During winter twilight hours, anglers can do nearly everything wrong and still end up catching a respectable number of walleyes. But fumble around when fish aren’t so desperate to eat, and you could end up fishless. Catching inactive fish is a trick, but with walleyes, you can almost always entice them to strike.

Less for More

Downsizing—When walleyes get tough, using thinner line and smaller lures can make all the difference. The basic system remains vertical jigging but with smaller baits—panfish-sized lures. At times, even big walleyes select for these snack-sized presentations.

Say you’re feeling sub par or have just eaten a big meal. You’re not going to down a king-sized prime rib with all the fixings—you’re simply not hungry. But set a butterscotch chocolate-chip and oatmeal cookie down, and it soon disappears. Myself, I’ll eat cookies all day if they’re within eyeshot, the small but irresistible packages just too tempting.

Jason Mitchell, a Devils Lake, North Dakota, guide (perchpatrol.com), takes a commonsense approach to fishing. He has the ability to keep plugging away at the day, blending in a perfect balance of fishing knowledge for success. When the bite’s tough, he believes in downsizing to desserts walleyes like.

Mitchell: “We’ve learned that fine-tuning and downsizing presentations can extend the window for catching walleyes when the fish are slow and eating less. You probably won’t get them to bite like crazy, but you can catch inactive walleyes, even outside the twilight period.

“On Devils, my most consistent walleye bait last season was a Lindy Fat Boy tipped with a minnowhead or waxworm. Jigs that might fall on the smaller end of the spectrum for walleye fishing include compact horizontal jigs like Lindy Fatboys and Frostee Jigging Spoons. These jigs might not look like good baits for walleyes, particularly if you tip them with a waxworm, but at times they can be the only bait walleyes consider. I found it was best to pinch the head of the minnow off further back, behind the pectoral fins. The extra meat can sometimes have a subtle triggering quality. Where legal, perch eyes can be effective, and waxworms are surprisingly good at times.”

Catering to Details

Motion Sickness—When not very hungry, walleyes may need baits presented exactly, at just the right depth and with the precise amount of movement. Most times the best action is soft and slow, rather than fast and aggressive. Think lullaby, not heavy metal.

But jigging lures up and down eventually causes line twists—when you pause the bait, your lure starts to spin in circles. Aggressive walleyes often don’t care. They pounce on spinning lures; but semi-aggressive, neutral, or negative walleyes almost always shy away from twirling baits.

Mitchell: “I’ve seen these walleyes eventually hit the instant the lure finally stops spinning, and not a moment sooner. You get more strikes if you make sure your lure’s not spinning. Attaching a small ball-bearing swivel 12 to 14 inches above the lure reduces twist and prevents your lure from twirling, and if you can keep your bait from spinning during the pause, you get more strikes.”

Mitchell’s swivel trick can make a big difference. To further fine-tune and slow your presentation, use a spring-bobber rod (St. Croix and Thorne Brothers make good ones). Twitching, shaking, and jigging baits with a spring-bobber rod creates natural movements that seem more acceptable to leery walleyes.

Duke ’Em with Droppers

Dropper Rigs—A walleye search lure can be made from flash or swimming lures in your tackle box—simply remove all the hooks and add a dropper line. The idea is to attract fish with the bigger bait and get them to eat the little one. Walleyes reluctant to strike bigger flash lures often take the smaller offering. When the bite is as tough as it sometimes can get, the In-Fisherman staff often has been successful with search lures, a deadly package most fish can’t resist.

Below flash lures like a 3/4-ounce Northland Buckshot Rattle Spoon, I prefer a Nils Master Hali Snap Chain rigged with a single #6 Aberdeen hook or a #6 or #8 treble tipped with a minnow or minnow head. The chain is strong and doesn’t seem to deter strikes.

Modifying swimming lures such as the Rapala Jigging Shad Rap, HT Quick Strike Minnow, or Salmo Chubby Darter is another option. Use a wire-cutter to clip off both the tail and nose hooks on a Jigging Shad Rap to prevent the dropper from tangling. Heavy-pound-test mono droppers, like Northland Dropper Hooks, are strong enough to hold big walleyes, and the short, stiff line rarely tangles with the main line.

Steadfast Sticks

Deadsticking—Keeping a minnow suspended right in the critical zone often has produced more than any other presentation. Put a minnow on a plain hook or teardrop-style jig, place a deadstick rod in a holder, and let it sit while you jig nearby. Many times fish move in, shy away from the jigging lure, and take the livebait dangling on the deadstick rod just a few feet away. Sneaky trick, but it works.

A deadstick is half backbone and half noodle. The rod should bend with ease when a fish takes the bait (serving as a strike indicator), but must have enough backbone to fight fish. Several companies make rod actions specially designed for deadsticking. Thorne Brothers, for instance, makes deadstick rods for walleyes that offer the right combination of extra-ultralight tip plus sturdy butt section.

Using a jig keeps minnows anchored. For walleyes, a 1/8- to 1/4-ounce jig keeps 2- to 3-inch minnows or 3- to 4-inch shiners pretty much in place. To slow minnow movement further, pinch off the bait’s tail fin.

Last word, Mitchell: “It’s critical to know that walleyes are in the area. When you stop seeing fish on screen or with an underwater camera, it’s time to switch locations. Keep moving until you find fish, then downsize.

“Downsizing can get extreme. Use jigs that weigh 1/32 ounce, tipped with maggots and presented on 2- to 4-pound line. Keep scaling down to determine if it makes a difference. When it does, you’ll be glad you experimented.”