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Fishing
articles by John Kolinski on Walleyes Inc. Your one stop internet
fishing source |
| Editor's note: John Kolinski is the 2002 Professional
Walleye Trail Angler of the Year, the 2003 Illinois River
RCL winner and a 17-time championship qualifier. He is the
only angler to fish the PWT and B.A.S.S. at the same time.
His articles can be read in numerous Midwestern outdoor
publications and at several web sites. Kolinski is sponsored
by Triton Boats, Mercury Motors, Humminbird Electronics,
Yo-Zuri fishing line, Normark/Storm Lures, MinnKota, Uncle
Josh, Tempress Rod Holders, Off-Shore Planer Boards and
Optima Batteries |
Get in line, wait in line, draw a line, follow the line.
Walk the line, toe the line, don't cross the line, get Aunt
Bea on the line.
Lines give us a measure of order. Take them away, and chaos
rules whether it's a trip to the gas station or a task as
simple as launching a boat.
On the water, we troll breaklines and contour lines, we
strive to maintain vertical jigging lines, we tune crankbaits
to run straight lines, and we sometimes cast anchor lines.
Savvy anglers have also discovered the advantages of in-line
trolling weights when used in conjunction with spinner rigs
for late spring and early summer walleyes.
 |
Today's in-lines have evolved from egg
sinkers and keel weights to baitfish-style sinkers
that add a realistic look to a rig and snap weight
systems that add the versatility to deal with nearly
any condition. |
May walleyes are hungry after the rigors of the April spawn.
The best place for them to find an easy meal is in shallow
water often associated with emerging weedbeds, fertile bays
or rocky shorelines. As long as they don't feel threatened,
they will remain in those areas, so stained water and wave
action provide optimum situations. Seek out locations where
the wind is stirring up the shallows and, in cases where
there is no wind, fish areas where the wind was blowing
into most recently.
Because these fish are only beginning to congregate and
the water is still on the chilly side, they may be scattered
over large areas and still not active enough to chase crankbaits.
That makes trolling spinner rigs an effective presentation
because you can cover water at a slow pace and get a walleye's
attention from a considerable distance with the vibration
and flash of the spinner blades, the color patterns created
by your blades and beads, and the scent of live crawlers.
 |
I always have a couple of dozen spinner
rigs tied up and spooled for use on these early season
outings. My basic rig consists of a six-foot snell
of 12- or 14-pound monofilament with two No. 4 bait
hooks (I also keep some three-hook rigs handy for
use when fish seem to be biting short) and a row of
beads designed to match the baitfish species present
in a particular body of water, whether that's emerald
shiners, perch, alewife, shad, juvenile white bass,
etc. At the end of the line, tie a quality barrel
swivel.
Start with blades smaller than the 6s, 7s or 8s you
might choose later in the season when the walleyes
are more active. I've had much better success early
in the year using 3s, 4s and 5s. Quick-change clevises
are a must because they allow me to experiment with
blade sizes and colors with a minimum of down time. |
Once you've selected a rig, you'll need to figure out how
best to present it. To get our rigs into the strike zone
and keep them there requires a weighting game plan that
can deal with depths ranging from three feet to 30 feet.
Extremely shallow water may not require any weight or, at
most, a split shot or in-line bullet-style weight. Wind
and wave action are sometimes enough to move the boat along
at the desired 8.0-1.0 mph without any additional motor
power, and the swells can add a surging and sinking motion
to your rigs that often triggers strikes. In this situation,
I use my MinnKota Engine Mount trolling motor only to make
directional corrections.
It's from the clearer depths of six feet to 30 where realistic
baitfish in-lines like Uncle Josh's new Baitfish Trolling
Weights enhance a spread and actually simplify the entire
process of fishing spinners, besides providing precise depth
control.
These weights feature holographic finishes that can be matched
to the color patterns of the spinner rig and they also work
well as an attractor. The rounded noses that help them bounce
off rock and wood where other weights might become wedged
or tangled and a bead chain on the back end that helps eliminate
line twist and makes it quick and simple to change rigs.
Attach a snap swivel to the end of your main line and it's
also a snap to change weight sizes as you move deeper.
Another advantage of in-line, baitfish-style weights is
the nature of shallow-water walleyes. They can be explosive
and acrobatic, often coming immediately to the surface,
and you'll keep a larger percentage of them hooked if you
don't have to deal with weights that are swinging around
on a three-way, sliding violently up and down the line or
must be removed in the middle of the battle.
Electronics will help you locate fish. Humminbird's Side-Imaging
technology identifies walleyes that move off to the sides
as a boat passes overhead and will show you what's underneath
the boat in deeper water. Weight your rigs so they track
about a foot or so above the fish you see on sonar because
walleyes, with the location of their eyes, tend to move
up to feed but not down.
When the water is rough, Off-Shore snap weights are often
a better option than in-line weights. Because they can be
attached 20 to 40 feet ahead of a rig, they absorb some
of the violent movement that occurs with crashing waves
and bouncing boats, thus giving the walleyes a better look
and a better opportunity to grab your crawler.
No matter what depth you are fishing, spreading your lines
is critical. A set of Off-Shore planer boards will carry
your lures out away from the boat and allow you to cover
more water as you pursue these scattered fish. When conditions
are right, I use my boards in conjunction with a dead stick.
Extremely stained water is one situation where dead-sticking
can be effective, drift-fishing with no motor propulsion
is another and targeting deeper walleyes that won't spook
as a boat passes over. I will also use the baitfish trolling
weights in place of a bottom bouncer.
I choose this approach only as a matter of keeping things
simple and efficient. It allows me to experiment with different
rigs, blades and weights without bringing in one board and
resetting others, and it helps me get one line cleared when
I've got a fish on another.
There are times when it pays big dividends to move all your
lines to the same side of the boat. We've all experienced
days when one side of the boat seems to catch all the fish,
even when we're running the same rigs on both sides. It's
no coincidence. There's something about the way the boards
are riding and the rigs are tracking that makes one side
more productive. Why not move as many lines to that side
as you can?
May is one of the best months to fish for walleyes. They're
relatively predictable, hungry and usually not hard to find.
Sometimes, it's as simple as getting in line. |
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