6/23 Inexperienced Walleye Report

[sloch24]

My wife and I went out around 9:30 from Meinke West (Anchor Point).

We followed the GPS toward the turnaround buoy until we saw a large pack of boats between the buoy and West Sister. We stayed about 3/4 mile from the pack and got the boat set up for trolling.

I have a 27' I/O, so we have to run trolling bags (Amish Outfitter x 2).

We ran worm harnesses behind 2 oz inline sinkers behind Offshore Tackle planer boards.

Both the Gold/Green harnesses with painted/gold blades, and the gold/red harnesses with copper blades seemed to work about the same.

I also wasn't sure on the depth, and think I was running the bait too low most of the time

My autopilot doesn't like when the boat is getting tossed up and down, so we just followed the pack and trolled across the current (North in this case).

We picked up 2 19" walleye within the first 30 minutes, then another 2 about an hour later, and another one before we left.

We ended up with 5 total. Not bad I guess for the first time out in 2 years for Walleye. I hope to get better in time, and maybe mix it up a bit the next time we go out (spoons, bottom bouncers, etc...)

I know my next upgrade needs to be my fish finder. I'm living in 2003 with what I have now. I'm seriously considering either an Elite, or HDS by Lowrance. That will be one hell of an upgrade from my tiny little Raymarine unit that was on the boat when I bought it used back in 2010. Either way, this will be a winter project.

Next trip out I want to try some Tripz divers that I've had for about 5 years now and never got wet.

We normally target the perch mostly, but decided to see if we could get in on some of this fast and furious walleye action we've been hearing so much about!!

Comments/Opinions/Tips/Tricks/Prayers welcome!

[Riches]

try spoons trolling with 40 divers 50 to75 back

[BILLY JOE]

try running your weight on harness up about 6 foot in front of it or use a snap weight or rubber band to attach weight half way up line like let out 30ft then attach weight let out another 30 ft then hook to board you can run spoons with weight same way but most use jet divers try different weights like 1 ounce let out more line to go deeper till you figure out what works care full on turns inside weights may sink down and hit bottom

[itsbob]

Sloch 24,With all the reports of plentifull and quick limits,you probably thought you would have gotten more than 5 for the two of you.Sometimes takes a couple trips to get dialed in,especially since have not fished in a couple years.We have trolled harnesses a lot in the last 15yrs I have trolled.The set up you used should catch fish,but sometimes its the little things that make the difference.About 4yrs ago I switched to the offshore #2 tadpoles instead of sinkers and really like them.I would recommend you buy 2 or 4 and try them out.You mentioned you might have been too deep.Putting the lures at the proper depth is probably the most important part in trolling.You have to have dive charts for all the lures,divers and weights you have.You can find that all online.That being said,I could still catch fish without those charts.What you do is spread out your depths/leads to cover the water column you are fishing.Then whatever lead catches,you match that with the other rods.For the past two seasons,i have found that spoons have been outfishing the harnesses.The charters are killing them with the Tru Trip 40 and spoons.The tru trip 40s pull too hard for your inline boards but the Tru trip 30s will work and I have already used them this season with spoons.But lately,we have been running our spoons behind #1 dipseys and have been doing very well.Once you get used to the dipseys,they are much quicker to use than boards.We often will run dipseys and boards together quite effectively too.Keep reading these posts and you will learn a lot,or go out with a charter like Porkchop or Juls that also use inline boards.That really helps the learning curve.

[branhamautomotive]

You can run 40tt behind standard offshore boards even with tattle flags, the new flags help this alot as the a much lower rear eyelet location that the pull arm for the flag to run through.

I have been pulling them behind my offshore boards for 3 or 4 years now this way when I get the chance to fish my own boat.

[sloch24]

Thanks for the advice guys. I hope to get out again soon and try some of your suggestions!

[Eyezcrazy]

90% of the trollers who use divers are using tru trips. The trip z is a cheap knockoff that has a completely different dive curve and requires you to let out much more line. If you are trying to duplicate the programs you see posted on here a lot you need to run tru trips. If you aren’t hitting the strike zone you won’t catch many fish.

[sloch24]

90% of the trollers who use divers are using tru trips. The trip z is a cheap knockoff that has a completely different dive curve and requires you to let out much more line. If you are trying to duplicate the programs you see posted on here a lot you need to run tru trips. If you aren’t hitting the strike zone you won’t catch many fish.

Not sure if the Walker Tripz is the diver that you're referring to as a cheap knockoff, but that's the diver I'm running.

I'll have to compare the dive curves and see how different they are.

Thanks for the info.

[Eyezcrazy]

[QUOTE=sloch24;66364]Not sure if the Walker Tripz is the diver that you're referring to as a cheap knockoff, but that's the diver I'm running.

I'll have to compare the dive curves and see how different they are.

Here is the dive curve for the tripz. No where near what the trutrip does. And tripz’s are made in China.

TripZ Divers

The TripZ Diver is the new era of controlled depth fishing. Walker created a buoyant floating diver that will release on strike. The TripZ Diver features an adjustable release with a set screw to adjust the tension on the release. This will allow the TripZ Diver to rise towards the surface for easy retrieve. The TripZ Diver also features a fish attracting rattle inside and the best fish catching colors.

FEATURES:
Releases on Strike
Revolutionary Buoyant Diving Planer System
Adjustable Release Tension
3 Depth Settings
Fish Attracting Rattle
Easy to Retrieve
Available Sizes:
Size 20: Dives 20 Feet
Size 30: Dives 30 Feet
Size 40: Dives 40 Feet
Depth Chart:

Size 20 – 10lbs Mono

Line Out (ft)
20
45
85
115
Depth (ft)
5
10
15
20
Size 30 - 30lbs Mono

Line Out (ft). Depth
35. 10
80. 15
125. 20
200. 30
Depth (ft)

Size 40 - 30lbs. Mono

Line Out (ft)
35
105
190
250
Depth (ft)
10
20
30

[sherman51]

for walleye on erie I run 1.8 to 2.0 with harnesses. with small spoons from galeforcetackle.com I run 2.8 to 3.0 and have been running these speeds for yrs with great luck. in rough water I try to run as close as possible which might be 1.5 to 2.6 o the spoons and 2.5 to 3.5 on the spoons. last yr and this yr the spoon bite has been awesome. last yr in july I was using lite bite slide divers like dipsies and was catching a 5 man limit with 6 rods in less than 4 hrs running spoons. if I was fishing the west sister area I would try between west sister and the turn around. its to the ne of west sister.

if using clip on or inline weights they are very speed sensitive. the slower you go the deeper you get, the faster you go the more they rise. if I was flat lining or with boards I would be using rednekoutfitters.com inline weights with the dive chart for reference only its not 100% right. for the western basin i'd start with 2 oz. for deeper water to the east i'd use the 3 oz. once you find the fish and they are everywhere just try a different area. use about a 6' 20# fluro leader behind the inline weights, hope something i've said helps you get fish. these are mph speeds on my gps.


you can try faster speeds with spoons if your marking fish and not getting them at 3.0. try going 3.5 and see if it helps.