All, I wanted to post some tips on triggering stubborn walleye. There has been lots of grousing about the lack of fish being caught this year. Most of you know there are a tremendous number of tiny perch this year and possibly large numbers of baitfish. This alone could explain why fish just don't want to bite easily. My personal experience albeit limited is that there are lots of walleye down there, but very difficult to trigger. Here are some tips for difficult fish:
1) Use a swivel - this keeps the line from twisting too much. I use braid connected by a swivel to 2 to 3 foot section of mono or fluoro. I use 15#. If you ever watch a spoon after jigging for awhile underwater, without a swivel, it will spin for ever. I don't think walleye like that. If you don't pause long enough, it will never stop spinning and you will NOT catch a fish when they are turned off.
2) BOQ is huge - you have to call the fish in. I personally use two or three very large "rips". A rip is where I violently pull the bait up as much as 3 to 5 feet and let it flutter back. Follow the calling process with a long pause, keeping the bait separated from the bottom on your graph, so you can see if fish move in under it after you stop the calling sequence. Note that the calling sequence will often result in a strike from a fish that you NEVER see on the graph. Especially with jigging raps and flutter spoons, that shoot of to the side, they will bit it when it comes right to them, or they will rush in and bite it when it stops at the bottom.
3) Another calling technique is to "pound" the bottom. This requires a slab spoon or heavy jigging rap. When you rip the bait, make sure you have enough line out so that the bait crashes into the bottom and stirs up silt and makes noise. I do this two or three times and then lift the bait 1.5 feet of the bottom and pause it while looking for fish.
3)
Learn to recognize what a walleye looks like on the depth finder. It is usually a solid mark right on the bottom that will just suddenly appear, or will show up after you have executed your "calling sequence." It will rarely follow your bait up. In contrast, perch tend to flicker in and out and move up and down with your bait, nipping at often. Most of the people I respect will tell you to move if you have lots of little perch where you are fishing.
4) Cat and mouse - this is the most popular suggestion on youtube videos regarding BOQ - when you see the "mark/walleye" move under your bait, lift the bait slowly while GENTLY shaking it. If the fish is hot, or "flyer" as you hear them called, the fish will move up with the bait. The higher get the walleye to go, the more likely it will strike. If the fish drops back down, drop back with it and try again. Continuing to pull the bait up and away from the fish. If the fish leaves, go back to your calling sequence. It will often return.
5) Short lift and drop - this is what I see most BOQ anglers doing all day. They lift the bait 1/2 to 1.5 feet. Most do it relatively slowly. This will trigger fish. The most important thing is to hold the bait still for at least five seconds every 2 or 3 lifts. This pause is often when they bite.
6) Shake it - this is a technique where you shake the rod tip side to side, or up and down just a few inches. This makes the bait literally wiggle up and down or vibrate pretty fast. Always pause at intervals after shaking.
7) Nod it - this is a very subtle technique where all you do is make the bait quiver. Some people execute this by just tapping the rod with a finger, flicking the line, or squeezing the rod handle. Nothing else.
Combinations - I personally mix all of these. I start with the call (violent rips of the bait), followed by a pause of five seconds or so with the bait 1.5 feet of the bottom (so I can see if a walleye moves in), then I do a slow lift while shaking the bait, stopping at 1 foot intervals until I am 3 feet of the bottom. Then I drop it 1 foot. Hold/pause. Drop it another 1 foot. Hold/pause. Drop it another foot. Hold/pause. Then I do some short 1 foot lift and drops. Nod it. And then I start all over, or mix these up. Sometimes to call the fish, I will pound the bottom the next sequence. Don't forget the hold/pause. This is what most anglers forget, especially when they see a fish move in. They get too excited and often work the bait too violently. By the same token, the walleye will lose interest if you don't move the bait now and then.
9) Practice all of these techniques in clear water just under your hole, so you can see what they look like (or go the local pool). You can also watch youtube videos of many of these. Try to be intentional about your jigging, so you can remember what you were doing when you called the fish in, and what you were doing when it hit!
10) Consider two-fisting it - this is where you fish two rods at once, usually with the holes 3 feet apart. Drill a hole for your transducer mid-way between the two and slightly further away from you. I always two-fist it. 90% of the time, I will have a spoon in my left hand and a jigging rap in my right. I usually fish these about 6" difference of the bottom, so I can figure out which mark is which on the graph. I mix up my jigging, so I usually have one of the two either paused, or subtle. This is a difficult technique at first. The fish will often show a marked preference for the left hand bait or the right hand bait.
11) Dead-sticking, or the Judas rig - This is where you fish one rod with what ever you like and setup a second rod with a curly tail jig or plain and hook a minnow through the back. Set that rig 1 foot of the bottom with the rod in a holder or on a bucket (this is called dead-sticking or a the Judas technique). Concentrate on your jigging rod, only occasionally wiggling the other rod. Bites will be just the rod tip bending down on the dead-stick rod. The advantage of dead-sticking is that if they want super subtle, it's available. Plus it takes almost no concentration or additional effort. Change your minnow frequently so it is alive and wiggling when a walleye comes through.
12) Lures - I put them in just a few categories. Slab spoons (thick and heavy), flutter spoons (thin and long), jigging raps, lipless rattle baits and blade baits. If you are on a budget, just get a couple of jigging raps, a couple of flutter spoons, and a couple of slab spoons. Plain silver (sunny days) and plain gold (cloudy days) are good choices to start out. If you are fishing with other people, make sure everyone tries different baits and colors.
13) Sweeten the pot - this may be one of the most important points. I NEVER fish a lure without bait (the only exception is lipless rattle baits and blade baits - which I only go to rarely). There is lots of argument about using minnow heads vs. the whole minnows, and how to hook them on. My feeling is that you should experiment. If you are getting minnows pulled off your hooks (could be perch) go to just minnow heads. I have fished Erie where they put a minnow on every single hook point. That means for a spoon you have three minnows on the bait. For a jigging rap, you have FIVE! Sounds crazy, but it works. They call it the meat-wagon. It looks like an octopus under the water.
14) Go early and stay late, go often - BOQ often has an extremely short bite window. Fifteen minutes some days. Usually morning and evening only. If there is no snow cover and it is sunny, it is rare to catch a fish during the day.
15) Go back to where you caught fish, or saw others.
16) Stay away from other anglers when the bite is off. 20 yards minimum and 1/4 mile is better.
17) Keep going back and keep experimenting. Good luck and turn the big girls loose.
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