03/01/2000
- Article
Walleyes
on the Spinner Rig
By Eric Naig
Once
the water opens and we can start chasing walleyes with the boat
again it’s time to get out the spinner rig.
This is one of the most productive techniques for
early-season walleyes that I know of.
It works well because of the way the bait mimics the small
shiners the walleyes are currently feeding on, and with the walleyes
spread out all over, you can move a bit quicker and target more
fish.
Early-season
walleyes will almost always be shallow, scattered and feeding on
minnows. Because of
this you want to add a little flash to your bait and cover some
ground in search of active fish.
I
like to use a bottom bouncer with the spinner setup. The rod should be about seven-foot long with a stiffer tip.
You can use either a baitcaster or a spinning setup when
running a spinner rig. Actually
I like the baitcaster because I can use a heavier line.
The
line on the reels I use for spinner fishing can be anywhere from 10-
to 20-pound test because the fish never really sees that line;
it’s tied directly to the bottom bouncer.
The line from the bottom bouncer to the bait is what the fish
would react to so it is critical you use a line that is invisible in
the water. That’s why
I like the Vanish which is a fluorocarbon and the fish are unable to
see it. It makes a big difference.
The
distance from the bottom bouncer to the bait on my rigs will range
from four to five feet. With
this longer leader it’s important to know what your bait is doing.
When
you’re moving faster the bait will stay up and off the bottom.
When you are crawling along the bait will settle to the
bottom. Test the rig
next to the boat to see how slow you can get the boat before the
bait starts to drop.
The
size of the spinner will vary.
In the early season the smaller silver blades seem to work
great. I usually start
with a number-two blade and work up to the number-five blade.
The
rig consists of a Number-two blade and clevis slipped onto the line.
You follow that with three or four small red or orange beads.
Then tie on a number-two Aberdeen hook.
To
the hook add a fathead minnow or a small shiner minnow.
Drop the rig down to the bottom and start trolling at a
moderate speed. The
speed you set up to run should keep the spinner straight out behind
the bottom bouncer.
As
you motor along the shallow breaklines keep one eye on the sonar.
Typically you can’t pick up larger schools of fish on a
sonar when you’re in shallow water, but you will spot one fish
here and one fish there. These
fish can tell you whether they are hunkering tight to bottom or
suspending slightly.
If
the fish are tight to bottom then what works well is to lift the
bottom bouncer off the bottom a foot and slow the boat down so the
bait drops. Now you
have taken out the spook factor of a big bottom bouncer roaring by
digging up the bottom and all the fish can see is this small flash
with a hunk of meat behind it. This works well when triggering an early-season walleye.
If
the fish are showing up on the sonar a couple of feet off the bottom
then you can either speed up the boat which will lift the bottom
bouncer, or just maintain your speed and reel in some line which
will bring the bottom bouncer up.
When
walleyes are up off the bottom they are usually more aggressive so
speeding up the boat is always a good first option.
An aggressive walleye will be real curious about a flashy
spinner coming by and will chase it down.
A good thing to do when the fish are showing signs of being
more aggressive is to step up the size of the spinner.
Walleyes
in the early season can be anywhere from a few feet deep to very
deep depending upon where they’re at in the spawning cycle.
Typically though, there are always some fish on that shallow
rubble and sand and the best way to target these fish is with the
bottom bouncer, spinner, and a minnow.
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