Sucker vs Shiners for walleye dead stick?

Part 2 on the art of dead sticking for walleyes….

This lake/area I fish has some pretty big pike. What I found last year was the few tip ups I got were taken by pike and not the over eager hammer handles..so I spent more time during the golden hour messing with them than I did fishing walleyes. Fun, but not the target. So when it comes to shiners vs sucker what do people think attracts walleye vs northern more when they are inhabitting the same structure. Funny thing is I rarely caught a northern on the Tingler spoon.

I like big fathead minnows… don’t seem to get AS many pike.

If I went out tonight and had to choose one I would pick a shiner over a sucker.

When I’m targetting walleye in an area pike coexist, I usually try to downsize the minnow. Up here I use rainbows, but chubs work well too. I then try to keep the bait 4″-6″ off bottom so it cannot stir the bottom and is not too high up to profile itself for cruising pike. You will still get some pike here and there, but it will be reduced from a larger bait or from other column placements.