by Keith Kavajecz and Gary Parsons

We all want the same thing this time of year. Whether you’re a tournament
fisherman looking for the big score, or a week-end angler out to enjoy your time
on the water – when it comes to summer walleye fishing we’re all looking for
Action! Action is the name of the game; Action in the form of aggressive fish and
lots of them. The more bites you get and the more walleyes you catch and the
happier you’ll be. So if it’s Action you’re after, then it’s Action you should be
thinking about … your bait’s action that is. No matter if its crankbaits, jigs or rigs,
the action of the offering will play a key role in your walleye fishing success this
time of year.

Even with the most basic of angling techniques used for summer walleye
fishing – live bait rigging, action is important to catching more fish. For years, a
juicy nightcrawler rigged on a plain hook and run behind a bottom bouncer or slipsinker has caught walleyes throughout the country. But there always seems to
be those times when even this proven tactic just will not produce to our
expectations. The obvious next step would be to go with a more aggressive
tactic and run that same crawler on a spinner harness. The combination of the
spinner along with the increased speed of the presentation is obviously a big
change in the action compared to the live bait rigging. But many times it may
actually be too much action – or the wrong type of action for the situation. That’s
where Slow Death Rigging comes in.

Slow Death rigging is a rigging tactic much like a regular live bait rig or
bottom-bouncer rig, but it utilizes a very special hook, Mustad’s Slow Death Hook
(model 33862), which when baited with a nightcrawler, or in most cases just half
a crawler, creates an enticing “slow rolling” action to the offering that walleyes
and other fish find irresistible. Again … It’s all in the action – or at least in finding
the right action that will trigger bites under the circumstances you’re fishing.
Another great example of putting Action in your favor would be when
contour trolling with lead core line. Obviously you’re going to want a crankbait at
the end of your line that puts out an action that will call in and trigger walleyes.

But another action you really want to pay attention too when contour trolling with
lead core is the action of the line and lure together. It’s that action that allows you
to precisely put the lure in the strike zone consistently. Because of its bulky
nature, lead core line has a lot of water resistance; therefore you can control the
depth the line runs by controlling the speed of the boat. Speed up, and the
resistance on the line pushes it up toward the surface. Slow down, and the
weight of the line pulls the lure deeper. By watching your depth finder closely and
controlling your speed, you can “walk” a lure up and down a breakline to cover a
strike zone better than with many other presentations. Another factor in this
technique of course is the crankbait itself. No doubt, small crankbaits like the
Berkley 4cm and 5cm Flicker Shad excel for lead core trolling because the
smaller baits react more quickly to the lead core and it’s depth changes than do
similar baits in larger sizes. In other words, the “re-action” of the lure and the line
together is the right “action” for this fishing scenario.

One presentation where action really stands out as a key factor is jigging.
A quarter ounce jig is just a quarter ounce jig. That is until you dress it with a soft
bodied tail that moves with the slightest current in the water, and then you add
your own hops, jiggles and pops to the offering. And with a myriad of jig sizes
and body shape combinations available today, the possible variations in action
are almost infinite (or at least seem that way sometimes). The thing to keep in
mind when targeting a good jigging bite is what type of action will trigger the
most bites that day. Sometimes it will be the fast fall and quick response of a
heavy jig while other situations will call for a small jig dressed to give it a slow
seductive fall or swimming action. For instance, you’d be amazed at the
difference in action you’ll get from say an 1/8 ounce jig dressed with a 2 ½ inch
Berkley GULP Minnow and that same jig dressed with a 4 inch GULP Minnow.
The bigger tail will sink much slower and have a much more lethargic action than
the smaller offering. Experimenting with various sizes and shapes of tails when
jig fishing will help you fine tune the presentation.

Want more action in your walleye fishing this season? Try paying a little
more attention to the action of your presentations – it will surely help you get
your Next Bite.

Editors Note:

If you have questions or comments on this or other articles from Gary Parsons

and Keith Kavajecz, visit their website http://www.thenextbite.com.