Bait??

What are you guys useing this time of year to catch walleyes? a spoon and minnow? Jig and minnow? I need some help

Derrick

I’m kind of old-fashioned this way, but we caught our walleyes last weekend on small shiners beneath tip-ups.

I would let the fish tell you what they want….Search with a jiggin spoon and minnow head..Once you find the fish and they are not taking the spoon, change up. Put down a deadstick with a plain hook and whole minnow. Cold front days this seems to be the only way to catch walleyes.
So to answer your question….I don’t think its one specific bait that is catching the fish, its more of the ice fisherman changing presentations to whatever triggers bites….

Good luck

Other things that are going to predict what baits to drop at eyes through the ice will be, are you fishing river current, Lake flats, rocks or reefs?
A lot of these scenarios are going to predict the weight of baits, styles, and presentations.

In river current (which I am more familiar with) I like heavier baits such as blade baits and jig N rap styles. As Cal mentioned a dead stick with live bait can be deadly.

In current tip ups are a little harder to use, the current likes to tug at your line causing some false flags or if not fished heavy enough the bait will ride very high in the water colmn.

The best thing a guy can do is get info on the area you plan to target, take a couple good presentations for that area, and fish it.

Up north, we set up tip-ups with fatheads. We like to use berkley vanish for the leader and set up on rock piles or deep weed edges. Caught a 24″ 5 lbr last weekend. Good times.

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Up north, we set up tip-ups with fatheads. We like to use berkley vanish for the leader and set up on rock piles or deep weed edges. Caught a 24″ 5 lbr last weekend. Good times.

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Exactly what I do. If I am going to hole hop I will put down a tip up, and keep that at Base camp where the shack is. I will bounce around with jigging spoons, jigging Raps and the like looking for active fish.

I recently caught three walleyes on a diamond jig tipped with two spikes. haha, that was a coincidence I think- normally I will use a slender spoon, or lightning spoon tipped with a minnow head.

Luke I got a 8 -10 lb northern today on the small frosty and a waxworm and 4 lb test, took 30 minutes to get in

Shiners, Fat Heads, Buckshots w/ 1/2 minnow, Swedish Pimple w/ 1/2 minnow, small Rapala (airplane style) jigging rap, small jigs and crappie minnows, I think that about covers what I’ve caught ’em on this ice season so far

ok well i was on this lake that was suppose to have a lot of walleyes, I fished from 12 to 6 and did not catch any walleye, there were alot of crappies though. I went to the drop offs, and it was steap, it went from 1 feet deep to 35 ft deep in 10 yards. I managed to get a lot of lookers but no takers. I used the chubby darter, which really got them to come in, but when they got there they did not bite. I was assuming these were walleyes. the spoon with minnow head did not work, did not even attract the fish, the plain hook and minnow did not work either. if it was any of you guys what would you do?

Fish 4 fun….I would try the same exact thing on a different day, sounds to me that the fish were curious to see what the chubby darter was all about, but were not in the mood to eat that aggressively. If your going to jig an aggressive bait, try putting that minnow on the plain hook just a few feet away. Often that jigging bait will bring fish into your area, but sometimes they will only bite on the deadstick rod…You would be suprised if you go back out ro try the same spot at a different time….your results may be different. One thing is for sure if you seen fish on your flasher and you think they were walleyes, stay after them…..they will bite…

fish_4_fun the Chubby Darter takes some practice to get the fish to bite,
when they come in for a look if you let it fall below them they will spook, or if it lunges towards them on the up swing they spook,
the best way to learn how to fish that bait is with a camera and if that’s not possible just keep trying and you will figure it out
it’s a great bait and works on trout, pike, bass and crappies also.
also if you can get a walleye to come off the bottom a few feet they are more likely to bite.

I second that! One thing I would add on the Darter is look what it does in the water. Less is more with these. Aggressive jigging like Cal said will bring fish in. Once seen on the flasher, hold and use light twitches. It doesn’t take much with these weight forward baits. We have had tremendous luck with them on LOTW, Mille Lacs and the St. Croix. But the PRICE???? That is some sticker shock, huh?

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ok well i was on this lake that was suppose to have a lot of walleyes, I fished from 12 to 6 and did not catch any walleye, there were alot of crappies though. I went to the drop offs, and it was steap, it went from 1 feet deep to 35 ft deep in 10 yards. I managed to get a lot of lookers but no takers. I used the chubby darter, which really got them to come in, but when they got there they did not bite. I was assuming these were walleyes. the spoon with minnow head did not work, did not even attract the fish, the plain hook and minnow did not work either. if it was any of you guys what would you do?

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Fish_4_fun,

Be carefull assuming that what you see on your sonar is walleyes. Just because it is a larger lure and you are on a steep break does not garranty they are eyes’. A week ago I was out between 1-6pm and had six different species of fish come through my hole (on camera)or check out my small shiner. You may have to turn your gain down on your marcum/vexilar so that it lights up red when a larger fish comes in and ingnore the orange/green flashes – they will be your sunnies, crappies, etc.