Walleye And Gulp! Leeches

[Pegwedge]

I'm going to try walleye fishing this weekend in a river/lake. It'll be mostly where a river meets the lake it feeds. The lake is at winter pool so there's not too much depth in the area at the moment. There is current with a few pools of slow moving water. It'll probably be stained water this weekend because it's supposed to warm up tomorrow and we have about six or so inches of snow. Air temp is supposed around 52, but we're coming out a week in the mid-20s. As for water temp, I'd say low 40s maybe, if even that.

 

So after a little research I picked up a pack of the 3" Gulp! Leeches at the local sporting goods shop this afternoon. I tried to do a little more research on how to rig them but I couldn't find a whole lot. I saw some people liked to rig them on a jighead or texas rig them. Both of these setups, to me, seem like they would just kill the action. I thought maybe taking a drop shot or mosquito hook, nose hooking them, and then either putting some split shot a little ways up the line or pegging a bullet weight. Then just throwing it out and letting it drift with the current. Any input on this tactic or using these lures "correctly"? Or maybe even some other lures to try in this area?

[Dwight Hottle]

You are not going to get much action on a 3 inch leech. Think bigger like 4 or 5 inch leech. I would use a plain jig head with the leech as a trailer. When the water is that cold you do not need a lot of action . Think subtle action. Cold water walleye want slow moving baits. Very slow moving. Lift and drop. Then try dragging the bait. Keep trying different retrieves until you get bit.

[Pegwedge]

I wanted the five inch ones but the threes were all they had. Honestly, I'll be ecstatic if I manage to catch anything.

I was talking about how cold it was and I didn't even consider they may be a little lethargic. I guess I'll take some jigheads with me and see what I can produce. Thanks for pointing that out.

[BradH]

Don't be afraid to try some hair/bucktail jigs.  That's one of my cold water go-to baits for 'eyes.  With or without the gulp leech

[MCS]

 

I have seen the leech rigged with "nose hooked" with an octopus hook then a split shot and a slip bobber and a bobber stop for walleye before on an episode of in fisherman. I never fished it before but maybe more experienced walleye anglers can verify or vouch for the rig, not just Doug Stange.

Kinda like the picture I attached but not exactly.