Casting-Swimming Spoons—Miniature standard spoons like the Acme Little Cleo, Eppinger Dardevle Midget, Northland Fire-eye Minnow, or #8 Len Thompson provide an additional casting option for shallow-water walleyes. Small spoons (1/8- to 2/5-ounce) cast well on 8- to 10-pound test, swim over weeds nearly reaching the surface, and flutter downward a few feet on the pause. Hold the rod tip high while reeling. If the treble hangs up, give a quick wrist snap to pop and flutter the lure free, potentially triggering strikes. Spoons can be surprisingly effective on fertile prairie lakes with dark water and patchy weed cover, where fishing is concentrated in less than 4 feet of water.
Narrower spoons like the Mepps Syclops (light) and Luhr-Jensen Krocodile (heavy) defy description, since they’re versatile enough to function as vertical jigging, trolling, and casting spoons.
For a heavier, faster-moving casting option, try some of the 1/2- to 3/4-ounce jigging spoons mentioned earlier. Cast, swim, pop, and retrieve ‘em across sand-rock-gravel flats, across weed tops and down into pockets, or down sloping shoreline points. They’re great when fish are spread across expansive areas—even suspended. On a long cast, pop the rod tip up, then reel up slack while dropping the rod tip, repeating all the way back to the boat. Spoons come through weeds somewhat easily if you jig and retrieve simultaneously, keeping the spoon just above the weed tops. If snags are abundant, try a small version of a more weedless Johnson Silver Minnow, Mepps Ultra Lite Timber Doodle, or Normark Rapala Minnow Spoon, using a slow swimming retrieve.
Straight-Shaft Spinners and Spinnerbaits—Spinners, like spoons, are considered more of a multispecies lure than a walleye lure, but they produce walleyes under the right conditions. Straight-shaft spinners like the Mepps Aglia, Panther Martin, Worden’s Roostertail, and Blue Fox Vibrax or Vibrax Minnow Spin excel at straight retrieves just beneath the surface, skirting over the tops of weeds, rocks, or submerged wood. Storm’s Pygmy Spin features a snap clevis with interchangeable blades. They’re ideal for shallow riffles in rivers and great for smallmouths and trout. They don’t flutter well, however, and treble versions snag easily when they contact cover. Stick to small to midsize models with #2 or #3 blades.
Safety-pin spinnerbaits are primarily bass-pike lures, but will, under the right conditions, produce walleyes in cover like reeds, cane, or flooded wood. Stick to smaller 1/8- and 1/4-ounce models, primarily tandems, for straight retrieves. Examples: Northland Reed Runner, Strike King Mirage, Hart Throb, or Horizon Ghost Minnow. Or try a spinner jig like a Johnson Beetle Spin, Blakemore Road Runner, or Bass Pro Shops Stump Jumper.
Bladebaits—Bladebaits like the straight-bodied Heddon Sonar, Bullet Blade, Cordell Gay Blade or Silver Buddy, and the curved-bodied Reef Runner Cicada or Rippletail are thrumming, vibrating metal baits that sink at rest. Work them similarly to spoons for casting or vertical jigging. The main difference is that they vibrate hardest on the upward surge, less on the fall. Spoons tend to exhibit less action on the rise, while they flutter and flash as they fall.
Avoid a slack-line drop to enhance sensitivity to strikes. Lower the lure with your rod tip to choose drop speeds anywhere from almost a free fall to a slow lowering. Touch or bounce bottom, but avoid laying the lure on bottom to minimize snags. About 7-foot medium-heavy spinning or casting gear spooled with 10-pound-test mono is best.
