Has anyone had success with plastics for Walleyes? Getting sick of dealing with bait buckets and aerators. This plastic even glows! I’m going to try it this weekend.
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Why not. I only fish plastics all summer. Why not in the winter.
I havent tried it. But why not.
Of all the things you dont like about ice fishing, aerators and bait buckets are where you draw the line? I’d cut a handful of things bigger and heavier than a bait bucket before I’d cut live bait for set lines. To each his own though, good luck!
Bluegill89, it seemed some bodies of water do better than others when it comes to plastics or artificial anything through the ice.
Live bait has its place when it comes to eyes in neutral to negative moods. But when they turn on, blades, spoons, plastics, lipless baits can out produce live bait. Just be realistic for expectations on bite windows and positioning yourself for the prime times. On some occasions it’s pretty impressive how hard they smash stuff
Gulp or Berkley Alive works through the ice.
why sit here and ask all the questions? go out and give it a try and report bach ere how it worked out for you.
why sit here and ask all the questions? go out and give it a try and report bach ere how it worked out for you.
Why comment stupid stuff on every thread. Go drink another smirnoff ice
Beat me to it BC.
Under ice you want something that moves around or gives off action. I don’t see that happening with that rubber. Open water casting or dragging, absolutely. They do make a glide jig head these days. I could see that presentation working.
Saw this on Target Walleye’s Instagram the other day. I see he just released a video about treble hook mods to avoid the need to tip your spoon with a minnow head. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t catch my curiosity.
I also wonder how much VMC pays a guy like that to run that video
I have done decent with the small size Pulsrs,same with gulp.Anything to avoid minnows.On the river,it usually gets fewer,but quality fish.But those dink saugers will bite the tails off pulsrs.
Of all the things you dont like about ice fishing, aerators and bait buckets are where you draw the line? I’d cut a handful of things bigger and heavier than a bait bucket before I’d cut live bait for set lines. To each his own though, good luck!
I figure since I don’t use live bait for Crappie fishing maybe I can do that for walleye fishing. What have you cut out to save weight besides a bait bucket with an aerator?
As far as the live bait subject, I too got sick of all the hassles of keeping bait, having the aerator die, and the bulk of it. I now get a scoop of fat heads, sit down the night before and fill a bait puck with minnow heads, and then in the morning toss whatever is left for live ones in a larger baitpuck with a tiny amount of water.
You would be surprised how far into the day they will stay alive. Ive had some that have lived in the baitpuck for a full day of fishing and then my daughter tossed them in a tupperware in the fridge and they stayed alive for another month with her changing the water, They actually ended up with names and a rock in the container 
As far as plastics, To keep it simple they work as long as you keep it moving, Ive used a ton of them for eyes through the ice as well as gulp alive. Have had luck on all of them.
I figure since I don’t use live bait for Crappie fishing maybe I can do that for walleye fishing. What have you cut out to save weight besides a bait bucket with an aerator?
Thats a fair thought process, but there are certain days/conditions where walleyes clearly favor a set line to anything I throw on the jigging rod. If catching walleyes is your #1 goal out there, I’d make damn well sure I had live bait with me. Plastics would probably do the trick certain times of the day and in certain conditions, but I wouldnt have much faith in it otherwise.
I also dont cut weight, just simply add more every year and deal with it. I’m young and stupid though so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Would frozen or salted shiners produce on a set line? Do some bigger minnows survive a little better than others with less water and no aerator? Those are the first questions I’d ask someone more knowledgable than me!
Like the ekrug mentioned above, fatheads do seem to survive forever, even just sitting on the ice near the hole in my shack the little buggers still have a wiggle to them after several hours. Maybe just stick with them?
Being an average fisherman…I’ve discovered plastics (gulp included) work great on certain bodies of water vs live bait working well on others. Methods of use also dictate whether what style I use too.
Best thing to try on a hot bite using live bait, is try throwing down a plastic. If fish bite on plastic, it’s great fishing! Best part is not having to re-hook minnows after ever catch or checking your line on missed strikes. In that sense alone, I love artificial bait!
Being the walleye student that I am, I’ve always found walleyes somewhat of a challenge to catch consistently each outing.
I know other’s do much better, but maybe that’s because they’re fishing Upper Red? 
But here’s my approach, I want all odds in my favor which includes having that second line down through the ice. I don’t have enough faith in dangling a plastic or other artificial under a dead stick or setline.
I like my chances with some kind of minnow/shiner/small sucker dancing down there on their own.
Meanwhile I can fool around with whatever experiments I want to try jigging artificial baits and still have a somewhat proven bait offering down another hole.
Saw this on Target Walleye’s Instagram the other day. I see he just released a video about treble hook mods to avoid the need to tip your spoon with a minnow head. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t catch my curiosity.
I also wonder how much VMC pays a guy like that to run that video
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James was using a feathered treble on No. 6 Rippin Raps last year on Winnipeg so somebody has some faith in them.
I’m sure it would work. There are aggressive bites where nearly anything will work.
There are also times where you need a specific size, color, etc to trigger a bite.
I always want the diversity of offering, including live bait. I still fish rippin raps all the time without any meat. But, if I run into a really tough bite, I want some live bait.
I guess I don’t find a scoop of minnows to be that much of a hinderance. The benefits outweigh the $3 and carrying the Engel.
Also, I can keep minnows alive for quite a long time in my cooler with aerator. There are many tricks. I’ve fished multiple days on a scoop of fatheads.
I also cut heads off of dead ones and throw them in a bait puck of the freezer in my garage beer fridge, as mentioned above. Don’t always need a live minnow, but you’ll catch more fish if you have a second dead stick with some live meat on it (I have in my experience, anyway).
To each their own, but if you’re going through the trouble of everything else why wouldn’t you want to maximize your odds?
Why comment stupid stuff on every thread. Go drink another smirnoff ice
This has nothing to do with plastics for walleyes but whats wrong with sminoff ice. I like to mix one in with my 20 busch lites on occasion.
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