| | Living in the Great Lakes region I feel blessed to have so many World-Class Walleye fisheries close at hand. From my home in Muskegon I can reach half a dozen of these "fish factories" in three to four hours. A few more hours and I can be on one of the many productive waters of the UP.
 The St. Clare, Saginaw, and Detroit are arguably three of the most productive river systems east of the Mississippi, and I for one eagerly await the open water periods in early spring each year after ice out. My favorite tactic on these rivers has been, and always will be vertical jigging with jig and minnow, or jig and plastic combos. Vertical jigging is fishing reduced to a very basic form. It's simple, effective, and just plain fun! I know anglers that travel hundreds of miles to enjoy these early spawning runs each spring, but like all good things they must come to an end. Most of the fish that push their way into area streams for spawning purposes are visitors themselves, and will return to the vast expanses of the Great Lakes where they spend more than ninety percent of their time roaming around like Wolf Packs looking for their next meal.
While some spawning behavior does occur in certain areas of the Great Lakes where there is sufficient structure such as reefs, and rock piles, most of the time is spent looking for food. Simply put it is the "baitfish buffet" these fish are continuously following that will greatly determine their location on a day to day basis. Sure thermal breaks, mud lines, and wind/wave action play a part in determining this, but by and large it's the feed factor which keeps them in large schools that unrelentingly roam wherever their dinner goes.
Finding them is not usually a problem. From the time they complete their spawning in the rivers, and drop back out into the main bodies of water, Walleye have to run a gauntlet of sport anglers eagerly searching them out. Once located the large schools are usually closely monitored by area anglers, and charter boat operators. Such information is readily available from most of the anglers at the area boat launches, as they are usually willing to share their information with you. Take the western basin of Lake Erie for instance, it is not uncommon to see flotillas of 300-500 boats or more giving away the location of the active schools. Walleyes have a tendency to congregate into schools by year class, meaning three year old fish normally won't be found with the smaller schools of older trophy fish customarily referred to as "Hawgs".
Once you locate active fish you have to determine which presentation will give you the best chance for success. In the "good ol days" most boaters either fan cast weight forward spinners, or drifted crawler harnesses on bottom bouncers such as Northland Tackles' "Rock Runner". However with the introduction of the Zebra mussel into Lake Erie the water clarity has changed dramatically, and with it the way in which we now catch Walleye. Certainly there are days when you can still catch fish the old fashioned way of casting spinners, or dragging crawler harnesses, but most of the time you will be better off utilizing a presentation that gets your lures away from the boat.
Trolling has become a standard presentation for many of the Great Lakes anglers searching for ol' Marble eye. Most charter boat operators have jumped on the bandwagon as well, and routinely use trolling with planer boards to put fish in the boat for their clients. While most of them use large ski's towed from masts with reels holding 150'- 250' of line I have found that the smaller in-line planer boards fit my needs better. The model OR-12 from Off Shore Tackle has proven to be my favorite, and with the addition of the "Tattle Flag" upgrade kit it is more productive than you can imagine at giving away the presence of small fish being dragged behind the board. When I'm trolling on Lake Erie or Saginaw Bay I regularly run these boards out at distances of 75'-150' from my boat, and in waves up to four feet with very few problems. Trolling into the wind does require more concentration, and attention to your driving duties, but sometimes that's they way the fish want it.
 Many knowledgeable Great Lakes trollers use crank baits as their main offering for Walleye fishing. Many different brands work equally well for this presentation, Rapala's, Hot-N-Tots, and Ripsticks to name a few. The main thing to keep in mind is to use a lure or presentation that will keep your offering at, or slightly above the depth you are marking fish at on your sonar screen. You can drag your baits under a school of active Walleyes until the cows come home and you won't get bit once! Minnow imitating crank baits such as the original floating Rapala will need some help to reach these productive depths. This is easily accomplished with a snap weight kit also marketed by Off Shore Tackle. This kit comes complete with varying weight sinkers that are attached to your line with OR-16 heavy-duty releases, and are easy to take on, or off. By changing the weight you can adjust the depth at which you are trolling your lure, and at the same time it allows you to increase you leader length to further outsmart boat shy Walleye.
Some of the newer deep diving lures such as the Reef Runner series can reach these depths without any additional weight, and are a favorite of many knowledgeable big water anglers. When crank baits don't produce, many anglers (myself included) will replace their lures with live bait rigs such as spinners, or crawler harnesses. I have been using the new Wallypop spinners from Mack's Lure Co. with great success this past year. The "Firetiger", and "Perch" patterns have been my top producers, and as a matter of fact were responsible for my taking 3rd place at the MWT (Michigan Walleye Tour) tournament on Saginaw Bay this past summer. When the fish want a slower presentation nothing will beat the combined effect of flash, and live bait from a spinner rig. Just let out 50' of line, attach the appropriate snap weight, let out another 50' of line and attach your in-planer. Let out enough line to move this presentation away from the boat and start your trolling run. If you doubt this is an effective way to fish for open water Walleyes I guarantee that you will be absolutely amazed the first time a "Hawg" walleye drags your board under water from a vicious strike!
Yes, times are changing but so are the tactics we now use to catch more fish than ever before. Many new, and innovative tools are available to the angler targeting open water Walleye's. Why not add a few to your bag of tricks the next time you venture out on our beautiful Great Lakes in search of open water walleye! |
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