It probably began with a catfisherman fishing from the bank, tossing out a piece of cutbait and a heavy sinker, plunking it down to the bottom in moderately heavy current, then waiting for a bite. That’s one way to three-way—although there’s more than one way to skin said cat.
Walleyewise, three-way sit-and-soak tactics likely originate back to the walleye run on the Wolf River, Wisconsin, where hordes of anglers gather every spring to intercept spawning migrations of walleyes and white bass. Hence the regional name Wolf River Rig, designed to be fished at anchor and soak a lip-hooked minnow, floating jighead and minnow, or even a streamer fly. Later, it was further adapted to use a minnow-imitating crankbait, either fished in place (wobbling) in current or slowly trolled upstream while lifting the sinker on and off bottom. Mississippi River anglers fishing along the Iowa border switched the sinker to a jig (locally nicknamed the Dubuque Rig) to simultaneously fish two depths while doubling their chances at triggering bites and hooking fish.
The effectiveness of three-ways is not limited to rivers, however. The ability to use a heavy sinker allows quick presentations in lakes and reservoirs, too. First, the weight—2, 3, even 4 ounces and more, generally a bell or pencil sinker—keeps spinner rigs and crankbaits down at trolling speeds. Second, tying the dropper at a desired length enables you to place your lure or rig at a specific distance off bottom—perfect for fish suspended from perhaps 2 to 10 feet above bottom.
Three-ways may not be the most snag-free rigs. But if you use a slightly lighter line on the dropper than the main line and do snag, just pull hard and break off the sinker without losing the rest of the setup. Retie new lead and get back in the action.
The knock against three-ways has always been that they’re heavy and tend to spook light-biting fish like walleyes, but they’re more finesse-oriented than most folks believe. Just look at the mechanics of the triangular design. If a fish takes your bait and you drop the rod tip down to feed a bit of line, the entire rig collapses back toward the fish, providing at least momentary slack. Perfect for semi-finesse bites—plus quicker coverage in deep water or current than heavier weight allows.
The key to this versatile system is the tiny three-way swivel at the heart of the rigging. Three attachment points join different lines extending to your reel, lure or bait, and sinker. Admittedly, it requires a whole lot of knot tying—five or more—but it’s worth the effort.
Several ounces of weight is more than adequate to troll spinner-nightcrawler harnesses, minnow-imitating crankbaits, or flutterspoons anywhere from 1 to 3 or 4 mph, covering a wide speed spectrum of fish-triggering capabilities. Hand-hold a long-handled medium-action casting rod, and lift-drop the rig across the bottom as you move across rocks and boulders, tapping but not dragging. Or, for walleyes suspended across basins, simply lower the rig to the bottom and, once it makes contact, reel up again until it’s at the fish’s depth. Then place the rods in holders and troll across the basin, fine-tuning line length with a line-counter reel, which equates to precision depth control. An effective way to cover large basin areas, then ply the edges of deep structure by popping the rod out of the holder and hand-holding it as you troll around the perimeter.
