Alright, you’ve tried lindy rigging and hopefully pinned down a nice school of walleye. What’s next? While you can certainly keep lindy rigging, we’ve found several repeat passes will eventually spook the fish off a spot. Our favorite way to catch walleye once they have been located is to jig fish.
So cut that lindy rig off and tie on a 1/4 oz. jighead. Better yet, bring a 2nd rod equipped with a jig for a faster switch. If you are fishing deep water you may want to move to a slightly heavier jig. Next, thread on your favorite plastic bait. We like twister tails or paddle tails. Our favorite brand is AuthentX from B Fish’N. They make Moxis (twister tail) and Pulse-Rs (paddle tail). There are countless other varieties out there too. Find one that works and play with different colors. Aggressive fish will hit just the plastic. If the bite is light you may want to add a piece of live bait over the plastic like a piece of nightcrawler to trigger a strike.
Carrie’s favorite way to jig fish is to cast. Cast out across the area holding fish and count long enough for the bait to sink near the bottom. Pop the rod to add some action to the jig while retrieving. Keep tension on the line so you can feel when the fish hits.
I prefer vertical jigging. Let your line down until you thump the bottom. Crank all the slack out of the line and then slowly raise your rod a couple feet and then lower it back to the bottom. Descend slowly so you can keep the line tight and feel the bite. Don’t forget to set the hook when you feel the distinct tap of a walleye bite!
We’ve got a couple more tricks up our sleeve we’ll get to later.