MultiSpeciesFisherman Posted July 5, 2012 Posted July 5, 2012 I live in Illinois and I would really like to get better at walleye fishing. Would you just troll crankbaits, drift with worms or leeches, or cast for them? What type of structure, what depth, etc? Walleye are absolutely my favorite fish to eat and if I could catch them consistently, they would probably be the only fish I'd ever target. Any help would be great. Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted July 5, 2012 Global Moderator Posted July 5, 2012 They're tough to catch in the summer months. Deep jigging crawlers or drifting flats with jig and crawlers or minnows can be good. A lindy rig on dropoffs with a blown up crawler or a bottom bouncer/spinner rig trolled on the edge of flats or windblown banks would probably be your best bet. If you have a river that has a good population close that would be the first place I'd try. I have one place that isn't a river but moving water nontheless and they stay shallow in the rocks even during the summer and will crush a #5 shad rap or sassy shad. Quote
Super User rockchalk06 Posted July 5, 2012 Super User Posted July 5, 2012 I've had the best luck flipping a jig into deep water, letting it hit the bottom and slowly working it to the surface. Chartreuse is my go to color for Walleye. Quote
Super User clayton86 Posted July 5, 2012 Super User Posted July 5, 2012 They're tough to catch in the summer months. Deep jigging crawlers or drifting flats with jig and crawlers or minnows can be good. A lindy rig on dropoffs with a blown up crawler or a bottom bouncer/spinner rig trolled on the edge of flats or windblown banks would probably be your best bet. If you have a river that has a good population close that would be the first place I'd try. I have one place that isn't a river but moving water nontheless and they stay shallow in the rocks even during the summer and will crush a #5 shad rap or sassy shad. Id have to agree with the river part I catch a few every year so does my nephew when bass fishing the oak for smallies I tend to catch them on football jigs with rage craw trailers. Smithwicks always produce also by powerplant dam outlet pipes. Im sure if you have a river near by that they can get into thats where id start looking in the summer. Quote
Super User Lund Explorer Posted July 5, 2012 Super User Posted July 5, 2012 We're still trolling for them up here. Using mostly crawler harnesses with bottom bouncers even though I will run a minnow style bait on the shallowest rod. Low light periods before sunrise and again after sunset we target 8' - 14' with weeds. During the day most fish are suspended off the drops about 20' - 25' down. Blade colors and trolling speeds seem to vary from day to day even though purple seems to catch a few daytime fish on every trip. Quote
sean_steiner Posted July 7, 2012 Posted July 7, 2012 I live in Illinois and I would really like to get better at walleye fishing. Would you just troll crankbaits, drift with worms or leeches, or cast for them? What type of structure, what depth, etc? Walleye are absolutely my favorite fish to eat and if I could catch them consistently, they would probably be the only fish I'd ever target. Any help would be great. If fishing during the day, go to choppy water, stained water, or a combination of both. I don't know the water temperature there, but I'd say they are probably gonna be at least 20 feet down during the day unless they are under rapids. My favorite way to catch walleye for EATING or sheer numbers is find a school and just drift with a jig, after casting a crankbait a few times. The best place to do this is under a small waterfall or below impassible rapids. The fish that wash down from these places tend to just stay put in the rapids and wait for whatever floats down. If you want size, I'd suggest trolling, as the bigger females tend to be alone or in small groups. I prefer minnows as my livebait, but nightcrawlers and leeches work very well. For artificials, my favorites are crankbaits, either rapalas or rebel crayfish, inline spinners, and soft plastics such as cabelas aquaglow, grubs or worms doesn't matter. Swimbaits also works well. I look for rocky areas to fish them with, especially ones with drop offs. During the night, they will come extremely close to shore, and if there are a lot of leeches where you fish thats where they will be at night. Quote
doug deike Posted July 7, 2012 Posted July 7, 2012 We've got 14 in 3 days, trolling worm harnasses, spoons & crankbaits. Quote
Super User clayton86 Posted July 8, 2012 Super User Posted July 8, 2012 very nice Doug. Erie or the river? Quote
northern basser Posted July 8, 2012 Posted July 8, 2012 We're still trolling for them up here. Using mostly crawler harnesses with bottom bouncers even though I will run a minnow style bait on the shallowest rod. Low light periods before sunrise and again after sunset we target 8' - 14' with weeds. During the day most fish are suspended off the drops about 20' - 25' down. Blade colors and trolling speeds seem to vary from day to day even though purple seems to catch a few daytime fish on every trip. Excellent advice. Emphasis on the low light periods. Quote
MultiSpeciesFisherman Posted July 8, 2012 Author Posted July 8, 2012 What exactly is a crawler harness/bottom bouncer? Quote
Super User Lund Explorer Posted July 8, 2012 Super User Posted July 8, 2012 What exactly is a crawler harness/bottom bouncer? These: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Terminal-Tackle/Weights%7C/pc/104793480/c/104779980/sc/104685480/Cabelas-Bulk-Bottom-Bouncers-Unpainted-Torpedo/739403.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-terminal-tackle-weights%2F_%2FN-1100373%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104685480%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104779980&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104779980%3Bcat104685480 http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fishing-Jigs-Rigs/Bait-Rigs%7C/pc/104793480/c/104736780/sc/104200380/Baitfish-Image8482-Walleye-Spinner-Harness-Double-Hook/739015.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-fishing-jigs-rigs-bait-rigs%2F_%2FN-1100360%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104200380%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104736780&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104736780%3Bcat104200380 Quote
doug deike Posted July 9, 2012 Posted July 9, 2012 very nice Doug. Erie or the river? Lake Erie Quote
Nice_Bass Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 Our lakes around here i find them on the fish finder, and drop small plastics on their heads. So far so good. Quote
BradH Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 I live in Illinois and I would really like to get better at walleye fishing. Would you just troll crankbaits, drift with worms or leeches, or cast for them? What type of structure, what depth, etc? Walleye are absolutely my favorite fish to eat and if I could catch them consistently, they would probably be the only fish I'd ever target. Any help would be great. Those would all be good tactics. Dropshots work good too. Quote
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