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| If you want to catch walleye like this, learn to use soft plastic lures. |
What struck me was how easy it was to use these lures. We simply cast them out, let them sink, retrieved them slowly and caught fish!
In the years since, I've caught thousands of walleye using soft plastic lures. Since the early '70s, the amount of soft plastic lures available to walleye anglers has risen astronomically.
"Soft plastics are an excellent choice for catching walleye," said pro walleye angler John Balla.
"In many situations it can even outfish live bait. I can fish faster, cover more water, lose less bait to live bait-stealing panfish and really bulk up my presentation to target larger fish."
Two soft plastics stand out for walleye: twister tails and 'crawler imitators.
Twister tails
These lures were named for the way their tails twist. I cut my walleye fishing teeth on these lures. For many anglers, a twister tail behind a jig is walleye fishing. If I could only use one walleye presentation for the rest of my life, this is the one I would choose.
"Soft plastics are a must when targeting the sauger of the Illinois River," said Balla.
"Vertically jig and slip downcurrent with a ¼ to three-eighths-ounce jighead tipped with a twister tail in various colors to entice fish. Choose tails with contrasting tones or bright colors to determine the most productive, based on water clarity and sunlight conditions. For instance, a Lindy Thumpin' Grub in purple/chartreuse, fire tiger, or twisters in plain black, white, orange or green are my first choices."
"Keep your jig within 6 to 10 inches of the bottom and present a lift-and-drop technique as the boat slips downriver. The bites can be furious or subtle, so stinger hooks are an option during a finicky bite."
Most Illinois River jiggers use this technique while slipping the current for early-spring sauger.
I also like to vertically jig with twister tails.
Last spring my most productive jig was the Lindy Thumpin' Grub in chartreuse with a pink tail. It seems that the brighter colors such as chartreuse and pink seem to trigger the most strikes when I'm fishing for sauger.
The secret to this technique is to stay low, as Balla said. You must keep your bait within 6 inches of the bottom.
I like to lift my jig 3 inches and hold it for a second or two, then let it down. Most bites will occur when I'm holding the jig motionless.
Most anglers are familiar with another way to use twister tails: casting them out and retrieving them slowly. I've caught thousands of walleye by doing this.
I especially like employing this presentation when I'm targeting rockpiles or weed edges. This is a search-type presentation that enables you to cover a lot of water quickly while you hunt for fish on a likely spot.
This presentation still produces fish after all these years.
'Crawler imitators
Anyone who has used real nightcrawlers for any length of time knows they tend to be picked off the hook by panfish. This is time-consuming and frustrating.
'Crawler-imitating soft plastics are one way to alleviate this problem.
"A lot of anglers are trolling using 6-inch Berkley Power Nightcrawlers on their 'crawler harnesses instead of real 'crawlers," said pro angler Mike Norris.
"What is nice about that is that panfish (particularly perch) are not able to bite off the tail of your worm."
Capt. Marty Papke of Little Bay de Noc Fishing Charters (906-428-2246) also likes to jig plastic worms for walleye to prevent panfish from stealing his bait.
"Unlike using a real 'crawler," he said, "you don't need to bring the jig up to check to see if you have bait left. When I feel a bite that I don't hook into, I simply drop the jig down and wait to see if the fish comes back. Another advantage to using the jig worms on 'crawler harnesses is that little perch and gobies will not be able to pick off the worm."
I've used the Berkley Gulp jigging worm while jigging for walleye.
I've even put a jigging worm on a size 4 octopus hook and caught walleye. I enjoy finally not having to replace a real 'crawler every couple of minutes.
These are but a few examples of the soft plastic lures and a few of their uses that are available to today's walleye angler.
Now what you have to do is to get a few of them and learn what presentation works best on your favorite body of water.
