Fish just aren't biting right!

[Kdog]

Being somewhat new to tied jigs for walleye, got lotsa questions.
First, typically my jig fishing for Walleye consists of a 1/32 jig tipped with a nightcrawler fished just off the bottom slowly in and around structure.

This year I have tried some hair jigs 1/24, 1/16, and 1/8 ounce with some success but nothing compared to the crawler. Had same results fishing for saugeye earlier in the spring.

I do not like messing with crawlers but I do like catching fish....
My Standard Colors (Tipped with Crawler) for Walleye are
Watermelon
Watermelon with cream bottom
Dark Watermelon
Watermelon Flake (red flake)
Watermelon Flake (green Flake)
(BTW I really like watermelon)
Green Chartreuse
Yellow Chartreuse
Bright Yellow
Schoolbus Yellow
Pumpkin
Coffee with cream brown
Muddy water Brown
Cocoa brown
Red
Red/White
Black
White
Black and white
Black with silver dots
Silver/Chrome
Chrome/Blue
Firetiger
Orange
Bright red/orange
Salmon Orange
Pink
Hot Pink
Chartreuse
Purple

This year has been difficult to say the least, only once in 30 trips have we got our 2 man limit. Our average trip (7 hours on water) 2 men average 4.2 keeper (17" min is our boat limit) fish per trip. We do catch some smaller fish but nothing like we have in the past. We have had many 2 hour 12 fish trips. Historically 287 trips average 6 hours, average 9.7 fish per trip (42 - 12 fish limits, 90 - 11 fish limits) 4 0'fers. 7 fish is a normal day. We have gone weeks without changing color and catch fish every time this year I do not think we have made a trip without trying every color we got and what works today, do not work tomorrow.

I know that our group of buddies says the same thing but they havent quite caught on that colors work today do not work tomorrow. Best one so far got a call asking for dragonfly PC (I have a transparent teal that everyone calls dragonfly) and had 3 different guys come by after 9pm to PC jigs. Same thing white worked, orange worked, red worked, brown worked, pumpkin worked but is seems like only 1 day. Even had a guy call us and he was fishing an area where we pulled 6 at 6:30 all on orange and he was there at 8:30 catching them on white. We start out with 6 poles in the water all with a different color until we catch something then go to one pole each with the same color. The bite is on for 15-20 minutes then off.

I always have a pole with a tied Jig and have had days where that was the only thing that worked.
Best Tied jig this season
1/8OZ dark watermelon with green dots, Brown and pink body, cream fur bottom and ruby red top tail. Followed by
All Black with red eyes,
All Purple with silver eyes
White head, silver eyes black body white tail
All White with pink eyes

So any suggestions color combos. jig size etc. We are fishing a reservoir with a well established walleye population. Walleye are a strange fish and this year they are being downright nasty about taking baits.

 

[redman]

Kdog it has been a while since I did any walleye fishing. There is a time in the first part of summer where night time is better than day time. The big eyes will move during the day but are active at night. Bars and humps in the lake I found to be most productive on the northern lakes I fished up north. As far as what jig patterns to use my number one day time pattern was one called Jim Stone followed by old Meat in the Pot. At night I would fish the Mary Kay. Here is a thread that shows patterns that I used for walleyes when I lived in Iowa. http://www.jigcraft.com/jigcraft/showthread.php?tid=2756&highlight=iowa+walleye+jigs Walleyes are some of the most elusive fish that you can go after. About the time you think that you have them figured out they will let you know that you don't. I like to fish with leeches and fat head minnows right now. Both can be used to tip a jig.

The Meat in the pot is pattern 8 in the photos Jim Stone is pattern 10 Mary Kay is number 12

Good luck to you. If you are a hard core walleye fisherman you have to have patience, stealth, and endurance.

Redman

 

[Kdog]

Kdog it has been a while since I did any walleye fishing. There is a time in the first part of summer where night time is better than day time. The big eyes will move during the day but are active at night. Bars and humps in the lake I found to be most productive on the northern lakes I fished up north. As far as what jig patterns to use my number one day time pattern was one called Jim Stone followed by old Meat in the Pot. At night I would fish the Mary Kay. Here is a thread that shows patterns that I used for walleyes when I lived in Iowa. http://www.jigcraft.com/jigcraft/showthread.php?tid=2756&highlight=iowa+walleye+jigs Walleyes are some of the most elusive fish that you can go after. About the time you think that you have them figured out they will let you know that you don't. I like to fish with leeches and fat head minnows right now. Both can be used to tip a jig.

The Meat in the pot is pattern 8 in the photos Jim Stone is pattern 10 Mary Kay is number 12

Good luck to you. If you are a hard core walleye fisherman you have to have patience, stealth, and endurance.

Redman

Redman, Thank you, I stumbled across your pics last fall and have all of the patterns along with a couple dozen variations. I live 4 hours from Lake Eries western basin which is considered by many to be the Walleye capital of the world. Lake Erie fishing is very productive and IMO not much of a challenge when compared to the Reservoirs and Rivers throughout the state where Walleye are present. But even there, Walleye can be somewhat picky but they are predictable unlike my local waters.

Yes, I am dedicated and often humbled by the characteristic Walleye "Moodiness" but this year, Humbled is not even close. I've fished hard for them since catching my first one in 1977 purely by accident. In my mind, If I can catch one, I can certainly catch another thus it stared......
I have accumulated enough Walleye specific tackle and gear to open a tackle shop. About the only thing I avoid is trolling although I will drift fish for them.

BTW - There are some TX waters where walleye can be found. From a Google Search
"Lake Meredith and Palo Duro Reservoir are the two major lakes in Texas with healthy populations of walleye. White River Reservoir also has walleye. Lake Meredith produced the Texas state record walleye."

The only person I know that is having some success this year fishes wild chubs straight from the creek in his backyard. But I am not 100% certain of his honesty. But I have seen his fish but have watched him re-rig all of his poles right before heading to the ramp.

Leeches have never worked for me and only know of one person that uses them with any regularity and is a Wisconsin transplant and says it is a habit but rarely has any luck with them. Claims however, that his biggest walleye every year are caught on them.

I am gonna keep plugging away, trying new jigs and methods etc.. Until I can find a combination that gets me away from Nasty Crawlers and the associated mess and hassle of keeping them throughout the season.

The lake we fish most often has an active crew of dedicated Walleye fishermen and there are the night guys and the day guys. 10pm - midnight and 2am - 4am are the hot times for the night crew except this year all bets are off. A buddy has been out from ~10PM - 5AM 3-4 times a week since march and all he says is can catch a few but few and far between.

I suspect its just the nature of the beast but is great for the tackle shops in the area. Anything new seems to fly off the shelves with 2-3 days. Even the Guides are having trouble getting fish caught and most have switched over to crappie and will only Walleye fish on request. It is just a different year, I hope!!!

 

[Jig Man]

Thats what I like about this place.... Folks sharing info. Good luck...

 

[hookup]

We were catching walleyes a month ago on jerk baits with allot of flash.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Kdog, have you tried jigs with a louder presence - larger or flashier? Maybe embellished with metal like JiggerJohn's Boolie, JungleJim's Tail Gunner, Roadrunner, or Northland Whistler?

 

[Bucho]

Thats pretty much what I was thinking. My standard zander jig is a half ounce boolie with a 4-5" zonker strip and the second largest prop in the catalogue. People here consider that light weight and wonder if they can cast it far enough. The latest trend in pelagic fishing - spotting specimen zander in large bodies of open water with fish finders and dangling a lure above them - utilizes soft plastics of 8" and more.

European zander might be a bit larger and more aggressive than their north american relatives, but more sometimes is more. When I started fishing 30 years ago, a more than finger-long lure or bait wasn´t beeing considered zander catching material. Today, oddly, its the other way round.



I am impressed by your statistics! Don´t have much to say about the figures, but I admire your dedication and professionalism to evaluate the outcome of your fishing efforts. :icon14:

 

[Bucko]

here in Wisconsin leeches are a go to bait. I use a lot of purple here. if purple is a bust then fluorescent yellow or orange usually does the trick. I carry an arsenal of colors but those are my usual go to colors. if I'm fishing on the Mississippi on the other hand, if it isn't purple, it don't get wet.

 

[Kdog]

We gave tried boolies, ponys, minnow heads, stand up heads etc. Crank baits, stick baits hopkins spoons, grub tails. Buddy got back a while ago 4:30am - 4:30pm first fish was 6am, last fish was 4pm 3 came on HF freight orange pony head with gold blade, 1 on watermelon and 1 on bubblegum pink, orange worked good over oyster beds and rocky bottoms, watermelon and pink worked in the timber areas. All jigs were 1/32 oz, 1/16 and all you get is snagged and if you try suspending them more than 4" above the bottom, CF and white bass will tear you up. I try the bigger baits and once in a while catch one but more often than not spend most of my time retying. Given the clarity, I am about to try red black and brown all day and see if I do any good.

Even with the rains we have been having water is crystal clear ~9' visibility.

We maintain a boat log and every trip is logged. The logs go back 16 years.

 

[redman]

Kdog I feel your pain!!! I think that know your problem you have given me the clue. " Even with the rains we have been having water is crystal clear ~9' visibility. " Walleye DO NOT LIKE LIGHT.
With the moon full and crystal clear water no one is going to do good those critter are deep. I will garrontee that if you fish the deep holes you will find the walleyes.

This is a personal observation I got to fish with the really old walleye fisherman that only fished for trophies 8 to 12 pound fish. Most not all of them were lone wolves fishing only at night. They would silently work a rocky shoreline with out the aid of a light. Most of the time wadding using there landing net as wadding staff using only the light of the moon and preferred to fish on cloudy nights with the wind blowing in their face. They all had there favorite lure or bait. When they needed to retie the would go behind a tree and use a small pen light to work by. I adopted some of the same tactics I always fished alone used no light did most of my fishing at night in the dark of the moon. I followed the solunar tables. Less is more, would carry one rod and reel, extra full spool, pocket full of jigs, a small pen light, and landing net and cord stringer ,knife and lighter. Start fishing one hour before sun up, sundown and fish no more than a hour and a half after. 10:00 p.m. to 2;00 a.m. was my most productive times on the lake I was fishing. THESE TIME VARY from lake to lake.

The only other piece of advice from this former walleye addict is look at there belly's. The color of the belly skin will tell you where they have been laying and most likely what they have been feeding on. If the belly's are dark and stained with mud they are on the mud flats eating leeches. Very white belly's they are on sand or out in deep water suspended most likely feeding only on baitfish. Don't give up on those Big Fat Canadian Nightcralwers a good bait most all of the year.

Good luck and hope you don't become as addicted to those toothy critters as I did.

Redman

 

[Kdog]

Kdog I feel your pain!!! I think that know your problem you have given me the clue. " Even with the rains we have been having water is crystal clear ~9' visibility. " Walleye DO NOT LIKE LIGHT.
With the moon full and crystal clear water no one is going to do good those critter are deep. I will garrontee that if you fish the deep holes you will find the walleyes.

This is a personal observation I got to fish with the really old walleye fisherman that only fished for trophies 8 to 12 pound fish. Most not all of them were lone wolves fishing only at night. They would silently work a rocky shoreline with out the aid of a light. Most of the time wadding using there landing net as wadding staff using only the light of the moon and preferred to fish on cloudy nights with the wind blowing in their face. They all had there favorite lure or bait. When they needed to retie the would go behind a tree and use a small pen light to work by. I adopted some of the same tactics I always fished alone used no light did most of my fishing at night in the dark of the moon. I followed the solunar tables. Less is more, would carry one rod and reel, extra full spool, pocket full of jigs, a small pen light, and landing net and cord stringer ,knife and lighter. Start fishing one hour before sun up, sundown and fish no more than a hour and a half after. 10:00 p.m. to 2;00 a.m. was my most productive times on the lake I was fishing. THESE TIME VARY from lake to lake.

The only other piece of advice from this former walleye addict is look at there belly's. The color of the belly skin will tell you where they have been laying and most likely what they have been feeding on. If the belly's are dark and stained with mud they are on the mud flats eating leeches. Very white belly's they are on sand or out in deep water suspended most likely feeding only on baitfish. Don't give up on those Big Fat Canadian Nightcralwers a good bait most all of the year.

Good luck and hope you don't become as addicted to those toothy critters as I did.

Redman

I am well beyond addicted to them toothy critters. We have been fishing 18 - 25 feet. Shallower water you can catch shorts but thats no fun. Have tried several hours even deeper but not yet. I am convinced that the bait fish are widely scattered and schools are so broken up due to water clarity and WB attacks that walleye are scattered as well and each one finds a rock or root or some other structure and are camped out.

I muskie Fished in the 80's and this is not quite that bad but 6-8 hours per fish is getting close. My mentor from my muskie days used to say 35 hours per fish, so be patient.

I can drive 4 hours and limit out at will but its just not the same. Of course, the spring saugeye fishing really got me spoiled. Usually 2 hour trip to get a limit of nice fat 20 inchers. I do not recall a trip lasting over 4 hours all spring and we were going 1-2 x every day. It is nice to fish 20 minutes from the driveway, no boat, no launching, just a little hill slide in and climb out.

 

[redman]

Sound like where I was in Iowa it was a 1 block walk or a three block walk and that was some of the finest walleye fishing in the state of Iowa. Ya back in the day the 1980's I had two summers of Muskie fever. Big old fish and it took about 50 hours of casting per fish. Keep looking there out there somewheres. Give you the same advice that my mentor gave me. A walleye is a fish so fish for him like that, he is a creature of nature. Try to think like him and more than likely you will be successful.

Redman

 

[papaperch]

I am not a walleye fisherman. But I catch them in my pursuit of panfish. Some think walleyes avoid light. If they are shallow say less than 8 foot of water I agree. Used to fish a river at night when Pennsylvania season came in @ midnight.

My bud at the time was a wally addict and insisted I go with him. It was fun as we fished in water less than 3 foot deep in chest waders. Anytime we had to bait up or change something we turned our back to where the fish schooled up. Almost every year others would see us catching the walleyes and wade over by us. Some of them wore coon hunting lights and constantly left them on. Soon as their lights hit our pool the walleyes would disappear. Ruined for the night we would wade ashore and either go elsewhere or home. Depended on if we had or limit or close enough to it to call it a night.

Now lake fishing at night over water deeper than 20 foot or so. Walleye do not seem as badly affected by any kind of light. I have an 6 foot green light I hang over the side of the boat when night crappie fishing. It casts about a 16 foot diameter circle of light around the boat. I have caught many walleye in that circle of light. Sometimes as shallow as 4 foot down in 30 foot of water. I think they are not as spooky as long as deep water is handy.

To be fair I do not think this would be a way to fish for sizable walleye. Nothing over 7 pounds comes to my memory. Some night you can see those eyes of theirs shine as they swim by or circle the light. I think when everything is just right. The light draws a big enough banquet for the fish. That few of them can resist the easy pickings.