WINTERTIME WALLEYES

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Winter is a great time to catch the elusive walleye. Sitting on the ice on a nice quiet northwoods lake catching walleyes. Ah, there's nothing like it in the world. The walleye bite during the winter is usually an early morning or evening affair. However on dark lakes with dark stained water and under low light conditions the walleyes will bite all day long.

Let's start out by talking about the methods used to catch these great fish during the winter months. Probably the most used and most popular method for taking winter walleyes is with tip-ups. A tip-up is basically a small wood or plastic plank which is set across a hole drilled in the ice. Attached to the plank is a spool of line on a metal rod. The spool sits under the surface of the water in the hole in the ice and the rod protrudes up above the hole and is supported by the plank. At the top of the rod is a metal "T" which is used to hold down a spring loaded rod with a small flag on it. When a fish grabs the bait attached to the line and swims away with it the line causes the spool to rotate which in turn causes the attached rod to turn. The "T" that is holding the flagged rod down also turns and the rod slips off and stands upright with the flag on it. This is the visual signal that a fish is or was on the line. Beaver Dam is oldest and most well known tip up brand but there are many others such as Frabill and Polar.

When a flag has popped up and the "T" is turning the fish is usually making a short run and it will often stop to turn the bait around in its mouth. When the "T" begins to turn again it is time to set the hook with a sharp jerk to the line. You'll retrieve the line in a hand over hand fashion. Be certain that the line you are retrieving does not go back into the hole in the ice or you will have a large tangle to unravel when the fish is pulled out of the hole.

The windlass tip-up is a variation of the Beaver Dam type in that it sits above the hole out of the water on a pair of legs or a small platform. Above the platform the reel and flag are suspended at one end of a small wooden beam. At the other end of the beam is a small sheetmetal or aluminum plate that acts as a "sail". It can be bent or adjusted to catch any wind that might be blowing. The wind will push the plate up and down and the beam will rock up and down causing the bait to move as well. When a fish grabs the bait the reel turns and releases the flag to a vertical position.

On my tip-ups I spool my reels with 40 pound braided line and attach a swivel to the end of the line. To the swivel I tie a length of fluorocarbon line such as Berkley's "Vanish" and a red treble hook in size 8 or 10. I like to use medium golden shiners or medium sucker minnows for bait when using tip-ups.

There will be a variety of places to set your tipups depending on the lake that you are fishing. You can find the edge of green weeds in 10 to 12 feet of water and set the minnow about a foot or a foot and a half off the bottom. You can also look for rock bars or humps. Set a tip-up on the top of the hump and the rest along drop offs from the hump. You'll have to vary the depths that you set the lines at to account for the size of the structure. Another place to try on deep clear lakes is over deep sand grass. This will usually be in twenty-five feet or more of water. The sand grass is a short (12-18") weed that is often found deep on clear lakes. It will show up on your locator. You may have to vary the depths of your baits. The second popular means of taking winter walleyes is by jigging. I like to use a light to medium light rod with an open face spinning reel on it. I spool my reels with Trilene Ice Line in 6 and 8 pound test. I do not use the drags on my reels in the winter. I prefer to back reel when playing fish. There is a wide range of baits to use when jigging for winter walleyes. The traditional baits are lead head jigs, plain hook and sinker, jigging spoons, airplane jigs and the jigging Rapala. When using a lead head jig I use just the heads of fat head minnows. With a hook and split shot I will use the entire minnow. I usually start by fishing right off the bottom and slowly work my way upwards while keeping an eye on my locator. Jigging spoons are pieces of painted or polished metal. Some have single hooks while others have treble hooks attached to them by means of a split ring. The bait is designed to flutter down after being twitched upwards. I also like to use just the head of a minnow with jigging spoons. Some of the spoons have built in rattles. The rattles give the baits a sound that can attract fish in dark waters or from great distances.

Jigging Rapalas work very well for catching alleyes. When the bait is jigged upwards and allowed to fall it falls in circles. This attracts walleyes. Sometimes I use the bait plain and at other times I attach a minnow head or grubs to the hooks. The airplane jig is designed with small wings on it. The wings cause the jig to make a half circle as it free-falls and it falls at a slower rate than other jigs. I use minnow heads with airplane jigs. When jigging don't be afraid to try different baits on the jigs. Use grubs, minnows, minnow heads or Berkley's "GULP". Gulp releases more fish attractant than any other artificial bait on the market. This might just be enough to trigger a nice walleye to bite.

When the action is slow try bouncing your bait off the bottom. The cloud of sediment it raises might attract a fish. One last thing......when working your jig try varying the speed of your jigging. Often times the fish are looking for a particular speed or a particular motion. By changing speeds and motions you might be able to score on some nice walleyes.

Good Fishing and I hope to see you on the Lake

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