By Mark Romanack
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Double fisted walleye like this are getting harder and harder to come by. Fishing key waters at key times of year is the secret to putting lunkers like this in the boat. |
The problem with
targeting walleye early and late in the year is the water is icy cold and
walleye can be lethargic despite their desire to feed. The keys to catching
walleye early and late in the year boil down to picking presentations that are
tailored to the fishing in cold water.
THE THREE SPEEDS OF COLD WATER WALLEYE FISHING
I often joke
that the three best speeds for catching trophy walleye are slow, slower and
slower yet! In ice cold water walleye will bite, but they are reluctant to
chase fast moving food. By simply slowing down our presentations walleye
fishing can go from ice cold to red hot.
Trollers after
early and late season walleye are going to find that speeds ranging from .75
MPH to about 1.5 MPH produce the most bites.
SUBTLE ACTIONS RULE
Second only to
speed, the next concern a cold water walleye angler needs to be concerned with
is lure action. Crankbaits produce the vast majority of the double digit
walleye caught every year on the Great Lakes. Unfortunately about a thousand
different brands, models, sizes and colors of crankbaits are on the market and
only a small assortment routinely catch walleye in cold water.
The short list
of proven “cold water” crankbaits includes the Rapala Husky Jerk and Deep Down
Husky Jerk series, Reef Runner 800 and 600 series baits, the Storm Deep Jr.
ThunderStick, Yo-Zuri Deep Diving Crystal Minnow and the Smithwick Perfect 10.
All of these lures have a subtle action that is best described as a
top-to-bottom rolling action. This action closely imitates a slowly swimming
minnow.
Most crankbaits
have a more open and aggressive side-to-side action that causes the tail of the
bait to swing widely. This lure action produces better in warmer waters.
A few crankbaits
combine both action types into one lure. For example, the Reef Runner 800 and
600 series and also the Yo-Zuri Deep Diving Crystal Minnow have a defined
rolling action with a little side-to-side action thrown in. These baits work
best at the higher speed thresholds considered acceptable for cold water
trolling.
COLOR MATTERS.... BUT BE CAUTIOUS
Lure color often
matters when it comes to cold water trolling. When baits are moving slowly in
the water, walleye have the luxury of getting a pretty good look at them before
deciding to strike. Lure color is sometimes a triggering element, but more
often the key to success is trolling speed and fishing at the correct depths.
Some anglers get
overly concerned about lure color, losing sight of the big picture in the
process. The best advice is to consider lure color as a refinement to a
trolling presentation, not the foundation presentations are based on. Finding
fish, fishing at the correct depths, fishing slowly and fishing lures with
subtle actions are always going to be more important to cold water trolling
than lure color.
The plus side of
lure colors is they give anglers confidence to try new things and also to fish
harder. The new “custom colors” that are becoming so popular among walleye
trollers get guys thinking about fishing, changing out their lures and that
walleye fans is a good thing.