Way Of The Walleye CD Rom: Toss Hook Often
Fishing Summer Peak Rivers: Toss Hook Often
by CD RomCo
This information is
presented as promotional material for Way of the Walleye CD Rom
and is protected by copyright. © 1996 CD RomCo and its Licensors
When fishing a small river from a boat, bring an anchor and toss the hook often, keying on visible eddies, current breaks, intersections of inlet streams with the main river. Cast and drift a lightly weighted split shot rig, rolling livebait along, barely off bottom until you hit that portion of the pool where your line suddenly stops. Fish on. Watch and study an eddy long enough and you'll witness subtle shifts in current flow that occasionally force fish to move a few feet or inches to remain just out of the flow, yet close enough to dash out and grab a passing meal. Seems like these gentle nudges of forced activity move fish from their resting stupor, perhaps convincing them to take another look at your bait or lure. Also look for shallow gravel tongues, trees that may have fallen, large boulders either submerged or showing, weed areas either in the form of long thin grass or a miniature version of cabbage. Each of these areas is worth exploring - even if only for a few casts. You never know when you could pick up your shore lunch.
Fishing
small rivers from shore:
Try casting
upstream, beyond the boulders, crank the lure down,
and run it with
the current, bouncing bottom
along the edge of the current break. Eight- or
ten-pound line will do. A snap on the
end of the line
facilitates lure changes. Favorite
lures for rivers
with a fair walleye population include baits like the #7 Fat Rap, usually in a
gold-minnow pattern; the 2 1/2 inch Bill Lewis
Rat-L-Trap, in an orange-bellied
craw pattern; or a weight-forward
spinner like the
Mepps Walleye Killer with a crawler,
minnow, or 3-inch plastic
shad body on the
hook. The weight-forward spinner fishes best
across current, quartered to it,
or upstream. If you can't fish from shore, wade upstream.
It's the most effective way to
make presentations. Begin
with the Fat Rap
or the Rat-L-Trap from well below the eddy
or pool below the current break.
First make casts to the quiet water.
Then move forward
to cast to the head of the current
break. Finally,
move even with the current break,
snap on the
weight-forward spinner, and fish it crosscurrent
and down current throughout the
same areas. Work quickly with vibrating baits.
Slow down with weight-forward
spinners.