How to catch walleye anywhere, any time, with the most versatile lure of all

‘Eye candy

Many walleye anglers have difficulty deciding whether they should dress a jig with a soft-plastic minnow, grub or worm, or use the real thing. As a general rule, when walleye are demanding a tediously slow presentation and/or when the water is cold, clear and moving slowly or there’s no current at all, live bait is generally the ticket. But when the fish are actively feeding, the water is warm, slightly stained, weedy and/or there’s plenty of current, soft-plastic dressings often work better. Soft-plastics also give you a much greater range and variety of dressing sizes, profiles and colours. And while some anglers still find it hard to believe, fish find that the new scent-impregnated plastics smell and taste better than the real thing. Still undecided? Then mix and match. For example, there’s nothing stopping you from lip-hooking a lively minnow on a jig dressed with a colourful twister tail. In fact, many days when I can’t find a bait shop selling large minnows, I’ll do this to give my jig the size, shape, profile and colour I want.