I recently watched a 2011 video about three-way rigging for walleye - available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yc_SH0yegY
I have never used this method. Consequently, I was wondering whether anyone with experience with this method for walleye could share some recommendations/experiences particularly with respect to choice of lures and trolling speeds. The video recommends Original Floating Rapalas, Rapala Flat Raps and Storm Thundersticks. Thanks in advance.
Jay
Jay
After watching that video , I would agree that you need a floating bait with small lip such as the rapala.
A suspending bait will hug the bottom.
Large lipped baits will dive to bottom.
I'll definitely be trying that up at the cottage this summer .
just saw the video... awesome looks like a plan. ty for posting it. I love the Lidners (in fisherman) One of the few fishing shows that strive to teach fishing rather then being just an infomercial selling gear.
Hi Jay,
Have fished this rig on Stoney Lake in the Kawarthas where rock structure was up and down from 8 to 20 ft. This rig 'ticked' off the bottom instead of really digging in and hugging the bottom (like with a bottom bouncer rig). Started with a worm harness and a big Lindy Rig weight on the 3 way. 15lb test mono main line with 8lb mono lead. Caught lots of smaller pickerel and small bass on the worm, so switched to shad rap with small lip (shallow running) large size bluegill patern. Honestly, I would rather not have to deal with worm guts if the fish are on...does that make me a half man? It makes my snacks less enjoyable worrying about dirty fingers (I'm ok with fish slime - huh?). Caught some nice 3 and 4 lb fish after switching to the lure...which is pretty good size for the Kawarthas. Finished the day hooking a really nice musky but she snapped me off around the boat. If you know the lake, it was right out from McCrakens Landing. Great Lake to fish, haven't been there for awhile. Have also fished Kipawa area with a smallest size dipsy with hard body minnow baits to get close to the bottom, and make periodic contact, but stay up off it. This works well for early season pickerel and lakers. I, like Puck, like the lidners and any other guys who go beyond the "traditional" methods and techniques...Fishful Thinking guy is ok too. Any of the guys here have any other unconventional techniques for walleye (besides slip bobbering)?
I saw that video years ago and tried it on my next trip to Kip, using a 3 way and small Rapala. It caught fish, but I had more success with Hot-n-Tots that particular year. I use 3 ways all the time but instead of a 3 way swivel, I like a dropper sliding on its own swivel and a crawler harness.
@Jay Thomas thanks for posting the video...now I have more gear to buy!!! Just kidding, it actually makes a lot of sense especially since we go up end of July or beginning of August when the fish tend to go deeper.
I have had success running small floating rapalas behind a walking sinker. I will attempt this next time.
I know some of the fun for many of you is trying to solve "the puzzle" when fishing. This technique seems to put a puzzle into the equation when there really isn't on there.
Looks like an awful lot of work when, it appears, you know the fish are there and the depth they are positioned. Even in the video they admit having to try different depths and action by doing this or that. Then you have x-feet of line to the sinker, and x-feet of line to the lure (bet that needs to change if the lure size changes)....this weight size...etc. I don't know...I'm not trying to solved the riddles of the fishing world by trying an alternative technique and presentation just to see if it works better if I know the fish are there. It seems simple enough, but at the same time it's not. Seems like a lot of things to figure out and calculations...not to mention a few assured snags. I hated calculus in college...I'm not inclined to do that much thinking when I'm fishing when it's really not necessary. Oh yeah...and I really dislike trolling...that just seals the deal for me that this is something I won't be trying.
It's more like... O.K. drop the anchor here...... cast out the float...... pass me a beer....catch a few fish.....pass me another beer..... what do you mean we ran out.... darn, pull out the anchor, we have to go get more beer.
Well said RHYBAK !!
3 oz sinker sure seem to heavy, i like to be on the bottom . I think 1 oz would work just fine.
Not sure it goes quite like that Rhybak...but it should go like that. Drop that anchor and pound the fish when you have them cornered...not sure why trolling is called for here. Run out of beer? Never... ;)
While I'm unaware of the statistics when comparing popularity of fishing methods, I'm pretty sure there are significant numbers of fishermen who fit into the trollers camp, the jiggers camp or both. Not surprisingly, most fishermen have a preference.
During the 16 years that I have fished walleye in the lakes of the Abitibi/Témiscaming region, I have never marked pods of walleye greater than say 15 walleye. Sure, its fun to anchor and jig a pod of walleye until they quit biting but then what? You either have to wait until another pod of walleye comes along to your anchored position or you go looking (trolling) to find the next pod.
For me personally, I like any legal fishing method that puts walleye in my boat. However, my preferred fishing method is trolling. Consequently, I'm always on the look out for alternative trolling methodologies.
Jay
I primarily go close to Rhybak's method: find a spot, drop a baited jig over the side, grab a beer.
But do not run out of beer!
But I do troll some.
80/20 %
I don't disagree Jay that trolling has it's place and I've caught plenty of fish when trolling. But I believe that the pod of 15 fish you see on your electronics is actually more like 150 or more when considering the 'metro area' of where you are marking them. Like you I'll do what the situation calls for...but in my experience Kipawa fish stay very near common locations so there is not often a need to search for them. Maybe if I had a boat with an advanced trolling motor that can stay on a contour line or could self guide itself I would use the tactic more. Monkeying around trolling in a camp boat is just not my idea of fun...certainly not my idea of relaxing. There are guys in my group that love trolling. To each his own I suppose.
I love this discussion. I'm an unabashed troller. I love cruising along the shore dodging rocks and stumps. The scenery always changes and I find the rock formations that make up the shoreline on Kipawa, just stunning. I learned to troll on Georgian Bay where it's all too often too windy and choppy to still fish. you can troll slower then drifting lol. As well I'd rather catch 5 larger walleye or pike on a long line, (I keep the lures a ways behind the boat. It isolates the lure from the boat.) Then 30 smaller ones jigging.I got some amazing fish trolling a deep diving shad rap, 20 feet down in 30-40 foot depths. The best part????????? I don't have to put my beer down till after I catch a fish. the ultimate in multi-tasking drink beer while fishing. Trolling is the best of both worlds.
Btw this is a thread I was involved in on the Ontario Out of Doors forum. we discussed some deep trolling methods. Kipawa came up. check it out. http://www.oodmag.com/community/showthread.php?58962-really-deep-diving-crankbaits
I have always trolled,because that's how I grew up. So I troll and troll some more.I think jigging puts as many fish in the boat just not in my comfort zone. I always try to mix it up when you not putting fish in the boat.
Quote from: T-Bone on April 02, 2016, 08:57:39 AM
But I believe that the pod of 15 fish you see on your electronics is actually more like 150 or more when considering the 'metro area' of where you are marking them.
Todd, it's difficult for me to grasp that concept. Here's why. I'm going to describe my experience last fall at a particular location on one of the lakes I fish. I was back trolling a bottom bouncer and spinner harness with a crawler in 26 FOW looking for walleye. When my electronics displayed a nice pod of walleye (about 10 walleye grouped close together) I threw out a marker buoy. I continued to back troll in the area searching different depths for more pods of walleye. I found a second similar sized pod of walleye within a 100 feet of the marker buoy in 36 FOW. I threw out a second marker buoy. I then back trolled in and around those two marker buoys trying to pick up a few walleye. My electronics did not display any other walleye other than those two pods.
While I understand that my electronics only provided feedback on 9 to 12 feet of the water column (1/3 depth of water), I criss-crossed the area around the two marker buoys enough to satisfy myself that the walleye were only in those 2 locations. I then jigged both pods of walleye. Not surprisingly, I caught more walleye jigging those two locations than back trolling because my bait was in the strike zone much longer.
Rightfully or not, I put a lot of faith in what my display shows me.
Jay
Sounds like a good plan...and it clearly works as it did for you there. I'm really quite the opposite. I don't trust what I "see" on the screen as walleye, or perch, or other forage, or Ogopogo. I look more at the bottom and what THAT looks like...find the high-percentage "lanes" where the 'eyes should be moving up and down on the structure and pound them out. Once you ID those lanes, just go back there at the right time given the right conditions, and wait for rush hour to start, peak, and die-down. Happens every time...just like real rush hour in the city...
I love fishing...
115....
Puckster, your multi tasking comment reminds me of how Jeff Foxworthy may describe my trolling... if you can be happy trolling the outboard, watching the fish finder, handling your trolling road with a beer and a cigar in your free hand, you might be a redneck. While there may be an occasional spilled beer from setting the hook , it all becomes second nature a couple days in to the trip.. :oh, that reminds me ... 61 days. Sam
This rig has been around since the 1950s and was very popular in Lake Erie. I have used the rig in Quebec starting in 1961 and works well in an uneven bottom. We used the 3 way swivel and used a lighter line on the weight so if you got hung up you would only loose the weight