Rick Olson used a late summer trick
for this nice walleye
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Late summer can make for some tough conditions, especially
if you're a walleye anlger. So tough in fact that most
anglers throw in the towel and either try pursuing another
species, or simply stay home. If you’re serious about
the sport that isn’t an option, and fortunately for
us there are a few things you can to do help take up
the slack. One of the first things you can do is try
shifting into a higher gear and picking up the pace
by employing a faster presentation. Techniques that
allow you to cover plenty of water are the ticket, and
includes trolling spinners and crankbaits.
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Spinners are designed to deliver live bait with
speed, and speed is where it’s at for late summer
walleyes. A typical spinner rig includes a multiple
hook harness combined with a big night crawler,
but typical isn’t always best.
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Spinners are designed to deliver live bait with speed,
and speed is where it’s at for late summer walleyes.
A typical spinner rig includes a multiple hook harness
combined with a big night crawler, but typical isn’t
always best.
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It often pays to get outside the norm and try something different,
like using a single hook and a leech or even a minnow. Minnows
aren’t usually associated with late summer walleyes but the
combination can be deadly, especially if you throw in a spinner.
A minnow and spinner trolled at a good clip can elicit strikes
from walleyes that turn their noses up at just about everything
else. Effective spinner minnows include larger fatheads or
smaller chubs, depending on what’s available. Crankbaits like
Shad Raps and Jointed Shad Raps buzzed through likely hangouts
can be particularly effective. The extra speed can turn fish
on and may be the sure ticket to a big late summer catch.
An option to using either live bait or crankbaits is a combination
of both. The technique includes using a crawler, or piece
of crawler, and tipping one of the treble hooks on a crankbait.
The key is tipping the one hook that is in the straight down
position, otherwise you'll end up with a bait that won't run
straight. Another consideration for dealing with late summer
eye’s is location, and looking a little deeper is usually
a good bet, but not always. Clear lakes provide the best opportunity
for finding deeper holding walleyes, and deep can mean forty
feet or more. For example; On lake Oahe in South Dakota (which
is extremely clear) late summer walleyes are sometimes caught
in sevnty feet of water or more! The thing is if you're not
seeing or catching fish you might try taking a look at deeper
water. By looking over deeper structure with electronics you
can quickly find out if there is any potential for finding
a deeper vein of fish. Take a look at deep points, offshore
humps, and break lines with a fish finder and make note of
any sign of life including schools of bait, as well as fish
holding close to the bottom. If you’re not marking any of
the above, keep moving until you do. Try moving deeper and
shallower until you begin to see concentrations of bait and
fish. While there is a shallow to deep migration on most of
our clearer lakes, just the opposite can be true on bodies
of water that darken up as the season progresses. Many of
our lakes start out relatively clear, and then darken up by
mid summer due to algae blooms and turbidity. In that case
you may be restricted to working shallow water, as shallow
as a few feet in the most extreme cases. An option that has
been previously overlooked and has come to light only recently
is the suspension factor where walleyes lift high off the
bottom, out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a phenomenon that
happens more often than you think and may be your best be
for finding active late summer walleyes. Try looking outside
classic walleye structure with your depth finder and head
out into deeper water, including the main lake basin. If you’re
seeing suspended schools of bait there is an excellent chance
that you’ll also find walleyes. Look for wandering ‘eyes to
hold just under the bait, and even in the middle of it. They’ll
hold just below their meal ticket until they decide to turn
on, where they can simply move up into a school of bait and
chow down. Approaching suspended fish can be as simple as
trolling a crankbait ( like a #9 Shad Rap), with a bunch of
line out while looking for a few biters. Even if your marking
plenty of fish chances are that most of them aren’t active
and you’ll have to get your bait in front of as many fish
as possible to help up your odds of making contact. If you
get serious about trolling for suspended walleyes there’s
plenty of good info available, including books and charts
that can help you get a bait to run at a specific depth, with
a certain weight line, as well as an exact speed. Fortunately
you don’t have to be exact to be effective, but being exact
will make you more efficient.
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