Right Baits for Walleye Fishing

Walleye like to hang out in weed tops during low light times or in the deep recesses of the cabbage ends. In situations where anglers are trolling, setup a rig with a plastic bait trailer that is light enough to navigate through the water but heavy enough to maintain contact with the bottom surface. Sweep the rod back and forth causing the bait to jump a few inches from the bottom before settling back down. To execute this effectively, use a six-foot medium heavy action spin rod that has an eight to ten pound test line.

When back trolling, the ideal live bait situation is slip sinkers. This gives an angler more time to feed a line to the fish. The common position here is open-face spinning reels containing live bait rigging. Troll with bail open and line situated under the index finger of the rod hand. Walleye bite the line. Pull the rod tip toward the fish and straighten out the index finger. This lets the line spins freely off the spool. Let this continue for three to thirty seconds until the fish picks up the slack at the other end of the line.

Once the weight of the walleye comes on the line, snap the rod back and reel the catch towards the boat. Walleye are not particular about what type of bait dangles in front of them. Whether it is live or plastic, all that walleye need is something to catch their attention. If the bait type mimics that of their favorite menu items, such as crawfish, then that gives walleye even more reason to take a bite of the line. The type of bait on that line is personal angler preference.

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