In 1974, while casting to rock reefs on a Canadian Shield lake, I “discovered” a new walleye killer—the Rebel Suspending Deep Wee R. When the lure smacked a rock at depths of about 7 feet, I paused it. The bait hovered, not floating up like all the other crankbaits of the day. Suspending at the spot where it clicked the rock, the Wee R waited until a curious walleye could find it, stalk it, and devour it.
Those early suspending baits outproduced every other option we tried on the reefs during the ensuing week up on the Shield. The classic options for Canadian walleyes in those days included drifting with spinner rigs dressed with nightcrawlers weighted with anything from a split shot to Dan Gapen’s Bait Walker, or trolling with lures like Helin’s Flatfish or floating Rapalas weighted with one or two split shot on the line and trolled deeper with three-way rigs. Jigs and minnows or plastic grubs worked, too, but nothing outproduced the tight wobbling Wee-R on rock points and reefs.
I couldn’t wait to see what innovations might follow this breakthrough idea. It was a long wait—about a quarter of a century, in fact. Yawning apathetically, 1970s America was unconcerned and unprepared for neutrally buoyant fishing lures.
Well, we’re ready now. Suspending baits are all the rage. Huge lure companies and workbench manufacturers alike are churning out “jerks” and making a small fortune selling them. But, as so often happens, in our haste to try new and different things, old standbys are forgotten. Doctoring floating baits to suspend or nearly suspend and using sinking minnows along with the “new wave” suspending baits combine to form a potent three-pronged attack for walleyes all season long. We call them slashbaits.
When seasons open in most states and provinces, walleyes are shallow, following their ancient postspawn routines. Still expanding out and away from the big bang (spawning), ravenous from the double-dip energy deficit created by winter stress and spawning rigors, walleyes roam the agreeable shallow flats. Agreeable because the water remains cool in the 2- to 8-foot depths in spring; agreeable because, cool though it may be, a shallow flat is warmer than deeper flats, drawing baitfish by the billions; and agreeable because perch are staging or beginning to spawn on those flats.
Imagine Rodney Dangerfield wandering through the wilderness. He gets hungry out there. “My kingdom for a liver sandwich,” he mumbles. “And I hate liver.” Weeks pass. Finally, over the next dune, a smorgasbord appears. Rodney dives in, providing a perfect example of what it’s like for walleyes immediately after spawning. They bite with authority, so why play cat and mouse? Stroke ‘em with slashbaits.
SlashBaits
The “slashbait” is In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange’s term for all kinds of nonfloating minnowbaits, including doctored floating baits (lures drilled, filled, or altered in some way to suspend or fish deeper). The concept is to slash and burn the flats, rippin’, jerkin’, ‘n smokin’ away at those hungry walleyes, in depths and corners that can’t efficiently be trolled, at speeds that jig fishermen alternately dream of and scoff at.
Jigs are just fine—for numbers. But for finding walleyes, at least sometimes, nothing beats a little slash-n-burn. And for trophies, it’s the odds-on thing. Sort through a few thousand walleyes to get an 8 with jigs. On good water, with slashbaits, sort through a hundred or so to find a 10.
