Reverse rigging works best along the dorsal fin with Gamakatsu's Walleye Wide Gap hook in #2 to 1/0, depending on chub size. This allows for enough gap while using large baits to ensure hookups. Attach sufficient weight 12 to 18 inches above the hook to allow good bait movement without letting the bait become too active. Run baits 6 inches to 3 feet off bottom. At times you'll see definite preference as to where walleyes want the baits set.

Remember that we're using sizeable offerings and that fish need some time to get these baits down. Usually a fish grabs the chub from the side and runs a short distance. After stopping, it repositions the bait in order to take it head first. This process can take several minutes. The line begins moving again, usually at a quicker pace, once the fish has eaten the bait.

I set the hook by grabbing the line and stopping the fish's progress. Hold firm -- when you feel the headshake, you've got her. If she wants to run, let her go under constant tension and begin picking up line with a give and take until she tires. Once you get to your leader, the fish is directly under you. Line her up and pull her up the hole until you can either get a gill or grab her head and slide her on the ice. No gaff is ever needed and these fish can be confidently released.

Jigging plays a role along with tip-up sets. I start deep before sundown and by dark end up in the shallowest holes, shifting quickly from hole to hole as needed, pulling my Fish Trap along with me. The bites on tip-ups serve as indicators of fish progression to the shallows. I move accordingly, to stay in contact with the fish.

These fish typically are neutral to negative, so adjust jigging techniques and lures with this in mind. I use large profile swimming lures such as a Salmo Chubby Darter or Nils Master Jigging Shad, or my personal favorite, JB Lures Spanker. I tip the belly hook with a minnow head.

Another tip is to remove the belly hook and replace it with a 4-inch dropper attached to a large-gap 1/16- or 1/32-ounce jig with a big fathead minnow. Use a lift-drop routine for attraction and let the lure rest for long periods. This setup also works below a slipbobber, leaving the rod set as a dead rod. The profile of the swimming jig brings them in, and the struggling livebait seals the deal.

Sometimes a jig like the Bait Rigs Oddball tipped with a minnow is effective. Reverse-rig the minnow on the jig. Then use a subtle lift-drop-hold motion, as you concentrate on feel and look for merging lines on your sonar screen.

Don't be surprised or concerned if jigging isn't that productive. It's not uncommon to take several nice fish in an evening, with the tip-ups accounting for all of them. Again, these fish aren't aggressive and generally don't expend a lot of effort to take a lure. In fact, aggressive lures and techniques at times turn off fish.

Be safe out there as the season wears on and you continue to put this system to use. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

*Dennis Foster lives in Mellette, SD.