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Finesse Walleyes with a Smile
by Dr. Guy Jensen for The Mack Attack, December 01, 2015
Fishing the river for walleyes is one of my favorite locations for these elusive culinary delights. The river has many advantages over fishing lakes. Most important is the fact that rivers are less affected by weather fronts than lakes. Secondly and very important to the fisherman, very large walleyes live most of the season in current breaks. If your goal is to fill the freezer with15 inch fillets on a particular day, the river is not your destination. I never keep a walleye over 17 inches for the frying pan. The nineteen inchers and over are the spawning stock, and releasing them will only improve the fishery over the years. The rivers and lakes which make up the system I fish, is one of the healthiest fisheries in the Midwest, definitely the best Wisconsin has to offer.
Every fisherman or fisherwoman who enjoys fishing moving water is quite familiar with all the classic presentations such as pulling flies on a three way, live bait presentations on the classic Wolf River Rig, named after the body of water where it got its start, and vertical jigging at a speed which is consistent with the speed of the current at the river bottom, regardless of conditions on the surface. These techniques are very productive, the very reason for their long time existence when fishing rivers for walleyes. The problem is what to do you when you are ready to launch your boat at the landing on your favorite river and you realize that Mother Nature has dealt you a hand you were not expecting. The wind is blowing in the opposite direction of the current flow so hard that it is impossible to maintain a vertical presentation even with your bow mount electric trolling motor pointing downstream. Add to that scenario that you launched your boat, motored to your favorite honey hole, and marked some huge fish relating to your " jig eating" rock pile where 21 to 25 inch walleyes are known to inhabit. This article will focus on a presentation using the patented Mack’s Lure Smile Blade to put the odds strictly in your favor for boating some large walleyes; regardless of the conditions on the water surface.
Anyone who fishes for Bass is quite familiar with a very subtle presentation known as "drop shoting". The technique which I am going to describe is drop shoting in reverse. The whole premise of drop shoting is to present the bait, live or plastic, in a very subtle but enticing manner. This is accomplished by imparting a very slow movement of the line while the bait does not change its horizontal position significantly. It is a much slower presentation than jigging, and you are basically dangling the bait right in front of their nose. Sooner or later the fish is going to strike because they cannot resist this tasty morsel for which they do not have to expend any energy to feast. The Smile Blade enables you to present your bait in the river with lots of side to side action without moving your boat position. No respectable walleye can pass up such an easy treat. The Smile Blade spins at speeds less than 1/4 MPH, which is usually faster than the normal current speed during the warmer weather months.
The tackle set up is very important for the success of this technique. I personally use a 7 foot 7 inch medium action bait casting rod. It is ideal for any river presentation where you are using either a bottom bouncer or three way swivel with a pencil lead weight on a dropper. Most important is a bait casting reel with a flippin' switch. The ability to constantly maintain bottom contact is crucial, which is the beauty of the flippin’ switch. My line of choice is 12 pound Power Pro which attaches to a 3 way swivel. In rivers where the bottom contour is constantly changing and is very "snaggy", I prefer a three way swivel with a dropper of 6 to 10 inches as opposed to a bottom bouncer. The dropper is 10lb. mono which attaches to a 1 to 1.5oz. lead pencil weight. When you are encountering a lot of snags, I will use a little heavier weight which enables you to keep your line at a 45 degree angle to lessen your chances of a snag. I recommend a tough mono like Berkeley Trilene XL or P- line for the dropper because of the constant contact with rocks which are usually covered with Zebra mussels, which will nick or actually cut your line. The sinker rarely gets snagged; it’s mostly the hook on the harness. The pencil sinker is one of the best tips I have learned when fishing 3-ways. Have you ever gone from one spot to another, only to find that during the ride your sinker is so wrapped around your line or rod that you have to cut everything, including your harness, to undo the mess? Carry some rubber bands in your tackle box, secure the pencil weight around the nearest guide, and you will never have that happen again!
Terminal tackle is the secret to your success. Mack's Lure has all the components for making your custom harness. My choice of for this technique is a single hook harness combined with one small Cha Cha float, and a 2mm bead in front of and in back of the float. I like to start with the 1.1 size Smile Blade. I drop down to the .8” if I am marking fish, but no bites, and I am fishing early season water temps. In the summer months I will upsize to the 1.5 Smile Blade. I also use a USA Chain Swivel™ (also provided by Mack’s Lure) on the end of the harness to connect to the 3-way. A split ring on a snap swivel attached to the 3-way makes it easy to change your rig. You probably are asking why not just use the Wally Pop or a Double Whammy Walleye? If you look at the picture of the various products on the website (www. MacksLure.com), the obvious difference between a retail and custom harness is the size of the lure. The presentation is a finesse technique. Bold is not gold in this scenario, subtle is the key. You want to attract the fish with a little flash, combined with a subtle action on your leech, minnow, or piece of crawler that entices them to eat. This is quite different from a faster presentation which elicits a reactionary strike. You also want a rig that floats to decrease the number of hang ups. The length of the harness can vary from 3.5 to 5ft in length. The shorter your leader, the shorter your dropper needs to be. I prefer to use 8 lbs. test in order to obtain the best action at slower speeds. The colors of the floats, beads, and blades are limited to your imagination. You have to take into consideration water clarity as well as the depth you are fishing. I tie up several combinations. The floating noodles that kids use in the pool make excellent, cheap, and light weight keepers for your harnesses.
Presentation may vary slightly, depending on wind, current, and mostly the feeding mode of the fish. I use this presentation pointing my bow downstream and using my Minn Kota Terrova Ipilot to overcome the wind blowing up stream, or getting back to my starting point motoring up stream. If I have spotted fish on my locator while slipping downstream without a bite while jigging vertically, I will take the same path upstream. My speed is just enough to be slightly moving against the current. If I am over big fish, I will hover over them using "spot lock" on the bow mount without any motion of my rod. The current is moving the blade, not the forward motion of the boat. If still no bite, I will then move the rod tip forward about six inches and them let it drop back. Bites can be aggressive, or so subtle that you think you are snagged. Sweep your rod forward to set the hook and watch your 6lb. "snag" give you a battle!
Over time, we all learn why the sport we love is called "fishing" not "catching". The finesse presentation is just another tool in your armamentarium to maybe change a very forgettable day into one that you
will always remember. There is no limit, other than your imagination, to apply the Smile Blade in presentations which will enhance your fish catching ability. Sheer frustration of my inability to present live bait in the river because of lousy wind conditions effecting boat control, led me to try and then fine tune this technique. You will catch very large Walleyes with this presentation. Please remember to handle these large fish carefully for a successful release after taking a good photo, especially if you are considering a graphite mount.
Good fishing!
