New to Walleyes???

[tmiderek]

Hello all, Here is the set up. What do you suggest if I want to try for Walleye? Only ever fished for Salmon in Lake Michigan...I would like to try but don't want to put a whole lot of money into it...

2 Lead cores, 2 down riggers, 2 dipsey divers, 2 planar boards, j-plugs, flys, spoons, couple rapalas...Also have a couple bass rods...

Boat is out of Grand Haven and I have heard that Muskegon could be good for Walleye. Let me know about rigs, depth, speed, time of day and best time of year...What would you do????

Thanks.

[Adam Bomb]

Others on this board can speak about west side walleye, but for me, if you want to get your feet wet walleye fishing there is no better place to fish than Saginaw Bay. Its right in my back yard and is a fish factory to say the least. Since you already have trolling rods, planer boards and a boat your pretty much set.

You can go out and do very well pulling crawler harnesses or spinners as theyre often refered to. Pick up some inline weights 1-2 oz. most times, bottom bouncers, i have 1-4 oz, use 3 oz more often than not and some crawler harnesses. These can all be had for very minimal costs and are very effective walleye catching tools. Troll them at speeds of 0.8-1.7 S.O.G. If your lead cores are 1-5 colors theyll work pretty well, ecspecially if your trolling in that mid to upper range of speed spectrum. Otherwise, theyll go too deep and youll fowl up with zebra mussels.

As far as where, i fish on the west side of the bay. Popular ports are the Bay City DNR Launch at the mouth of the Saginaw River, Linwood Beach Marina, Eagle Bay Marina in Standish and the Augres St. Dock. In all honesty at any given time fishing could be very good close to any of these ports, but not always. Productive depths could be anywhere from 5-45' of water. Lots of factors contribute to that....Water temp, time of year, water clarity, etc etc.

As far as the best time of year, i would come from the middle of may through mid July as that has been an excellent time period the last few years. Early on during that time period you should be fishing in 12-20' of water in front of Linwood or off the Saginaw River mouth as well as the Point Augres area. As the waters warm and drive the fish deeper most anglers begin to head offshore farther into 20' depths and deeper. These are attainable very quickly in Augres and is one of the reasons its such a popular port during warmer water periods. But then again, there are no hard and fast rules as this year can attest to. The fish went really deep really early and to my knowlegde noone really has an answer why. So, keep up with local reports or pm myself, Frank aka Priority 1 or Dan from Walleye Express. Between the three of us we'll be able to get ya on some fish over here.

As far as my trolling set up, more often than not its my Dad and I. We'll usually set up with inlines and harness behind planer boards on 4 of our rods and then we'll run two bottom bouncers off the corners of the boat. We lay those rods flat just like you would a dipsey. Stager your lead lenghts for differnt depths until you find whats working. Most times i use a 1 oz. inline for my trolling aps, unless im fishing deeper water. With 1 zo. my leads are normally somewhere from 15-50' back depending on the depth of the fish. Thats one of the beauties about inline weights for walleye. Less line out and you achieve depth quickly.

Keep the questions coming, im sure i missed something and im sure others will chime in with their opinion as well.

[Priority1]

Adam did a splendid job, with that short story about our home waters. If you only have a couple of boards, I'd pick up a couple of more. I like the Offshore brand, with the tattle flags. Walleye are know to hit lightly a lot of the time. The only thing I do slightly different is I run bouncers off my boards, almost exclusively, instead of inline weights. I may not necessarily run the bouncers on the bottom.

Muskegon Lake is also a good for some walleye whacking.

My typical set up is 2 oz bottom bouncers off the boards, and three oz bouncers over the side. I run home tied harnesses behind the bouncers. Even my bouncers are home made, consisting of egg sinkers and SS wire.

The walleye don't usually seem overly fussy. Don't complicate things.

Your learning curve will be shortened, if you can hook on with someone for a trip or two.

[Walleye Express]

Hello all, Here is the set up. What do you suggest if I want to try for Walleye? Only ever fished for Salmon in Lake Michigan...I would like to try but don't want to put a whole lot of money into it...

2 Lead cores, 2 down riggers, 2 dipsey divers, 2 planar boards, j-plugs, flys, spoons, couple rapalas...Also have a couple bass rods...

Boat is out of Grand Haven and I have heard that Muskegon could be good for Walleye. Let me know about rigs, depth, speed, time of day and best time of year...What would you do????

Thanks.

Derek.

Adam did cover most of the basics very well. To cover everything would take a book size post. And your chances and success will be both better and easier if you fish Saginaw Bay versus Muskegon Lake for walleyes. Not saying Muskegon is not a fantastic fishery, but it's best fishing opportunities and productive windows are very much narrower then is Saginaw Bays. And keep in mind that walleye are very much a different animal then are salmon. Fishing walleyes during this colder then usual summer on the Bay stayed as productive longer in 5 FOW as it was in 25 FOW. Not really anything that revolutionary, but something that surprised a lot of us. Walleye un-like salmon are not locked into certain forage types nor any certain temperature zones, where most of their feeding takes place. They are however forage driven, but can and do feed comfortably on any forage living in 36 to 86 degrees water temps. This opens up the whole Bay and the entire water column during the summer to catch fish in. And you do not necessarily need to use Meat/crawlers and rigs, even though this method performed better this season even for me. You can use a variety of spoons and certain crankbait's virtually from spring into fall and catch walleyes on them in all depths. Doing so IMV reduces the equipment and many of the learning curves associated with live bait rigging, and is much easier and user friendly to beginners. Many of my best seasons ever were when trolling cranks from early May to late August, never once changing the lures I initially put on. The only variable was the speed and depths I trolled them in. When talking crankbait's, on the Muskegon Rapala's rule. On Saginaw Bay both Rattle Tots and Hot-N-Tot's rule.

[Nailer]

Derek, if you want Walleye, go East.

I get Walleye from Muskegon, but it's a small boat, precise night troll. Not at all easy with a big boat. And it doesn't even start till November.

[ALLEYES]

Derek, if you want Walleye, go East.

I get Walleye from Muskegon, but it's a small boat, precise night troll. Not at all easy with a big boat. And it doesn't even start till November.

Ken speaks the truth.....

[GLF]

I am not a walleye guy, but have a few questions of my own.

On Saginaw Bay are mostly fishing open water or are you relating to some sort of structure?

In the fall/winter on Muskegon Lake, are you targeting the drop offs, and whatever weedbeds you can find or are you fishing open water? Are you trolling with meat, body baits, or crankbaits?

[Adam Bomb]

It really depends Mike. I think its more forage based than anything. Id say most of our fishing is done out on the open flats of the basin, but we also do well along depth breaks, rocky humps, sand bars and weed lines as well. Any of these areas can have fish or be devoid of them. Thats why trolling is the prefered method out there. Big body of water, with roaming schools of fish following bait.

[Walleye Express]

I am not a walleye guy, but have a few questions of my own.

On Saginaw Bay are mostly fishing open water or are you relating to some sort of structure?

In the fall/winter on Muskegon Lake, are you targeting the drop offs, and whatever weedbeds you can find or are you fishing open water? Are you trolling with meat, body baits, or crankbaits?

Mike.

Here's a quote that might answer your Muskegon Lake question from MR. Muskegon Lake himself Mark Martin, when he did a fish chat for our members on my fishing board. For those who want more knowledge about both the bay and the Saginaw River walleyes, heres the link to both fish chats with Mark Martin and Gary Parsons. http://www.saginawbay.com/appiesboard/viewforum.php?f=20&sid=548ce794160ff618e4dbcb2a4281f85d

[Message] capt.dan -> Fish Chat: Last Question: Capt: Dan Question. Mark. Many of our younger members are not old enough to remember that before your Pro fishing career, that you guided at night on the Muskegon Lake for trophy walleyes. I'm curious to know what your biggest Muskegon lake walleye was over the years, what your most successful cranksbaits were during that time and if you still guide at night on the Muskegon Lake?

[Message] Mark Martin -> Fish Chat: The biggest walleye I caught was when I was twelve years old fishing at night just before Thanksgiving. It was a fourteen pound, one ounce eye. My best lures was when I fished with Grandpa and Dad were homemade imitation looking Rapalas. When I did most of my guiding I used pretty much number thirteen floating Rapala's with glow eyes and glow tails and prisom tape along the lateral line of the lure. That's my favorite and most successful lure. I've caught many other walleyes on Shad Raps, spoon bill rebels, bombers, and many other lures including hopkins spoons.

Edited September 29, 2009 by Walleye Express

[Priority1]

I am not a walleye guy, but have a few questions of my own.

On Saginaw Bay are mostly fishing open water or are you relating to some sort of structure?

The short answer to this is Yes. See longer answer below.

A lot of our trolling is in open water with little if any noticeable structure. Sometimes we are fishing weed lines, rocky shorelines, shipping channel, and some real impressive humps. The game does change.