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Lowlight Walleye crankbait techniques
by our friend Dave “Hoggie” Hoggard
www.catch-n.com
Wake fishing...
no, I am not talking about paying my respects to dead fish here.
What I am talking about here, is running swimming crank-baits shallow enough to form a "V wake" on the surface. We are talking running baits right-under the surface, EXTREMELY shallow.
This is not a known walleye technique.
Walleyes seldom are chasing baits "near the top".
Therefore "Wake fishing... on smooth water" would mainly considered a Bass thing.
Well sir, we all knew that... right?
Yup.
What you may not know is...
that on a moon-lit night...
when you are out casting Raps/Salmos/Bagleys shallow...
that you may catch more Walleyes by V-waking your baits!
Why?
To v-wake a Rapala # 9, 11, or 13 (or any other such minnow imitators) you have to S L O W down that retrieve!
You normal crank speed is such that you are fast enough to make a "wiggle" happen...so... you are a movin' fairly fast.
This normal crank speed makes your lure run deeper and be "tighter" as far as the wobble goes.
It may be too deep... you may grab weeds... so you move further out into deeper water where you CAN cast without grabbing weeds.
MISTAKE, especially in the fall shallow water periods! These fish are SHALLOW in low light.
Enters.... V waking!
S L O W has to happen here...
something you are not used to doing with cranks.
'S L O W enough" so that your speed is right to make a crankbait only dive right under the surface. Ya, dat means there is very little wobble!
Or, it means next to NO wobble!
But, there is a wake made on the surface!
On a calm/smooth low light surface, with little to no wind/chop, fish are less likely to "chase bite" as they do in choppy conditions.
In these conditions, the fish are more likely to "target" more and can see better! Why? More light penetration. Walleyes do more of a selective sight feed then. No chop... means fish may take there time and select their targets better and attack from a further distance.
Your slowing down and running a v-wake makes for a more visual SLOWER look at the bait, which is higher in the water column. Yes, they are looking from further away... and looking at your bait for a longer period.
Coordinating your retrieve so that you make a wake and disturb the surface means you have a S L O W enough retrieve so that you have made the V pattern that makes the water ripple saying... "here I am"... for targeting. But also sends the message that you as prey, may be injured and are vulnerable.
I use this retrieve and catch tons of bass in the daytime... cause they can not take it!
But... I also use that retrieve at night over weeds in only a foot or two of water.
Many times big walleyes have pushed bait schools out of the "pockets" and have come over the top of the "full weedline" to attack.
Here is where this retrieve shines.... your V-wake is too slow to dive into several feet of depth to grab weeds. So, you ride above the weeds FULLTIME... where your bait is an EASY target and SLOW enough not to miss!
See that wake you are making in a moon's reflection? Or see your wake from that reflection in a distant street light... then you are there!
Any other bait thrown or faster retrieve may be moving "too fast" and will for sure be bringing you back weed after weed!
Try this.
Hoggie
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Dave "Hoggie" Hoggard
Minnesota Fishing Reports at www.catch-n.com
Bio-Bait at www.stores.ebay.com/catch-n
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