Tickling Weeds for Walleyes in Summer

by Al Lindner

There’ an old saying, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” When fishing weedbeds for walleyes, you can beat the weeds with a variety or lures, baits and tactics; but if you can’t make your lures either slash through the outer fringe or slip between the stalks, your lure becomes entangled. There’ nothing worse than pitching into a weedbed full of walleyes and coming back with green instead of gold. 

The key is often to slip and slither, tickle and touch your way through the foliage without undue snagging. Or to nip and tuck just enough of the fringes to break cleanly through the outer fronds and fibres, sending your jig, crankbait or spinner exploding like a panicked minnow in flight for its life. If being a weed sneak doesn’t do it for you, then going on a tear sometimes will.

Weeds are the natural lake equivalents of wood cover in reservoirs, with one major distinction: weeds are continually changing, rather than static. They sprout, they flourish, they thicken—sometimes to a perfect degree for use by walleyes and other gamefish, and sometimes growing too thick to permit fish usage. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing, and fish leave for, dare we say it, greener pastures?

Some weed types grow only in the shallows. Others sprout considerably deeper, making them better candidates for more than occasional walleye use. In most northern natural lake environments, talk stalks of leafy cabbage, and thicker, bushier fronds of coontail are your predominant weeds for walleyes. Fish may also relate to sandgrass (chara)—a low-growing carpet that sprouts both shallower and deeper than the taller, standing weed types. Emergent reeds and cane draw feeding walleyes in the shallows, and are prime fishing locales in fertile, darker-water prairie or farm-country waters.

There’ no saying that you should just fish one or two weed types just because they’re easier to fish than others. Remember—fish ‘em where they live, when they live there.

Weeds keep changing and evolving throughout the year. When they’re right, they attract plenty of baitfish and forage. When they’re not, the fish leave. By mid-fall, for example, most shallow weeds begin dying and lose their cluster and luster. When this occurs, the remaining outer stands of deepest green weeds rimming the basin become the seasonal finale of weed-related activity. It’ always a good idea to avoid dead or dying weedgrowth, and instead focus on the best available weed habitat at that stage of the season.
You can run your boat over deep weedbeds to get a good idea of their health while viewing them with your electronics or an Aqua-Vu underwater camera. But in the end, there’ no substitute for a hands-on approach. Cast into a weedbed, interpret what you feel, and see what you bring back draped on your lure. If it’ green and healthy, not too thick yet not too thin, and lying at the right depth, it indicates a good candidate area for hosting walleyes in the weeds.

Hands-On Casting Tactics
I prefer to fish weed walleyes with a hands-on approach, meaning by casting to them, most of the time. Actually, I’m casting to, working and interpreting the weedgrowth. By biting, walleyes let me know where, when and how I’m doing it correctly.

In most instances, I use about 6’ 6”medium Shimano spinning gear spooled with 8-to 10-pound-test monofilament. The line must be soft and flexible enough to cast small lightweight lures, yet sufficiently tough and durable to withstand the continual punishment of weed contact. Berkley Tri-Maxx has sufficient power for hook-setting and fighting fish up and out of the weeds, and facilitates an upward wrist snap when I want to break my lure free from the growth. This simple yet critical maneuver makes all the difference between a clean and efficient system, and continually uprooting the jungle in frustration.
Jigs—Lightweight round jigs are easily my favorite tactic for this approach. I can tip a 1/16- to 1/8-ounce jighead with a live minnow or softbait imitation, pitch it into the weeds, and expect to get bit if walleyes are present.

As a small open-hook jig settles onto the weeds, it hangs up just enough to help sense the type and thickness of the growth when I raise the rod tip to put a little pressure on the line. If the jig doesn’t slide free under tension, then give your rod a firm upward wrist-snap; all but the thickest, softest weeds should break, sending your jig gliding. When the jig runs out of momentum, it then slowly sinks like a wounded minnow. This panic-vulnerability sequence is a real trigger in most conditions. Note, however, that it works best with lighter jigs that don’t plunge and bury in the weeds.
Some weeds, like dense coontail, may simply be too dense and spongy to fish with an open-hook jig; you consistently foul the jig and uproot the stalk, rather than being able to snap and cleanly break it. In this event, switch to a weedless jig like a Lindy Veg-E-Jig, which features a pointed nose to more easily slip between weeds; a light wire weedguard to protect the hook point; and a sufficiently stout hook to allow you to heave-ho and haul a walleye up and out of the growth.
Don’t fight walleyes down at the base of a weed clump, or you won’t get ‘em out. Stick ‘em hard, and in the first few seconds, try to lift and move fish a few feet outside before they know what hit ‘em. Then fight them in relatively open water.

Jig Spinners--In recent years, jig spinners resembling the original Johnson Beetle Spin have experienced a rebirth in walleye circles, largely through the efforts of tournament anglers fishing weeds or shallow shoreline cover. Simply clip a small bent-wire-arm spinner onto the eye of your favorite jig, add a 3- to 4-inch softbait or livebait to spice up the combo, and work it much like a jig. The added flash and vibration, and slower drop speed due to the water resistance of the spinning blade, make it an ideal weed combo—and helps minimize snags to boot. Cast it, swim it, pause it to helicopter slowly downward before pumping the rod tip and surging it upward again.
Fancasting Cranks--Despite the common fear of snagging treble hooks in weedgrowth, crankbaits are among your best casting lures for covering extensive weed flats. Providing, of course, that you select the proper lure shape, action and, most importantly, running depth to match the height and thickness of the weeds. Ideally, you want the bait to run just deep enough to brush and rustle the tops of the highest strands, hanging up only occasionally, yet not so firmly as to prevent a wrist-snap from freeing the bait. Nothing’ worse than choosing a lure that runs too deep, continually plowing the fields. You’re far better off using a lure that runs slightly shallower; walleyes tend to hit free-running crankbaits better than bass do, although there’ no doubt that occasionally touching the cover ensures that the lure is in the fish zone.

Mimic the hatch when casting cranks for walleyes. It might be long, thin minnow imitators to match shiners, or Shad Raps to match shad or perch. In general, something narrower and subtler than you’d choose for bass. Match lure colors and patterns to both water clarity and forage type, using something visible. It’ OK to err on the brighter side with clown or fire tiger in darker water; walleyes routinely hit shades of orange, yellow and chartreuse in low-visibility conditions.

Suspending lures like Husky Jerks are among your best baits if you can run them cleanly above the weed tops. If not, stick to lures that float back up when paused. I like Rapala’ high-flotation balsa construction for that purpose, and for their subtle wiggles during slow, fairly steady retrieves. It’ OK to pump and pause crankbaits occasionally, but don’t overdo it. You definitely don’t have to pound and deflect them off cover when fishing for walleyes, whereas bass often prefer erratic changes of lure speed and direction.
If you need to cast lightweight balsa baits a bit farther, or rip the weed tops more effectively, switch to nostretch Berkley FireLine. This is particularly true when casting lures along the edges of deep weedlines, or plunging them down into lanes between clumps. When you want to keep your lures up and above cover, however, mono has more water resistance, makes lures run shallower, and is usually a better choice.
Casting Slip Bobbers—Sometimes, weeds are just too thick to penetrate, and you must fish above the cover or along the edges, and draw fish out to the bait. The slow, dangling presentation of a slip bobber and livebait may be the answer. Floating bogs in Wisconsin and Michigan flowages are a good example; the fish tuck under the mass of buoyant vegetation, but a slip bobber leech cast to the edge and paused there may lure them out for a look-see.

Slip bobbers are also great for fishing above thick weedbeds that don’t reach the surface. The key is suspending the bait at or just above the level of the highest stalks. Cast out and let the bobber drift across potential weed flats. Pockets of hard bottom forming weee-free holes in weedbeds are prime spots. At night, anchor and fancast lighted floats across sandgrass or coontail flats for walleyes cruising the shallows. The outer edges of reedbeds are candidates as well.

Hands-On Trolling
All the aforementioned tactics are geared to probe into and above weeds to some degree, particularly around pockets, openings and lanes. Where weeds form a dense, fairly straight and consistent edge, however, trolling may become a better option. Especially along the deep outer edge bordering a dropoff to deeper water.
The easiest way to tickle the weed fringe while trolling is to use a bullet sinker livebait rig with a short snell and weedless hook. The pointed sinker slithers between sparse stalks, the short (say, 15-inch) snell doesn’t wrap around weeds like a longer one would, and the hook point is protected from grabbing and snagging the greenery. Tip it with a leech, minnow or crawler in sparse weeds, or switch to a Power Bait or Gulp! minnow, crawler or other livebait imitator when the weeds are thick or tough enough to play havoc with livebait. Troll slowly along with your electric motor, parallel to the weedline, moving slightly in or out of the edge, using your sense of feel to alternately touch and rub, then slip and slide back outside.

You can also use one of Lindy’ No Snagg Center Slip Sinkers for this approach. It’ more weedless than a traditional walking sinker, and will writhe between sparse weed stalks, trailing the bait along behind. Or, to fish slightly outside the fringe, switch to a regular No Snagg sinker that stands more upright and taps along bottom. In this more open water, you have the option to use a plain hook, a weedless hook, or a floating jighead tipped with livebait. If there’ a carpet of low-lying sandgrass adjacent to the taller standing weeds, a floating jighead will position your bait up above the sandgrass, reducing snags while keeping the bait visible at all times.

Want more speed? Substitute a small spinner and short snell for the single hook in any of the above presentations. Most of the time, I’d go with a single hook version to present a grub, minnow or shorter bait than a crawler, simply for efficiency. This is one instance where a 3- or 4-inch Gulp! Minnow or Minnow Grub definitely shines. It combines shape, color, scent, taste and action when trolled behind a #2 or #3 spinner blade. And best of all, it’ durable, and will withstand the incessant tugs of both weeds and nuisance panfish.

Perennial Persuasion
As you can see, there are many different ways to fish weeds for walleyes. I prefer hands-on casting techniques, most of the time, when the fish are up inside the weeds, extending out toward an edge. Even near a distinct edge, there are usually subtle variations like pockets and lanes, thicker or higher clumps, or changes in weed type or density that you’d otherwise miss if you didn’t probe the growth and feel them for yourself. And where a weededge is sparse and variable, every cast is a lesson in adjustment and interpretation—moving in or out, shallower or deeper, modifying retrieves or switching lure styles. Pay attention, and you’ll catch more walleyes than with a simple straightforward trolling approach.
When walleyes relate heavily to a distinct outer (deeper) weededge, the odds begin tipping toward a livebait rigging presentation. If they’re positioned along, just inside, or slightly outside the weeds, you don’t need to waste time casting to them. Just slowly troll a bait past their noses, tickling the fringe of the weedgrowth from time to time to ensure you’re in the fish zone. It’ still a hands-on approach to maximize feel and interpretation; it’ just more efficient to keep your bait down there working for you 100% of the time.
For most folks, fishing weeds for bass, pike or panfish comes naturally. But for walleyes, it does not come near as easily. There’ a mental hurdle to overcome, rooted in the fear of snagging traditional open-water walleye systems in the growth. The solution is to either adapt those familiar methods to the conditions, or adopt new ones that are better suited to fishing the forest.