Various jigs, plastics and retrieves work for shallow spring and summer ’eyes. Paddle-tail swimbaits, grubs and ribbed minnow and ringworm-type plastics are all favorites. (Photo courtesy of St. Croix)
May 16, 2025
By Keith Jackson
Walleye fishing wisdom, in general, suggests that once the spawn concludes, fish leave spawning areas in favor of deeper water where they feast on a veritable buffet of perch, sculpins, various minnows and other forage. This is largely accurate, as many walleyes do just that. But, this doesn’t hold true for all fish. Some hang shallow longer than expected. Increased usage of forward-facing sonar (FFS) has only made this phenomenon more apparent, with anglers seeing firsthand that a sizable contingent of walleyes remain shallow after the spawn.
Those targeting these shallow fish require a different mindset. While snelled spinners, crankbaits, heavy jigs and live-bait rigs shine for deep-water walleye fishing, they generally don’t work well on shallow ’eyes. This is because fish up shallow—in depths ranging from a couple feet to 10 or 12 feet—spook easily, especially if they’re not holding near some kind of cover.
This doesn’t mean walleyes feeding in the shallows are necessarily hard to catch. Often, all one needs is a jig rigged with a soft-plastic body. No live bait is needed (usually). However, this style of jigging isn’t the usual slow, vertical technique many anglers already know. Rather, it’s typically a horizontal, fast, pumping retrieve that often triggers shallow fish.
SHALLOW WALLEYE FISHING Jigging for shallow-water walleyes resembles bass fishing in some respects. Jigs are often similarly tossed near target cover, like the edges of a weed bed, a single clump of weeds, a stump or a pile of rocks. FFS and side-scan sonar also frequently reveal walleyes that don’t relate to cover and simply roam the shallows searching for food. Fish are susceptible to shallow jigging techniques in both cases.
Advertisement
There are several jigging presentations that tempt these contrarian walleyes. One option is working the jig just as you might a worm for bass. Employ a simple pull-and-drop retrieve that keeps you in touch with the bottom.
A more active approach is “rip jigging,” or “snap jigging.” With this tactic, you cast, let the jig sink to bottom, then rip it back in a sharp jerk. Repeat until you bring the jig to the boat. Keep a firm grip on your rod when fishing this way, though. Aggressive walleyes can bend the rod to the cork.
Another fast-paced tactic is putting your trolling motor in gear and working your boat along the face of a weed bed or along a shallow break line. Cast a long line behind the boat, letting the jig hit weeds or sink to bottom, then rip it continuously as you move along. Don’t retrieve it. Just keep working it in a rapid cadence until you’re absolutely certain you’ve moved past the fish. Troll at a speed fast enough to keep the jig constantly moving—like when trolling a snelled spinner rig.
Advertisement
WALLEYE TACKLE TIPS Having the right jig head, trailer, line and rod-and-reel combination is helpful when targeting shallow-water walleyes. Some simple guidelines can help anyone get started.
Trailers Walleyes in the shallows can be lots of fun, but they’re not always aggressive. Occasionally, they’re downright picky. Some time back, a buddy and I were fishing one of our favorite lakes, a place we visited several times a week. We’d been working our usual jig setups—1/8-ounce round-heads with 4-inch, slender curly-tail worms—along a bank in a major arm of the lake. My buddy had been catching fish, and I hadn’t.
We’d been using the same jig head and plastic, from the same manufacturers, and both of us had been tipping the jigs with a short piece of nightcrawler for extra scent. The difference? While we both had been using a clear, “salt-and-pepper” worm, his had red flakes and mine had blue. Sure enough, when I changed to a worm with red flakes, I started to catch walleyes.
This may seem like an extreme example, but walleyes can, in fact, become highly picky about color—something that I’ve experienced repeatedly on the water. Much of the time, having the exact desired color doesn’t matter, but sometimes it really does.
In general, shallow walleyes often prefer natural, dark colors. According to Northland Fishing Tackle CEO Gregg Wollner, the company purposefully included these types of colors in its new Eye-Candy line of soft plastics , tailor-made for walleyes and specifically for fish holding in shallow water. He says olive and other natural finishes—black, green pumpkin and colors that mimic nightcrawlers—produce very well in the shallows. Typical walleye colors like pearl, chartreuse and fire tiger produce bites at times, too.
Several shapes work well when it comes to plastic trailers. Curly-tailed grubs, worms and minnows are common options. Soft jerkbait-style plastics also perform well and stay on jigs a bit better than trailers with lots of built-in movement. The faster a jig is moved, the more pressure is placed on the trailer, which can result in tears. Placing a drop of superglue on a trailer’s nose when threading it on the jig can help it stay on the hook better.
Scent can also be a factor. While adding a section of nightcrawler can help you get bites, so can using a scented trailer. Berkley’s PowerBait Rib Worm and Curly Bones are scented plastics perfect for ripping jigs. The Gulp! Killer Crawler can also take the place of a nightcrawler, removing the hassle of bait.
Jigs The proper jig weight depends upon a lot of factors. Generally, you won’t need a jig lighter than 1/16 ounce, and you usually won’t need one heavier than 3/8 ounce when fishing in less than 12 feet of water. Lighter jigs shine in very shallow water or in situations where you want a slow fall. Think, fishing the edge of a weedbed or when targeting walleyes hanging near big rocks, downed trees, docks or other cover. Heavier 3/8-ounce jigs work well when fishing in deeper water or for faster retrieves or rip-jigging presentations. They’re also go-to options when the wind is blowing hard and you need extra weight to get down quickly.
Usually, 1/8- and 1/4-ounce jigs work, but in some cases, a 3/16- or 5/16-ounce jig is just a little bit better. You can also adjust a jig’s fall rate by swapping trailers. Larger plastics or those with more appendages will slow the fall, while smaller, more slender bodies hasten fall rates. A jig head’s shape influences how a jig fishes, too.
While hair jigs work well once you’ve determined productive sizes and colors, I recommend beginning with soft-plastic bodies first. Plastic bodies have so many different sizes, shapes, colors and functions, and you can easily swap them to determine what fish want.
Rods, Reels and Lines Given the relatively lightweight jigs used for jigging walleyes in shallow water, spinning rods are usually preferred. Rods from 6- to 7-feet in medium or light actions are about right. A fast tip with a good backbone is perfect.
Jesse Simpkins, St. Croix’s director of marketing, thinks more walleyes are caught on an 1/8-ounce jig-and-minnow combo than anything else, and he likes medium-light, extra-fast rods for this application. For snap-jigging, he relies on longer 6-foot 8-inch, medium-power, extra-fast-action rods. St. Croix’s Eyecon and Avid series spinning rods offer both options. Rods should be paired with 2500-size spinning reels, which tend to balance the rod and are strong enough to handle the stress.
Regarding lines, there are times when either monofilament, fluorocarbon or braid outperforms the other two. Six or 8-pound fluorocarbon is good for most shallow-water walleye fishing. It’s more abrasion resistant than monofilament, and it’s more sensitive for detecting bites. It’s also nearly invisible in the water.
When lots of weeds are present, 10-pound braided line is the better choice. It cuts through weeds much better than fluorocarbon, it’s very sensitive and it enables longer casts.
Monofilament does well in clear water or in situations where you want to fish more slowly. Mono floats better than fluorocarbon, which allows the jig to sink slower. Because it’s softer and stretches more than the other two lines, it also slows the retrieve a bit, which can yield a few more bites. Both monofilament and braided lines require a fluorocarbon leader, especially in lakes with zebra mussels, as fluorocarbon is more abrasion resistant than the others.
While it sounds complicated, jigging or rip-jigging for shallow walleyes is fairly simple. It’s an easy, fun way to fish that doesn’t require a ton of gear or bait. Grab a rod, some jig heads and a few plastic bodies, and you’re set for a quick afternoon trip.
HEAD GAMES Use different jig heads to match the situation when working shallow walleyes. Jigheads for walleye fishing Jig head shape can be almost as important as proper weight, as the head’s design determines how the jig reacts. Five types of jig heads cover most shallow-water walleye needs.
The first, the standard round head, is a workhorse that sinks straight down and reacts the same way when it’s popped off the bottom. A football jig’s head is wider, less prone to snagging and works great along rocky bottoms.
The Erie stand-up jig is another option that’s a little more snag-resistant still.
The fourth is the aspirin-head style, which has a flattened cross section, just as an aspirin is a flat, round pill. These fall faster than round-head jigs of a similar weight and seem to dart to the side when popped rather than straight forward. Some manufacturers also have jig heads designed to work with soft jerkbaits that closely mirror the aspirin-head jig in appearance and function.
Spin jigs, like Blakemore’s Awesome Walleye Runner , Z-Man’s ChatterBait WillowVibe and Bobby Garland’s Head Turn’R Jig , offer a flashier option. All three sport bright blades for added attraction that stands out in stained or dirty water.
Some variations are worth noting. Heavier-than-lead tungsten jigs are usually smaller in size yet sink quicker. Also, many jigs have ditched their lead collars in favor of wire keepers, which are easier to use when adding TPE (thermoplastic elastomers) plastics, such as those offered by Z-Man.
This article was featured in the May 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe
