There are all kinds of ways to catch walleyes, but some of them work better on certain days than others do. Keep the author’s tips in your bag of tricks for days when you need a little something extra to put fish in the boat. Photo by Gerald Almy

By Gerald Almy

What better time is there than right now, when cold winds rattle the treetops along rivers and ice covers your favorite lakes, to renew your walleye wisdom? February is a perfect month to evaluate last year's walleye expeditions, analyze what worked and didn't work, and learn a few new tricks and tactics that should help improve your results for the coming fishing season.

Here are 25 tips I've learned from plying waters big and small, flowing and still, for more than 30 years, both on my own and with some of the top walleye experts on the water. Some of them you can use right now; others will be best applied later in spring, during the dog days of summer, or when maples turn crimson and gold along the water's edge. Study these tactics and, I'm confident, you'll learn a trick or two that will help you increase your catch of this tasty, challenging quarry.

1. In late winter or early spring, walleyes in many lakes make spawning runs up major tributaries. This occurs when the water rises into the lower reaches of the 40-degree range. Not all fish make these runs, but enough of them do to make them worth targeting. They may migrate for miles or just a few hundred yards, depending on the type of feeder stream they're ascending. Sometimes rapids or dams will concentrate them on these runs, usually just slightly downstream from the obstruction and in calmer water.

Try bucktail or marabou jigs on these spring-run fish. White, yellow, chartreuse and pink are good colors; the proper sizes can range from 1/8 to 1/2 ounce, depending on the current and depth. Both plain jigs and those adorned with either a soft-plastic tail or a pork-rind strip are deadly. Cast the offering out and across or slightly upstream, let it sink near the bottom and reel back slowly and steadily with an occasional twitch or lift of the rod tip. If strikes are slow in coming, add half a night crawler or a live minnow as enticement.

2. One of the best ways to catch spawning-run walleyes is with a floating/diving thin minnow plug rigged with extra weight. Tie the lure onto an 18-inch leader off of a three-way swivel with a few split shot trailing on a short 6-inch dropper leader fastened to the third eyelet. Cast and retrieve this offering slowly and steadily near or just off the bottom. If you hang up, you'll usually lose just the split shot and not your expensive lure.

3. Try a plain live minnow for spawning-run walleyes. Yes, jigs and plugs are fun to fish, but sometimes - particularly in clear, cold water - a plain live minnow is the way to go. Hook a 2- to 4-inch minnow through both lips from the bottom up on a size 1 to 4 hook and add a couple of split shot a foot or so up the line. Cast across and slightly upstream and allow the bait to settle near the bottom. When you think it's close to bottom or it actually touches, begin a slow, pumping retrieve. Reel a turn or two, lift the rod and let it settle back down. Don't expect dramatic strikes, but rather sudden extra weight on the line followed by a slow bucking as the walleye feels the hook and comes to life.

4. Crankbaits are great casting lures for walleyes in lakes and rivers, but you need to be aware of the different actions available. Lures with subtle action include Rapala Husky Jerks, Smithwick Rattlin' Rogues, Bombers and similar models. Moderate action types would include brands such as the Excalibur Shad-R, Rapala Shad Rap and Rebel Shad-R. Even more extreme are those with aggressive actions such as the Rapala Risto Rap or Excalibur Fat Free Shad series.

Stock a variety of these different actions and several brands of each; then, experiment with them on any given day on the water. Watch for fish that follow your lure but don't strike. Or switch to a different action when your combing of a prime piece of water doesn't get results.

5. Normally, a slow, steady retrieve is best for casting crankbaits to walleyes. If that doesn't work, though, try moderate and even fast retrieves. Also, experiment with the stop-and-go approach: Reel a few turns on the handle and suddenly stop. Wait several seconds; reel again. This jerky action is sometimes the key to a heavy catch.

6. Don't ignore the shallows when fishing for walleyes. Fish up to 6 pounds or more can sometimes be found in water just a few feet deep, sometimes 2 feet or less. This is particularly likely in the spring as waters start to warm in backwater bays in lakes. Try areas with extended points, weedbeds, sunken timber, rockpiles and reefs.

7. If the shallows don't produce, head for deeper water. Look for primary and secondary points that jut out into deep water and also humps, underwater islands, rock bars and dropoffs. Steep breaks or sudden depth changes near a channel are hotspots for jumbo walleyes in summer and fall. Use sonar to locate these prime holding spots.

8. Trolling, where allowed, is a valuable tactic as well as a learning tool. Whether you're just getting into walleye fishing or are checking out a new lake, trolling's a great way to teach yourself about the water you're on and, while you're at it, to catch a few fish. This method puts your bait down deep in the productive strike zone almost continuously, upping the odds of finding fish and drawing a strike. Study a good topographic map and use a depthfinder as you troll to stay over good structure and, ideally, baitfish or game fish as well. Work a contour line or troll in a lazy-S pattern near the edge of points, reefs, dropoffs or rip currents, keeping the plug constantly wiggling through the level at which you think you may find fish.

Simply trolling a crankbait on a flat line will take many a fish. Good choices include the Bomber Model A, Storm Wiggle Wart and Hot 'n' Tot, Rapala Shad Rap, Rebel D.D. Shad, Lindy Deep Baitfish and Cordell Wally Diver.

9. If walleyes are in shallow water and skittish, use a side-planer board to carry a crankbait, spoon or jig 40 to 80 feet away from the noise and shadow of the boat. These planers also let you probe a wider swath, with some lures running directly behind the boat on flat lines while others are carried off to the side with the planers.

10. For deep midsummer and early-fall walleyes, few techniques can top trolling with downriggers. With these devices you can set your lure exactly at the depth you want it to run, depending on where the structure, baitfish or game fish will be seen to show up on the sonar. Attach the lure 10 to 40 feet behind the cannonball if fish are aggressive; run them 50 to 100 feet behind the lead ball if they're tentative and skittish.

At times walleyes are finicky biters and won't snap releases well. If this proves a problem, switch to thin rubber bands. Simply half-hitch one end on the downrigger cable or a snap-swivel just up from the ball and attach the other end to the line. Use fat-bodied plugs or, better yet, long thin-minnow plugs such as Storm ThunderSticks, Bomber Long A's, Smithwick Rogues, Rapalas, Rebels, Cordell Red Fins and Lindy Shadlings. Green, orange, blue and chartreuse are good colors.

11. When fish are deeper than 15 feet, consider vertical-jigging. Position your boat directly over the structure or a spot where you've pinpointed game fish or baitfish on the sonar. Lower a spoon or jig to the depth that fish are holding, or slightly above that; then, begin pumping the rod tip up and down anywhere from 6 to 24 inches. Be sure to lower the rod tip just fast enough so that the lure falls freely, but no slack forms in the line. Strikes will often come on the drop, and if too much slack gets in the line, you won't be able to detect the subtle hits or set the hook quickly enough.

12. A variety of lures will work well for vertical-jigging, but some of the best are jigs and spoons. If strikes are slow in coming, try adding a pork-rind dressing, a soft-plastic curlytail or a live bait such as a piece of a worm or live minnow.