Crankbaits for walleye are one of the most versatile lures you can have in your tackle box. The best walleye crankbaits imitate smaller bait fish that the walleye will naturally feed on. This imitation combined with an irresistible action or wobble forces the walleye to strike the crankbait lures really hard.
Do walleye like crankbaits?
Truthfully, in walleye fishing there really isn’t a clear-cut favorite lipless crankbait.Legendary winter walleye locations like Lake Winnipeg are great places to jig lipless cranks for hardwater walleyes. While ice use isn’t a secret, it’s also not as mainstream as it should be.
What is the best bait for walleye?
Minnows
Minnows are the most popular bait option for walleye anglers, I have found consistent success with shiner and flathead minnows. When targeting bigger fish, shiners in the 4-6″ range are the mainstay, these will weed through some of the smaller fish and get you on 25″+ Walleye.
How fast should you troll crankbaits?
Changing speeds is key
Typical crankbait trolling speeds are 1.5 – 3 mph, and there are times when it makes a big difference. If you are marking bait and fish but not hooking up, don’t be afraid to speed up or slow down. Making “S” turns is also a good way to test several speeds at once.
Can you troll with a crankbait?
When trolling crankbaits, use a bait casting reel and a medium heavy rod, six to seven feet in length. I prefer to use Magnathin in the ten-pound test (walleye color). The new superlines will also work. Longlining crankbaits is a very simple technique that will produce fish.
Do you use weights with crankbaits?
You can alter the performance characteristics of hard baits like jerkbaits and crankbaits by adding weight to them.Making a lure suspend, rise slowly or even sink can come in handy when you want the bait to stay in the strike zone longer. But, adding weight can also change the action of the bait.
How deep will walleye go?
Walleye are generally caught between 10-40 Ft. A typical mid-sized lake in the Midwest would likely hold Walleye between the depths of 10-15 Ft. during the Spring, 15-25 Ft. transitioning to Summer, 25-40 Ft.
Can you catch walleye on crankbaits?
Why Are Crankbaits Great For Catching Walleye? Crankbaits are one of the best methods to attract and catch large walleye. Crankbaits imitate smaller fish with a wobbling action that they just can’t resist. Walleye hit crankbaits with such force, it may take the rod right out of your hand.
How can I make my lures deeper?
We’d suggest trying a 20 foot leader (shorter leaders do better in current), attach a 3 or 4 oz. Snap Weight, and then let out line until you feel the lure tick bottom. Those river fish relate to the bottom, so it’s Snap Weight setupimportant that you get your lures down there.
Why are walleyes so hard to catch?
You’re cranking weed edges too slowly.
Walleyes relating to weedbeds often school tightly. To find them, quickly work a crankbait along the edges until you get a strike. You can pick that area apart slowly after you find the fish with a fast-moving lure.
What color lures do walleye like?
The most basic and most productive colors for targeting walleye are purple and green. These colors come in a variety of shades and can be used in a large range of depths. For sunny days, select bright or flashy purple or green, and for cloudy days try a solid, darker green or purple.
What is crankbait fishing lure?
A crankbait is a lure with a plastic lip that dives underwater when it is reeled in. Crankbaits are used to target fish at specific depths. The length and angle of the plastic lip is what determines the depth that the bait can reach. Longer, less-angled, lips dive deeper than short, sharp-angled, lips.
How far behind the boat should I troll?
Every boat is different and you should make your boat your own study. Proper distance for most boats will be anywhere from 20 feet to 150 feet behind your boat. Whether you have inboard diesel or outboard gas engines, your power dictates the distance you troll your baits and lures.
How much line should I let out for a troll?
Trolling Depth Trick #3
Consider the following example: If you’re trolling a tandem rig tied with two five-ounce bucktails (5 x 2 = 10), and you let out 100 feet of line (double 50, so multiply by two again), according to the Rule it will run at about 20 feet below the surface (5 x 2 = 10 x 2 = 20).
How do you control crankbait depth?
Move your crankbait too slow or too fast and it’ll run too shallow. The bill has to bite into the water at the correct angle for the lure to run as deep as possible. The length of your cast is the next thing that affects running depth. A longer cast will let the bait get down deeper.
Do crankbaits have to hit bottom?
For professionals like Skeet Reese, Todd Faircloth and Mark Menendez, mismatching crankbaits to water depth — especially in the shallows — has become less an exception and more the rule. “As a general rule of thumb, you want a bait that will be in contact with the bottom at all times.
When should you throw crankbaits?
Crankbaits work best in the spring, summer, and fall, except during the few weeks a year fish are spawning. Use medium-diving crankbaits when waters are about 50-60 degrees. As the season moves along and the fish start moving from the banks toward deeper waters, use a shad-colored crankbait.
What fish can you catch with crankbaits?
From cold water species such as trout and salmon, to warm water fish like bass, pike, walleye, perch and panfish, a properly selected crankbait can often be one of the most important lures in an angler’s tackle box.
Do walleye stay deep or shallow?
Walleye depth movement over the course of each day
At noon on a bright sunlit winter day, walleye are usually always found in the deeper basins around 30-40 feet. But as the sun starts to set, they move into more shallow water to hunt their prey in waters that are 10-25 feet deep.
How do you find big walleye?
3 Tactics for Catching Bigger Walleye in Summer
- Slow Your Roll. As water temperatures warm and spring gives way to summer, walleye go on a tear, eating up to three per cent of their body weight daily.
- Go For a Swim.
- Hit the Beach.
How far off the walleye do you ice fish?
On clear lakes, the best depths are usually in the 10-foot to 20-foot range. However, fish movement does vary and depths as shallow as 2 feet and deeper than 20 feet can often be very productive as well. Live bait is most often used on tip-ups.
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