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Night
Hawk Stories...
Entry 14
Tips for Summertime Walleye Fishing
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Keith Kavajecz of Kaukauna, Wisconsin, a pro walleye fisherman,
specializes in tournament fishing and walleye-fishing promotions. Kavajecz,
who has fished in walleye tournaments since 1986, won the 1994 and 1998
North American Walleye Anglers Angler-of-the-Year award. He and his son,
Tommy, won the 1998 North American Walleye Anglers Team of the Year. Kavajecz
and his business partner, Gary Parsons, won the Masters Walleye Circuit
Team of the Year and World Championship in 1988. Keith and Gary co-host
"Bass Pro Shop's Outdoor World," which airs on TNN.
QUESTION: Can you give us some tips for catching walleye
in the summer?
ANSWER:
TIP 1: You catch walleye up shallow in the summer. In May, June and even
into July, fish often will stay up shallow because where they'll find
numbers of minnow hatches. Whenever those minnows hatch, obviously the
walleye will stay shallow. The nice thing about shallow walleye is that
they're very aggressive. Many times I'll cover a lot of water and make
long casts until I get a bite or a fish on my line. Then I'll slow down
and concentrate on the area because walleye travel in schools. When I
try to fish aggressively, I'll put a plastic lure such as the Berkley
Power Jig Worm, Power Minnow or Power Leech on my jig. I like those three
lures because of their durability. Too, you can cast those lures a long
way. If you get a bite and miss it, you simply can drop back the plastic.
A plastic lure typically will remain on the hook, which allows you a second
chance for catching those fish.
TIP
2: You also can find summertime walleye in the weeds. Many walleye anglers
overlook weeds because of how difficult fishing the weeds is. But I like
to get right in the weeds using my trolling motor. I wear polarized sunglasses
and look down into the weeds for areas to fish. Again, because of their
aggressiveness, these fish will come out and chase after things. You don't
have to get your lure right in front of a walleye's nose. I look for small
pockets, troughs or edges of weeds where I can make small casts and work
a jig three or four times to try to get them to come out of the weeds
and bite my bait. If I use live bait, I like to fish with leeches because
they have enough durability to keep pulling through the weeds. Again,
you also can use plastics.
TIP 3: The key to successfully fishing plastics for walleyes
involves picking very limber plastics. For this reason, I like the Berkley
Power Bait series. Pure Fishing's Berkley even has a subsection of Power
Baits designed specifically for walleye. The big difference isn't the
scent of the lures but rather the action of the baits. The Power Baits
designed for walleye are very limber and have good flipping actions that
makes the lures look like real crawlers or minnows. But once more, you
get the durability of plastics when you fish these baits. Then you don't
have to rebait all the time.
TIP 4: A lot of people ask what kind of bait or what
color lures you need to use to fish for walleye. Water clarity determines
the color lures I use, whether I fish a jig, a crankbait or even a spinnerbait.
If the area where you're fishing has very clear water, you'll want to
pick a Tennessee shad, black and silver, or gold and black color -- something
that resembles a natural baitfish or natural forage coming through the
water. If you're fishing in dingy conditions, like stained water or maybe
water that's been stirred-up by mud, go to much brighter colors like chartreuse,
orange or the Fire Tiger type lures. In dingy water, although walleye
can ear a bait, they must see the bait to see it. The bright colors show
through quite much better.
TIP
5: When you fish clear water for walleye, use either very thin line or
Berkley's Vanish line. Often when I fish gin-clear water, I'll go down
to 4-pound test line. For the other choice, instead of going so light
that you may lose a really big fish on it, you can use Vanish. Even though
it's a thicker line, you can go up to 6- or 8-pound test. Because of the
invisibility factor, this line really disappears into the water and allows
you to move up to those higher test pounds without the fish seeing it.
You must be real conscious in clear water of the color of the lures you
pick and also the invisibility of your line. You should use either fluorocarbon
or a very light pound test line.
Tomorrow: More Tips for Catching Summertime Walleye
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