Early Season Walleye Jigging Tactics

Jigging for Walleye

Using jigs can be very productive but too many anglers aren’t fishing them correctly. Just starters, understand that you won’t always feel the thump of a walleye when it strikes a jig.

Guys expect that sure bite or hit. Many times you don’t feel it. So often you  drop the jig down and it stops. Maybe you’ll just feel some extra weight.

Concentrate on your rod, and don’t wait too long to set the hook.

The right rod helps here. When jigging, use a 6-foot, 8-inch or 7-foot rod when jigging with a light-action and fast tip. This really helps increase the number of bites he detects, which translates into more fish.

Use a short shank jig for live bait and a long shank jig when combining that live bait with a dressing. The latter can be plastic, Gulp, or maribou. If you face a tougher bite, use less bulk and movement in the water. Don’t vibrate your offering as much. Listen to the fish to extrapolate their mood, then up size or downsize properly.

Under most conditions, avoid stinger hooks. If you’re missing strikes, however, and want to try a stinger, use it properly. Just let it free-fall behind the lure.

You get fewer bites with a stinger, so if you’re missing fish, drop that rod tip first, and let them take it.

As for jigging actions, think beyond just lift-drop. That’s fine if it’s producing, but often just holding it at one depth, say 3 inches off bottom, is enough. Let that minnow work.

If you want to get creative, try quiver jigging (gyrating the rod ahead of the reel), snap-jigging, dragging, or just casting and retrieving jigs.

Also, use a heavy enough jig to contact bottom, but not so heavy that fish blow it out. Vertical jigging should offer just the right weight to tick the bottom.

And if you feel a bite, set the hook hard. Really swing that rod tip up.  Always tie your jigs directly to the line. Suspend it periodically out of the water and let it unravel to eliminate line twist and tangling.

 

The Basics of Freshwater Fish

To be a successful angler understanding how fish use their senses to feed, spawning habits are key to catching fish consistently.

Senses:
Fish live and adapt in a fluid, highly pressurized underwater environment. Predators and prey co exist in close proximity competing for food and shelter. Survival is based on a refined set of primary senses, vision, hearing, taste, smell and the lateral line enable them to find food and detect danger.

Lateral Line:
Sound travels five times faster underwater than in the air. Fish are equipped with a number of sound and vibration senses. The lateral line is a series of nerve endings along the fish’s sides, it senses underwater vibrations helping the fish determine direction, speed and size of prey or predator. In off-colored dark water the lateral line is key to its’ survival, as well as enabling the fish to feed, escape predators and act as a radar detecting fixed objects along with swimming together in schools.

Hearing:
Fish lack external ears and hear sound through an inner ear that is similar to mammals and other vertebrates. It is composed of three semicircular canals that help fish maintain their equilibrium and balance. In other words, the inner ear allows fish to swim right side up in water with no light or other limited visual cues.

Vision:
Similar to animals and humans, fish eyes have receptors called rods and cones in the retina which provides vision. The rods detect light intensity, the cones identify colors.

The eye placement on fish allows for a wide field of vision in most directions with the exception of straight back or down. The optimum presentation of a lure or bait is in the front or above the fish. This explains why surface or fishing in the top water column is so successful.

Colors
Most predator fish posses strong eyesight and can discern colors. Northern pike and walleye  have shown that a certain lure color pattern draws more strikes than others. Studies have established that  walleye  prefer green, white, chartreuse and orange. Northern pike; black, orange, chartreuse, white, green with combinations of silver, gold and copper.

Water type and time of day acts as a color filter. The vibrancy of colors lessens in deeper and stained water. As the sun goes down red is the first to disappear then yellow with greens and blues last. At dawn when the sun enters their world blue, green are the first colors fish will see, red being last. Water clarity affects the distance fish can see, in very clear water fish can see well over a 100 feet unlike dark or cloudy water that limits vision to only a few feet or inches.

Percentages of Color Visibility Underwater
(Percentages of Visibilty %)

Color	10 Feet	20 Feet	30 Feet
Red	6.5	.4	.25
Orange	50	25	12
Yellow	73	53	40
Green	88	78	69

Smell:
Fish smell as water is drawn through a front opening on the snout and passed through the nasal sac and expelled. Some fish such as salmon (not native to Wawang Lake) have a highly developed sense of smell by which they can detect one part per billion of odorous material in the water, enabling them to swim hundreds of miles tracking the odor of water to which they will return the exact spot where their lives began. Odors also alert fish to the presence of danger. When a predator attacks baitfish, a chemical is emitted that warns other baitfish to flee.  .

As many fish have a highly developed sense of smell, most predators use other senses to find food. Vision and the lateral line will enable predators to find prey quickly and more effectively.

Taste:
The taste sense is of minimal importance to most game fish and therefore this sense isn’t as important as their other senses.

Feeding & Food:
Young fish learn what is and what is not ediable by approaching food with caution and test it before swallowing. As the fish matures they build a list of preferred forage, some seasonal with insect hatches and other times they must eat what is available.

Fish use different techniques when feeding walleye inhale their prey by sucking in water and the food. Other toothier gamefish such as northern pike  strike their prey crosswise with their long sharp teeth holding it until it stops struggling then turns it headfirst to swallow.

The preferred choice of prey for gamefish are minnows, ciscos, and suckers which can be swallowed easily. Insect hatches, such as the mayfly, are also a favorite meal for walleye. Other forage includes: Night-crawlers and Leeches.

With all water-based ecosystems the food chain is the key to sustaining life. The food chain starts with algae or phytoplankton growth that feeds a microscopic animal named zooplankton. Minnows and young game fish are called “fry”. These young fry feed on the zooplankton which then feeds the small and large predator fish. Sunlight is crucial for photosynthesis, which is the energy that starts the process, allowing plants to grow and supply oxygen to water. Water ecosystems also have filters cleaning the water such as clams and mussels. This cycle repeats when the dead matter from winter provides the nutrients required to start the algae growth in Spring.

Spawning:
Most freshwater game fish spawn in early to mid spring.   This annual ritual brings game fish from the depths to shallow warm water. After spawning is completed they return to deeper water to recuperate. There main type of spawning habit our game fish use is called random, which is distributing eggs over an area of vegetation or rock and gravel.  The main determining factor on when spawning occurs and successful is the water temperature.

 

The Underwater World of Freshwater Fish (part 3)

Submerged Plants

Submerged plants are completely underwater and are generally rooted in the bottom sediment. If flowers exist, they may extend above the surface of the water. Submerged plants exchange carbon dioxide for dissolved oxygen during the periods of photosynthesis which provides a relatively stable source of oxygen for a water based ecosystem. Submerged weeds make up the majority of fishing cover (weed flats and weedlines) that will attract  walleye and northern pike.   The submerged weed family consist of hundreds of species many introduced or exotic that grow prolifically and are considered to problematic in many lakes, rivers and streams. An example of this is Eurasian Watermilfoil   

Most fishing articles relating to weeds refer to names such as cabbage, coontail, and eel grass. The following information is a guide for identifying the most common submerged plants that will attract game fish.

Claspingleaf Pondweed (Cabbage)
This plant is known to anglers as cabbage and has over 50 varieties in North America. Cabbage is both a deep and shallow water weed that has broad leaves and a brittle stems. They vary in colors from brownish red called tobacco cabbage to a light green leaf. Cabbage is the preferred choice of many large game fish and the most productive. Cabbage is also known as pike weed, muskie weed, and celery.

Coontail
Coontail or also know as hornwort, is a dark olive green bushy submerged perennial plant that grows in clumps or dense colonies that forms a canopy type cover in shallow water. The tips of branches are crowded with leaves giving it a “coontail” appearance. The submerged colonies of coontail provides excellent habitat and cover for bait fish as well as other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.) which attracts most predator game fish. The fruits of coontail are consumed by ducks and it is considered a good wildlife food.

 

Eelgrass
Eelgrass is a rooted shallow water plant found in flowing water. It has long, thin, ribbon-like leaves (1/2 – 3/4 inches wide) that are commonly 3 to 4 feet long. The vein pattern in the leaves of eelgrass is very distinctive and resembles celery. Eelgrass forms dense colonies dominating other submerged plants to grow. The submerged portions of eel grass provides dense underwater structure as an excellent habitat for bait fish and invertebrates. Northern pike  favor eelgrass during the summer months. Other common names include: Tape grass and wild celery.

Elodea
Elodea is a rooted multi-branched perennial submerged plant that grows in cool fertile water to depths of approximately 10 feet. It is identified by its deep green color with 3 to 4 leaves attached directly to the stem. This weed develops quickly and provides good early season action, it attracts bait fish and bass along with other large game fish. Elodea has no known direct food value to wildlife but is used extensively by insects and invertebrates. Other common names include: Waterweed and walleye weed.

 

Algae
Algae are a basic water plant, some are composed of tiny single cells that float or suspend in the water giving a green, brown, or at times a red color to the water known as “bloom.” Others are multi celled that forms a thin and stringy or hair-like dark green slime commonly know as pond scum. While still others resemble submerged plants but without a true root system this is known as sandgrass. Algae although primitive, provides benefits to water systems by stabilizing bottom sediments and giving cover for small animals such as aquatic insects, snails, and scuds, which are valuable fish food.

Planktonic
Planktonic algae, are floating microscopic single celled plants usually existing suspended in the upper few feet of water often reaching bloom proportions during the summer months based on temperature, light, nutrients making the water appear brownish or pea soup green.

 

 

Filamentous
Filamentous algae are multi-celled that form into a mat of long chains or threads called filaments that resembles wet wool. Filamentous algae starts growing along the bottom in shallow water appearing fur-like, attaching to rocks, drowned wood, and other aquatic plants. As the production of oxygen increases it will float to the surface forming large mats, known as “Pond Scum.”  Filamentous algae has no direct food value to wildlife.

 

Chara (Sandgrass)
Chara is the most advanced plant of the algae family though often confused with submerged plants. Chara commonly know as “sandgrass” is gray-green, branched with no root system, it grows in short thick mats, covering the lake bottom like a carpet. It can grow to depths of 30 feet, but is more common in shallower water. The stems/branches are brittle and hollow with rough ends, when crushed it emits a foul musty garlic like odor, often why it is called muskgrass or skunkweed. Sandgrass is beneficial promoting water clarity and lake bottom stabilization. During the mid summer through fall, walleyes and perch will be found on sandgrass flats.

 

The Underwater World of Freshwater Fish (part 2)

Wood and Weeds


Drowned wood, lay downs, brush plies composed of fir, pine, oak and maple typically lasts for years. By contrast birch, aspen and poplar provide cover for two to three years before decomposing to remnants. Drowned wood is terrific cover. The more complex the branches below the surface the better for fish. More branches more cover for a game fish to ambush prey. Finding “good” drowned wood means finding good  walleye fishing.     

Weeds and weed line edges are important throughout the fishing season as they (along with gravel bottoms) are used for spawning in spring; shelter, cover and foraging in summer/fall and feeding in winter for all game fish.  When fishing the weeds always keep in mind the “cover within cover” principle – weed points, edges, deep weed lines, transitions from one weed species to the next, channels, clumps and inside turns among others.

Types of Weeds
The presence of aquatic plants is one of the best indicators of whether a lake or a stream will be a good producer of fish. Most aquatic life which fish feed upon requires these plants for food. Plants also provide a fishery with protective cover and life-giving oxygen. Aquatic plants are classified into floating, emergent, submerged and algae varieties as each type has slightly different features.

Floating
Floating plants are not rooted and are free to move about the water’s surface. The main habitat for floating plants are backwater areas on rivers and streams where the current slackens and protected bays on lakes and flowages. In limited water movement area’s floating plants can be mixed in with other emergent and submerged plants forming what is commonly called “slop” by creating a surface mat that attracts largemouth bass, in deeper waters slop will hold northern pike and muskie. Fishing slop is extremely fun when the fish are on and you have the right set-up and lures. Fishing the slop requires heavy tackle and line to horse the fish out of cover. Baitcasting reels spooled with low stretch 17lb to 30lb test line, rods rated heavy with fast action are recommended. Lure choices include weedless soft plastics, worms and lizards using heavy sinkers to penetrate the thick vegetation, top water frog and rat imitations are excellent for surface slop fishing, there is nothing more exciting when a bass explodes on one of these. The common North American native floating plants are Duckweed, Bladderwort and Watermeal.

Emergent
An emergent plant are a rooted shallow water plant found along shorelines areas, which grows in the water but the stems stand above the surface. All emergent plants flower which allows the reproductive process through pollination by wind or by flying insects. Emergent plants provide an important function on the water’s edge that creates a network root system which resists erosion, where wave action and water flow might undercut banks and a barrier for shoreline sediment. These plants create habitat and food supply for many species of insect, fish, bird, and mammal. The most common North American emergent plants are Lily Pads, Bulrushes and Cattails.

White Water Lily Pads
The lily pad is a perennial flat leafed flowering rooted plant that grows in groups. For the most part they are found along shallower waters in sandy or soft bottomed areas. In clear water that can grow up to six to eight feet. The lily pad leaves are more rounded than heart shaped, bright green from 6-12 inches in diameter with a slit about the 1/3 of the leaf. The leaves float on the surface, the flower grow on separate stalks displaying brilliant white petals with a yellow center and are very fragrant. The flower opens each morning and closes as the sun goes down. A favorite habitat for largemouth bass. However many other species such as northern pike and muskies can be found in the lily pads as well. 

Bulrushes
There are several species of bulrushes known as reeds and pencil reeds. Bulrushes are perennial rooted grass-like plants and can grow to 10 feet tall in shallow water or in moist soils. Reeds generally grow on firm bottoms, bulrush grows in softer mud bottoms. The bulrush brownish flowers appears just below the tip of the stem. Reeds and bulrush provides excellent fish habitat and spawning areas for northern pike and, in early spring, provide nesting cover for largemouth bass and bluegills. Bulrushes attract marsh birds and songbirds. Seeds of bulrushes are consumed by ducks and other birds.

Cattails
Cattails are found in marshes, ditches, shorelines, shallow areas of lakes, ponds, and slow streams, quiet water up to 4 feet deep. They have slightly twisted rounded leaves, and can grow to 5 or 10 feet in height. Cattails are easily identified by their fuzzy brown cigar shaped flower (called the catkin) near the top of the stalk. Cattails spread rapidly when the catkin releases the seeds blowing in the wind or floating on the water’s surface. The cattail habitat helps stabilize marshy borders of lakes and ponds; helps protect shorelines from wave erosion; northern pike may spawn along shore behind the cattail fringe; provides cover and nesting sites for waterfowl and marsh birds such as the red-winged blackbird, stalks and roots are eaten by muskrats and beavers.

 

The Underwater World of Freshwater Fish (part 1)

Cover & Structure:
These two terms are often confused as the same, but they are not. Cover is defined as a type of structure, natural or man made such as weeds, vegetation, fallen trees, docks, and swimming platforms. Structure is the physical characteristics of the water system; points, rock bars, islands, reefs, humps and breaklines. To understand the difference, if you completely drain the water only the structure will not move.

Breaklines & Edges

Anglers hearing or reading the phrases “fish caught off the first break” or “fish caught on the weed edge” may be confused as to their meaning. All active fish will relate to breaks or edges. Weed beds are like “aquatic neighborhoods” providing all stages of the food chain protection from predators or an ambush source for feeding. Breaklines (Breaks) are defined as an area of transition from one depth to another, one cover type to another, one water temperature to another, one water color to another, one substrate to another or any other transition that could influence fish behavior. Cover (weeds) next to a deep water breakline usually hold more fish than a shallow flat.

Humps and Reefs 

Any mid lake underwater structure higher than the surrounding area can be classified as a hump or reef, they are among the most productive structures in Wawang Lake. For walleye and northern pike these are attractive possibilities. If weeds, boulders and ledges are present, this structure will be even better, producing more game fish.

Points and Bars

Protruding shoreline points and bars offer a diversity in structure and are fish producers throughout the year. Key bottom components are, inside turns and drops offs. Add cover such as submergent and emergent weeds, drowned wood and you have a top attraction for all game fish in our lake.