The Program for Catching Walleye
6 Years ago I was a newbie in this forum. I was just switching from drifting and casting to trolling. I read a ton of info on here and didn't post a thing. I absorbed information like a sponge and felt like I was a fly on the wall watching seasoned fishermen and real live charter captains sharing information! As long as I kept watching and no one knew I was here, then the charter captains would keep sharing secrets... But surely if I spoke up, they would shut down and get quite. Then I finally did it, I reached out and said something. Actually, I asked a question...
To my surprise I got a warm welcome, lots of answers, and even an invite to call Skipper9 (Captain Jim) on his cell phone. I was a little nervous calling such a knowledgeable wealth of information. I mean I was trolling Dipsy Divers and getting skunked, then reading the forums and seeing what a great day others had in the same area. When I read Wakina and Skipper 9's and others posts they used terms like, "TT" and "120 Back."
I didn't know what "TT" was, and thought 120 Back meant that you let you line out and "counted" to 120... They used what I thought was a private inside language and abbreviated everything so none of us newbies knew what they were talking about. Things like "DDHJ" and "RRs" and they even talked about "Tuning their RR"... Whatever that was?!
When you switch from casting and drifting for 35 years and never trolled anything but a couple of worm harnesses and even an Erie Deerie or two, you have a lot to learn.
So I called Captain Jim. He answered! He picked up pretty quick that I had no clue what I was talking about, and even less as to what he was talking about. I had no idea what he meant by "Big Boards" so when he asked, "Are you using Big Boards or Offshores?" I quickly said, "yeah." Not knowing what either were I felt that a good confident, "yep" was a good answer. Truth is, we had some offshores but I didn't know that was what they were called, but we never used them, we had just been trolling 4-6 rods out the back of our 27' Sportcraft for the past 2 seasons.
I was afraid to ask him if I could charter him just to learn how to troll, and then he suggested it. He said, why don't you go out with me sometime and I'll show you how we do it. One thing led to another and one day when I was up at the Lake, Captain Jim called me and asked if I was up there. He had just gone out in the morning and limited out, had some time to kill and invited me on an evening trip with just him and his first mate "Uncle Ronnie." We went out just SE of Kelly's and caught 4-5 nice Walleye in about an hour. He walked me through step by step. He gave me all kinds of great tips, he asked me about what type of gear I was using and then explained to me how to use what I had in comparison with his.
I had never met a Charter Captain so willing to share information and help. I mean, I owned my own Sportcraft and didn't hire a charter when I wanted to fish. He knew that I was wanting to copy his techniques and learn so that I could go fishing on my own boat.
Now, I know what a TT is, a RR, the difference between Offshores and Big Boards... Tadpoles vs Dipsy's , I don't need to ask a followup question when someone says, "60 Back on a RR with a 2oz inline." While most guys in this forum read this and know all of that stuff as well as common vocabulary, we all started fresh one day without a clue. Thanks to guys in this forum like Skipper 9; Wakina, Hoytman, FishonPhil and many many others in here I am now at a point where I am confident in my skills and knowledge to help others.
4 years ago I got a 30' GLS and set it up to troll. I have it docked at Channel Grove Marina with Skipper9 and Spoonfeeder Charters. Spoonfeeder Charters (Larry) who I met at Channel Grove and is a great friend on and off the water. I use big boards now and can troll 16 lines and make turns in a pack like a pro! (As long as my lines are short!)
I am not affiliated with nor paid by Skipper 9 and Eyehunter Charters. Although I do consider Jim, Erik, Sean, DJ, BK, Bobby and the whole Eyehunter gang great friends.
This may seem like a plug for Skipper 9, but it isn't. I assure you that I posted this as a solid "Thank You!" for this forum, and a great group of guys. He happen to reach out and make the biggest difference in my Walleye fishing life. But also I want to encourage anyone reading these forums that are struggling to learn to ask your questions. Engage in conversation. Use the knowledge of the guys in here to learn to fish better and keep your lines tight.
There are other sites that have good fishing reports. Some people post their fishing reports in here too, for that we are all grateful. But reading fishing reports are pointless if you don't know the program! If you don't understand the techniques and presentation needed, you can see the fish stacked on your sonar and never catch them.
Thanks To All! and don't be shy. When I see that there are 79 viewing this forum, and only 8 logged in members I am sure there are plenty of "seekers" that need to join and post some questions and some who have info to share that are keeping it to themselves.
-Matt Gaiser
