, Slo-Pokes,Flyers and a variety of spoons.
The entire process of determining what will trigger bites on a given day can be greatly simplified if we can see how walleyes react to our various presentations. This can be very easy if we’re fishing from a darkened shanty where we can visibly watch the fish but shanties tie you down to a particular spot and greatly reduce your mobility. A portable flasher or LCD graph is much better for accomplishing this task.
Much has been said about the merits of a flasher but by manually setting the sensitivity on a LCD graph, you can not only see fish but you can see your lure when properly adjusted. If walleye are present but not interested in your offering, simply vary your presentation until you find what they want or move on to the next hole; you can always come back later if you haven’t found cooperative walleyes and try another tactic. An added benefit of a good flasher or LCD graph is that they will usually allow you to see through the ice by placing the transducer directly on the ice after wetting it with a small puddle of water.This will greatly reduce the need for drilling of unnecessary holes while searching for productive structure.
Give these methods a try come “First-Ice” and you’re likely to exper- ience some of the hottest action of the season!
