Go to Walleye jig?

[CK3]

Just wondering........what is your fav go to jig for
Walleye?

 

[Hawnjigs]

I'm still learning, what's yours? Haven't had the opportunity to test ties much yet, boot tail swim plastics like the Lunker City Shakers on a 1/8 head work OK.

 

[CK3]

A couple of my favs are yellow barred rock hackle, thread body,
black or purple head. Also a natural barred rock neck hackle with
a pink or orange head. I see if I can find a pic of them I took a while
back.

 

[eyecrosser]

MATCH THE HATCH IF YOU ARE TYING YOUR OWN. IF THROWING PLASTICS I WOULD WOULD SAY WALLEYE ASSASSINS HANDS DOWN.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Interesting, those pin tail plastics don't look like they have much action. What style and weight jig head do you use and is there a special presentation tekneek?

 

[AtticaFish]

Not positive, but thinking the walleye assassin has a paddle style swim bait tail. They have lots of thump.

...those pin tail plastics don't look like they have much action...

 

[Fatman]

Back home we used ball heads in all the flourescent colors. If those failed we used crankbaits and then live bait.

 

[redman]

If I was back at a Lake Okoboji in Iowa it would be a Jim Stone during the day and a Mary Kay or Fire Fly at night. I would work the shore line at dusk and dawn. The jig would be a 1/4 oz. Rock -a -Roo head with a # 2 mustad hook. Early spring I would work areas that had sandy bottoms next to rocky points. I would also work every swimming beach I could get to if it had a sandy bottom. Walleyes just love to meet and spawn on these sand bottoms. If these places had a flow of water coming in or going out of the lake that would the first place to start your hunt for a trophy Walleye.

Redman

 

[Hawnjigs]

I know the Fire Fly is a dead simple feather tie on a ball head - are the other two also tie patterns? Interesting that a In-Fisherman walleye authority Doug Stange prefers 1/2 - 3/4 oz. heads with big paddle tail plastics. Quite different from your finesse approach, Redman.

On the mfg. website, there is a 3" pin tail and a 4" paddle tail "turbo" version of the Walleye Assassin.

 

[redman]

Keith I said IF I was back on Lake Okoboji. It is a beast of a lake to fish. And Yes I know Doug Stange. I remember him when he was a ag teacher in the Sibley Iowa school system. I remember of sitting and teaching him how to tie a jig on a line with a loop knot. Fun times that I wish I could relive again. One day I will tie him up a bunch of Rock-a-Roo Jigs and make his day. He is one of the men that Al and Ronnie Linder brought up to help with a then struggling In-Fisherman Magazine.

This is a thread that I did along time ago that showed the jigs that I fished walleyes with in Iowa. http://www.jigcraft.com/jigcraft/showthread.php?tid=2756&highlight=iowa+walleye+jigs The third jig down in the top picture is a Fire Fly. A Mary Kay is a Fire Fly with out the red wing. A Jim Stone is the second down in the bottom picture.

Redman

 

[eyecrosser]

Not positive, but thinking the walleye assassin has a paddle style swim bait tail. They have lots of thump.

...those pin tail plastics don't look like they have much action...

= The paddletail swim baits, 4 inch are killer here in Kansas. 1/8 or 1/4 oz. jigheads depending on depth. My preference for jighead is a shakie style with a larger hook like an owner/gami in 2/0-4/0. Really sticks those eyes.

 

[eyecrosser]

I know the Fire Fly is a dead simple feather tie on a ball head - are the other two also tie patterns? Interesting that a In-Fisherman walleye authority Doug Stange prefers 1/2 - 3/4 oz. heads with big paddle tail plastics. Quite different from your finesse approach, Redman.

On the mfg. website, there is a 3" pin tail and a 4" paddle tail "turbo" version of the Walleye Assassin.

Go with the turbo. I catch walleye year round with them. Even dead of winter fishing the spillways of local reservoirs. Give them a try and good luck.

 

[upnort16]

My favorite walleye jig? Hands down, the go to jig is a 1/16 oz. round head. Heres where the decisions come in. In the pristine, clear water it's an orange/yellow two tone, in the flowages, somewhat stained water, it's a purple/lime green two tone. If fishing the timber cluttered areas, same things only weedless, or should I say timberless. Usually all tipped with minnows, but been experimenting more with plastics, (curly tails, minnow imitators) , and liking the outcome. As far as swimbaits for walleye, I like the storm wild eye, but the northland mimic minnow is good for me also. I'll share my favorite crankbait as well, but you guys shares yours too. Mine is the 6 inch smithwick rattlin rogue in black and silver. That bait has accounted for more 5 pound fish to me than any other.

 

[eyecrosser]

My 2 favorite crank/s for walleye are the #9 Firetiger Husky Jerk and any size 9 X-Rap depending on water clarity. These baits have accounted for more Walleye than most other baits I use in the spring.

 

[Hawnjigs]

OK, since posted fave tie colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, + white cover the entire color spectrum, one could conclude that walleye may not be too color picky. Not much walleye opportunity in my experience, but I kinda like black leech & light natural baitfish colors in daylight conditions, and chartreuse for low light including deep water. Observed recently that classic Rapalas & Kastmasters(by others) outfished my small jigs in a WY river. Maybe they were just lucky...

 

[redman]

Keith I have a lot of experience in deep water walleye ( 40 feet or more). I found that white and Fire orange are much better color but again that is just the lakes that I fished which were deep water glacier lakes.

You are right that the reliable old Rapalas are a real great lure. Back in the day before neutral balance came out. We would drill them and add split shot to them so they would sit 8 inches down in the water and fish them in shallow water. Many 6 lb. plus walleyes fell to them. I had a box of them still do some where. They are now kind of a museum pieces. Another lure that we had great luck with is one that was called Thread Fin. don't know who made it but the disappeared some where in the mid 1980's. Guess they worked to well so they had to be removed from the market.Lols.

Glad that some one revived this thread from CK3 . It keeps alive his memory. RIP my old friend and save me a good spot when I get there. Have we got trick to show him when we get there.

Redman

 

[eyecrosser]

I fish and read about walleyes quite a bit. According to studies, walleye see orange the best of any color in the spectrum. Could be why the success with fire orange, which I also use almost exclusively when fishing 'eyes at Truman in Mo., have also started using this color in Kansas more with good success. Funny how well firetiger works here in Kansas and has orange in it also. Favorite crappie color is chartreuse or a combo including it. Except on Milford Reservoir where white reigns supreme; I believe do to water clarity.

 

[redman]

Eyecrosser just some observations from hunting walleye well over 30 years. I always did far better when the moon was in a dark stage. When it was overcast sky and if there was a mist in the air. Bright colors at night and bright sunny days. Darker lures and jig on bright night and cloudy days. The best days and night that I ever had was two to three hours right before athunderstorm was to hit. Walleyes would stack up like cord wood and go on a feeding frenzy it was at that time we would say that every pop was a pidgeon. Means you caught or hooked a walleye every cast.

Redman

 

[eyecrosser]

That is some pretty fast fishing. I also have experienced action like that. I completely agree with your observation on moon phase and weather patterns. Dark moon has always been best for me also. Cloudy or top end of a front can be spectacular. In Kansas, a particular wind will cause mudlines in certain areas of the reservoirs I fish. If the wind has been blowing in for several days straight even better. GAME ON!!!!!! I have fished walleye in Kansas since 1986, but grew up fishing them with my dad on Oneida Lake and Ontario Lake. What a learning curve it was for me going from natural lakes to Reservoirs. Rocks vs. mudflats. Timber. Forage base and how the 'eyes relate to each. Spillways vs. natural rivers. It has all been a great learning experience and funny how you can relate techniques in one type body of water to a brand new system. Love fishing for and talking about those 'eyes. I think the big draw for me is that they are a fish that not everyone can just go out and catch at will. Takes a little know how most days, so many variables go into fishing and catching these critters consistently. What works one day has you baffled the next. I grew up reading what the Lindner brothers had to say about fishing and love their enthusiasm. Spoke with Al Lindner at the Lake Francis case Pro-Am in 2000. I thought I was an absolute fanatic til I talked with him. All of these experiences have been a huge draw to me and keep me coming back for more. And I hope to pass my knowledge and love of this game on to my children. My 13 year old son already has some great fish stories to tell and has even landed his pic in the local paper. Want to teach him to tie also, but right now sports and girls are taking precedence in his life but drops everything for a fishing trip with dad. Oh well, I will take what I can get and am done rambling now.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Can't ignore you old timers' experience, so fire orange will definitely embellish more of my jigs. Had a few orange/white zonker jigs last Sept. and they did produce some fine trout action, maybe a stray walleye or two.

Interesting that a dark moon phase is peak bite time. Since I only get 3 weeks or so a year inland doesn't matter since I flail dawn to dusk daily regardless. I did experience pre-storm front fishing once with the drizzle and wind picking up, and that was the best FW multi-species bite ever.

Does jig size matter? Meaning jig length and hook size, since I won't deviate from the 1/8-1/4 head size. I'm bank fishing only mostly in CO, WY, & NE reservoirs and their outlets. Over 20" is outstanding for me.