Freshwater Fishing Tips

By Anthony Michael

Your walleye fishing arsenal contains no piece of equipment more important than your walleye fishing rod. A walleye rod is like any other tool and you will find as you become more experienced that different rods are intended for different uses. Taking some time to select a walleye fishing rod will pay dividends when you hit the water.

There are far too many rods on the market for me to make any sort of specific recommendation. Rather than do that, I will simply highlight the important aspects of a good walleye setup and let you make your own choices.

In the early 1970s graphite rods hit the market and completely turned the business on its head. Graphite is lighter and far more sensitive than the old fiberglass rods that dominated the market before the 70s. Manufacturers have made a few forays into different materials, like boron, but the vast majority of rods are composed of graphite. Graphite is extremely sensitive, allowing the walleye fisherman to feel the bottom; rocks, weeds, and most important, a walleye bite. Sensitivity is extremely important when fishing for walleye. The old trick my dad did was to hold the rod tip against his voice box and have me feel the vibration in the handle when he talked. If you try this you better feel every last word or you have the wrong stick in your hand.

Rod manufacturers use a whole bunch of terminology when describing fishing rod characteristic. Light action, medium action, etc. To make things as simple as possible, we will stick with Fast Action and Medium Action for a good walleye fishing rod. Most good rods have a fast action. This means that most of it is rigid from the butt to the middle section, but has more bend in the end of the rod as it tapers to the tip. This allows the angler to cast lighter tackle and feel that light walleye bite. A medium action rod bends more in the middle section. If you like to troll crankbaits, you would probably favor a medium action walleye rod.
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Author: The WalleyeGuy

The very first walleye catching technique I was exposed to was trolling Shad Raps. I don’t recall the exact conditions, but I do know that it was September in Northern Minnesota, it was evening and we were fishing on a break where the water went from about 6 feet to 12 feet in a hurry. The guy that took me out just tied the lure straight on to the line, chucked it back about 50 yards and just started trolling along the break. We caught some pigs.

So, naturally, I have always had an affinity for fishing with crankbaits. In fact… I often am too dependent upon this lure and fish it despite the fact that conditions and results are telling me that doing so is hopeless. So I have gone home with nothing many nights because of my bull-headed refusal to switch to something else. So be careful.

Let’s step back a bit and review a couple of walleye fishing facts:

1. Walleye have very light sensitive eyes. They are therefore known to avoid very direct sunlight. You sometimes hear the term “walleye chop”. Fishermen often consider windy days an advantage because the wind produces a chop on the water that cuts down on the amount of sunlight, thus increasing the chances that walleyes will become active in shallower areas. For this same reason, evening fishing is an absolute prime time to catch walleyes in shallow areas. In low-light conditions walleyes can use their eyesight advantage to catch prey. Eating… a very important criteria for walleye survival .

2. There are almost always walleyes in shallow areas. This is a personal opinion shared by many. On the same lake that you find fishermen catching walleyes deep, you may also find fishermen catching walleyes shallow. Never neglect to look for walleyes in prime shallow areas. This should generally be an area with weed cover that holds baitfish.
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