Best trolling techniques and lures for walleye in weeds

[Fish-Ninja]

Hey guys, i fish rice lake a lot.(lots of scattered weed beds) Wanted to know some tips on which tackle and techniques for walleye in this situation would best put some in the boat(while somewhat avoiding pulling 3lbs of weed out everytime)

[eye-tracker]

Hey guys, i fish rice lake a lot.(lots of scattered weed beds) Wanted to know some tips on which tackle and techniques for walleye in this situation would best put some in the boat(while somewhat avoiding pulling 3lbs of weed out everytime)

First off there is no magic technique to troll in the weeds where you will not fowl up with weeds. The best approach for trolling in weedy areas is to get your bait to run above the weeds...this is a precision trolling technique and takes some trial and error, as you need to know the exact depth of your crank. Another technique is to use a bullet sinker 2 feet ahead of a spinner and crawler, most of the weeds will hang-up on the sinker and the spinner will shed off most weeds as it spins. Try hide the hook tip on the second hook in the crawler or Berkley gulp crawler so it does not hang up in the weeds.

You need to check you baits often (every few minutes) to make sure they are not pull weeds around, my favorite technique this season is to run a bottom bouncer off a 12ft trolling rod out to the side of the boat. I run a heavy 2 to 3 oz bouncer that plows through the weeds and make a clear path for the spinner and crawler. This takes some practice to get use to what is weeds and when a walleye has taken the bait...the best approach for this is dead-sticking the rod(s) in rod holders as you troll through the weeds.

Last but not lease - when faced with heavy weeds that walleye are holding out in it is best to cast weedless jigs tipped with plastics or GULP into the pockets and through the weed cover. The Fin-tech 'shorty' Title SHot jig is an amazing weedless jig that is great for casting into weeds and ripping it back to the boat.

You have to fish the walleye like Bass when they are hanging out in the weeds, so break out the flip'n jigs and heavy casting rods as it is a whole other style of fishing compared to the deep structure fishing most walleye anglers find them self doing. One of the reasons I love walleye fishing is they live in every area of the lake. One minute you can be pitching into weeds or flipp'n tubes and the next minute you are out in the main basin trolling cranks and spinners with snap weights behind in-line planer boards for suspended walleye that are 12 feet down in 85 feet of water.

-sheldon
NPAA 928
sheldonhatch.com

[Fish-Ninja]

Thank you eye tracker, you seem to know your stuff. And that big eye in your pic confirms it