jigging for walleye

[dremarquis]

i often catch one or two eyes on Conesus trolling shallow at night. I have trolled many times during the day and never caught an eye.

i often see nice marks near the bottom in 25-40fow. I think they might be eyes. I have jigged many bass and lake trout, so i want to give jigging for eyes a try. My understanding is that eye jigging is more subtle than lake trout jigging. What lures do you recommend for jigging? soft plastics? spoons? Any info will be greatly appreciated!

thanks,

andre

[Sean Youngblood]

I have had good luck with Jigging Raps.I usually tip it with a minnow head. 

[Eyegetter]

Where I jig walleye we use bucktail jigs with crawler on hook.  Most generally a subtle jig apposed to a very agressive motion.  

[justtracytrolling]

If the fish are relating to bottom you can jig them. If they are suspended on schools of bait it's a no go. The bait will not let you park over them suspended in 40-50 fow. I suspect that most of those fish are not walleye. The off shore walleye will be suspended on bait. Believe it or not the big marks on the relatively flat bottom or base of the slopes are tigers. When I target those marks it's a very tough bite and when you do get them to bite I get big tigers. Suspended walleye are difficult to catch under the boat...you really need to stay off them and use boards.

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[bulletbob]

 Personally, I have found nothing as good as soft plastics.. They work as well  or better than  "high priced" lures of any type..
 I have been jigging Walleyes for 28 years, ever since I moved to NY state, and my #1 go to lure thats proven to be my most productive by far, is a plain old Mr Twister in chartreuse on a 1/4 oz jig head.. Nothing better, at least for me... Another good plastic has been a  2 1/2 -3 inch Sluggo or FinS in shad color.. Opaque silver on top black on bottom..  I have also caught some big Walleyes on Gulp..Also  at times Silver/Black rapalas are very effective when fish are shallow...
 I have caught VERY few walleyes during the day while jigging... My best times for jigging them are from  around 4:30/ 5 AM until about 7:30 am.,

 and then from about 6 PM till 9 PM this time of year..  Low light conditions   for me have always  been by far the best time. for jigging .  I  personally catch more Walleyes    in   November than any other month for some reason.... bob
 

[wishinfishin]

Plastics for me to .  Same plastics as bulletbob mentioned but would add Zoom, and Z-man  plastics to that list .

 

I agree with Justin on the suspended walleye .

 

 

[chugbug]

you guys using twister tails arent you tipping them with some nighcrawler or minnow

[wishinfishin]

I usually don't tip with worms , but do use  sent.

[justtracytrolling]

I use kitechs or gulp and lately blade baits, jigging raps, and shiver minnows. I don't tip them. I really only do this to fish structure that I can't troll or cast them when sticks aren't working.

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[dremarquis]

Thanks VERY MUCH for all of your advice!

dre

[Outfront]

Anything greater than 20' I've been drop shotting with gulp minnow or leech for last couple years

Let's me use heavier weight to keep bottom contact in wind/waves and better feel when 'eye lightly inhales

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[bulletbob]

 I don't use  use store bought scent ,, but there are some tricks i use at times. that might help some guys..

  A live or fresh dead minnow  on the jig hook  can certainly help on slower days.. It will NEVER hurt to try..

 

  Another trick I use  that works fantastic with ANY fish is fish blood..

 If I catch a fish or two one day and will be fishing again within a few days here is what I do...

 I cut some small  tapered strips out of the flexible belly/underside of a fish, usually a walleye i have taken home..

 While cleaning them , fresh  walleyes shed a ton of blood.. I collect as much as i can in a small zip lock bag, and add the belly strips, and put that in the fridge.. GREAT for tipping any type of jig, for any type of fish, and  pretty easy to do..
 At times I go without the belly strips, but use a hair jig, and drop it into the blood..  soaks that   blood up, leaves a scent trail that Killer.... All kinds of critters grab it up , anything from sunnies and trout  to big Pike, and of course Bass and Walleyes.

 

 typically, I go without   and tipping  however, and have found that walleyes are not all that hard to catch WHEN they are active!,, thats the key..

 Neutral l walleyes are not an easy mark.. You can fish an area thats thick with them and never get a touch.. You would swear they just weren't there.

 Other times they are as stupid as the dumbest starving bluegill and will readily commit suicide..

  It was many years ago, but i once caught 26 keeper size Walleyes standing on the same rock in the susquehanna river, between 3 PM and 6 PM in bright sunlight. Kept my  limit, went back the next night just for catch and release, caught 6... Went back next night, not a bite.. They move, they blow hot and cold as far as feeding/activity, and they can be stupid and easy to catch, or smart as hell and impossible to catch... As i said earlier, the less light the better.. Try getting out next time before dawn, and fish hard till about 8 am...  For me, thats prime time...   Also , 6 PM and onward into darkness.. The angles of the  sun as it sets  don't allow deep  light penetration, and the walleyes are  more active than they are during the late morning/afternoon.. This is NOT to say you can't catch walleyes mid day, you can ,but your chances diminish if you are jigging.. Daylight hours are  fine when deep trolling for suspended Walleyes relating to bait pods, but jigging for structure oriented fish is best when  light penetration is low... At least from my experience... bob

 
 

[dremarquis]

Hey Bob,

it sounds to me like you know what you're doing! I'm going to follow your advice!

thanks!

dre

[bulletbob]

 Nah,  just lots of years doing it,  a few  good days here and there  amongst LOTS of bad ones.. Just remember that walleyes  are typically more active and are more apt to feed in low light conditions, and for most of us that means dawn and dusk..  I haven't done it but I bet that fishing in the dead of night  with big live bait would   be the best method to catch them consistently, but Bullheads and Catfish might be a nuisance in some spots.. If you can get good  size   healthy live bait,  you can drop shot a big live minnow a foot off bottom while jigging as well..  Increases the odds... bob

[trouthunter24]

bb wow alot of great info here Thanks!!!

[bulletbob]

 One of the main problems with Walleyes in  NY state is that in many waters they do exactly what the Trout, and often the Bass do as well... they go totally contrary to    their natural state, and they will suspend and follow bait  and not relate to structure.. They are by nature a bottom oriented species..

Just as salmon, browns and rainbow are stream fish, but adapt to their main food source, and  alter their lifestyle completely from their natural state walleyes adapt to their primary food source... As we know, food trumps everything  else , and fish will go out of habitat, out of temperature etc... When Walleyes are in lakes loaded with Alewives, they get huge but can be tough as hell to catch... The best way to get walleyes in large lakes with big alewife populations is trolling, no question...  Smaller, shallower, rocky lakes without  big suspended schools of oily baitfish are typically  better lakes for jiggers, as are rocky rivers..

 

Lake erie  has  a  good population of big walleyes, but almost all of them are caught trolling, at least on the NY side.. Might be a few guys jigging and doing well, but they don't talk much... Canadian walleye lakes  seem to be  much more productive  for jiggers, and I would bet  money most of those lakes dont have huge populations of schooling  big greasy suspending  baitfish... bob