Big Water Walleye —In many lakes in the northern part of the country, the big water walleye pattern changes from late spring to summer. Join Jeff Simpson and Ty Sjodin from Angling Edge for a lesson on trolling for big water walleye.
Walleye are one of those fish that like to swim around in big, flat areas of water looking for food.
This pattern of open water happens in many northern lakes from late spring to summer. Depending on where the food is, walleyes can be found on the bottom or suspended in the middle.
When walleyes spread out, traditional walleye techniques like rigging and jigging aren’t the best choice.Trolling is definitely the best way to cover a lot of water while also getting to a certain depth level. Under these conditions, spinner rigs and crankbaits are the best ways to catch big walleye.
When fishing for walleyes in big lakes, you need to be smart about it. Experienced anglers often use a mix of trolling methods, bottom bouncer presentations, and spinners to catch these hard-to-find fish. Walleye fans will find that big water lakes, with their deep waters and different structures, are both difficult and rewarding places to fish.
Trolling is a common method on big lakes that lets fishermen cover a lot of ground and find schools of walleye. Planer boards help spread out the lines, which means they cover a bigger area of water. Anglers often use diving plugs or crankbaits that move in a way that is similar to how baitfish move. When you change the depth and speed of your lure, walleyes often strike. Different trolling speeds can also trigger strikes. When trolling, it’s very important to pay attention to the sonar because it shows you how the bottom looks and how deep the walleye might be.
Bottom bouncer presentations work very well when walleyes are close to the lake bottom or structures. Anglers use bottom bouncers, which are wire or weighted arms that stay in contact with the lake floor, to control how deep their baits are. People often attach live bait rigs or soft plastics with spinner blades to the bouncer arms. This makes a presentation that walleyes can’t resist. To keep the right speed and direction for enticing strikes, you should move slowly and steadily, which is often done with a trolling motor.
Many walleye anglers use spinners as their main lure because they flash and vibrate, which makes them very good at drawing walleyes from a distance. To make spinner rigs more appealing, anglers often use live bait like nightcrawlers or minnows along with them. You can troll spinners at different depths, which makes them useful for checking out different parts of the water column. Changing the size and color of the spinner blade can also be very important, since walleyes may have different preferences depending on how clear the water is and how bright the light is.
You need to be willing to try different trolling speeds, lure colors, and depths if you want to catch walleye in big lakes. Anglers also need to pay attention to things like the wind, water temperature, and the presence of baitfish. Anglers can improve their chances of finding the secrets of big water lakes and catching trophy walleyes by learning how to use trolling tactics, bottom bouncer presentations, and spinners together.
