ON THE MOVE
To consistently catch walleye on the troll, you need to know when to change your speed and show the fish something different
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For early-season fish, drag jigs in shallow waterJIGS
In the spring, walleye move to the warmest areas of a lake to dine on small aquatic creatures that are emerging from the mud. A jig tipped with a leech or a small minnow nicely mimics those early-season food sources. While some anglers like to flip jigs towards shallow-water structure then work them back to the boat, I prefer to slowly troll my jigs at 0.3 to 0.6 mph.
In the early season, I typically troll a ¼-ounce jig and let out enough line until I can feel bottom, then give the rod tip a subtle flick once in a while to instill some action. Whenever I feel any kind of resistance, I set the hook. During the summer, meanwhile, I’ll drag a ½-ounce to ⅝-ounce jig tipped with a soft-plastic bait—my go-to is a Mister Twister Double Tail—at speeds of one to 1.5 mph to produce walleye.
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