Bait Fish: What Walleye Fishing Rigs To Use

walleye bait

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There are many walleye, saugeye or pickerel fisherman that use bait fish either in a live bait or artificial presentation. There are literally 100’s of different ways to rig bait fish for walleye, saugeye or pickerel and if you are savvy fisherman you probably have your own successful bait fish rigging methods. Some of the basic walleye fishing rigs that work well with live bait fish are a floater a slip bobber rig,a jig and a minnow,a slip sinker rig with a floater,a slip bobber rig,a spinner rig with a slip sinker or bottom bouncer, a jigging spoon with a whole minnow, or spin rig with a minnow. To determine what type of walleye, saugeye, pickerel fishing rig method you chose, you will need to determine the size of bait fish and the size of the walleye,saugeye, pickerel you are going to target. You also need to make a decision to use whole live bait fish or cut bait strips fished with a artificial bait such as the jigging spoon.

The norm walleye, saugeye , and pickerel live bait fish of choice consistently are 2 inch to 4 inch fathead minnows, shinners, madtoms daces and bluntnose minnows. The standard hook range when you are going to fish with live bait for walleye, saugeye , and pickerel ranger from a number 8 to a number two size. The type of hook that seem to work very well is the circle hook.

Hooking Methods:

  • One of the most common hooking methods is through both lips. Slide your hook through the bottom lip first, and right through the top lip. Make sure your walleye minnow can still sqirm around after it is hooked.
  • Hook your baitfish through the snout. Hooking through the snout will leave more of the hook exposed especially the barb tip, which is very important when you set the hook
  • Hook your bait fish out of the gill through the back. Push a long shank hook point through the mouth out the gills and through the back. This method will hold the baitfish securely but will usually kill it.
  • Hook your baitfishes through the nostrils. Slide the hook through the nostrils with the barb pointing to the side.
  • Hook your baitfish through the tail. If you are going to free-lining for walleye this is the best method for hooking.
  • Hook your bait fish through the back.Slide your hook through the back right behind the dorsal fin, make sure the hook back is pointing upward.

Well folks that concludes our article about bait fish We sincerely hope you use our fishing information on your next fishing trip Good Luck!

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This statistic has been documented on many fishing surveys. There have been many fishing surveys published that show fishing for walleye with live bait accounts for over 2/3thrds of all walleyes that are caught on a walleye rod and reel combo. Live bait is still used by many of the advocates of fishing for walleye primarily with walleye artificial lures when the walleye fishing gets slow.

Minnows and other small fish, night crawlers, and leeches top the list of the best walleye live baits to use when fishing walleye. At different times of the in very unique walleye habitat situations there are some other live baits for walleye, such as water dogs and frogs that will produce walleye.

Live bait used for walleye fishing are not always available all year round. For example leeches cannot be caught if the temperature of the water is below 50degrees because they are not active yet and will not swim into the leech traps. You will find only a few bait shop dealers who will keep shiner minnows during the summer months because they die quickly in the dealers tanks and in the fishermen’s minnow buckets.

When you make your live bait selections for walleye fishing you need to be aware of the season because some live baits better at certain times of the year. Fishing with night crawlers for walleye is not very effective in the spring, but during the summer months night crawlers work very well. You can use minnows for walleye fishing in the spring and in the fall, but they are poor choice to use in the summer.

Selecting the right type of minnow is important at certain times of the year. During the spring many times shiner minnows will be the best live bait to catch walleye while no other minnow species will. In the fall season shiners are a poor choice for a live bait selection to fish for walleye while a redtail chub would be an excellent choice. It’s a good idea to check with your local bait shop to find out what live baits work best to catch walleye in that area.

Ribbon leaches are considered by many fisherman to be the best live bait for walleyes.Leaches are an excellent bait because because they swim, and squirm constantly after they are placed on the hook when the temperature is above 50deg. They are not a good choice in cold water because they are not active at temperatures below 50degs.

Make sure the live bait you use choose to fish for walleye, it is active and lively. When walleyes are really biting you can get by with a half dead minnow or chewed-up night crawler, but a struggling minnow or squirming crawler will normally catch more fish.

Mark Fleagle is an Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. and has over 30 years of fishing experience who has written 100’s of useful fishing articles. Would you like to max out your catch on your next fishing trip? Blow your fishing buddies out of the water and get your bragging rights today! Also don’t forget to get your free copy of “78 Fishing Discoveries Unleashed” http://www.oldfishinghole.com

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