Walleyes may become lure leery, especially in lakes with heavy fishing pressure. In fact, all animals seem to instinctively learn, over time, to recognize things that could be dangerous -- a natural means of survival. When you're seeing fish and they won't bite, consider switching baits. I often keep another line rigged and ready with a different type of lure. Say a walleye moves in and noses right up to my swimming lure, but turns and starts swimming away, I quickly reel up and drop a flash lure or jig tipped with bait; sometimes the different look triggers a strike.
Livebait presentations -- Without question, walleyes are naturally attracted to livebait; it's what they eat to survive. At times, suspending livebait below floats and tip-ups, or using a deadstick, can outproduce jigging.
Floats remain one of the most popular methods for suspending bait through the ice. Select a float with just enough buoyancy to keep your bait positioned at a desired depth. (Fish also less likely detect the resistance of a smaller float.) Slip floats, in particular, feature a stop on the line to position the bait at a specific depth, yet allow you to reel and fight fish. Handlining is required with stationary floats. I've been using Thill's Double Ring Slider, which features an extra long ball-tipped antenna that's visible above the hole. Use sonar or a clip-on depthfinder weight to set the stop up or down the line until the bait is positioned 6 inches to 2 feet from bottom.
Deadsticking is one of the most functional forms of suspending livebait, particularly while jigging. A deadstick is about half backbone and half noodle. The tip of the rod should be light enough so the minnow below can work the tip as it struggles, and it should also bend with ease when a fish takes the bait -- serving as a strike indicator. Yet the rod also should have enough backbone to fight fish.
To set a deadstick rod, position the bait anywhere from 3 to 12 inches off bottom. Then place the rod on a bucket or in a rod holder. Even slight wind works the tip, prodding the minnow to move. Moving locations requires only reeling up the jigging rod and deadstick -- much quicker and easier than relocating a tip-up or resetting a float. Most anglers use a jig to control the minnow and keep it anchored fairly stationary, but a split shot and bare hook work, too. Reverse hooking a minnow so it struggles away from the weight of the plain head (undressed) jig keeps the bait moving.
Tip-ups are one of the best ways to spread lines to locate and catch walleyes, especially when multiple anglers are fishing together or when walleyes seem scattered at different depths. Most states allow at least two lines per person for ice fishing. A typical approach for walleyes begins with cutting plenty of holes over deep and shallow areas. Consider setting tip-ups shallow while you jig over deeper water.
Quick-strike rigging increases your odds for hooking fish. Typical rigs consist of hooks rigged in tandem from 2 inches apart to as much as 4 inches apart for bigger bait. For walleyes, quick-strike rigs have small trebles -- #8s. Nick the first hook into the bait at about the dorsal fin, while the hook at the end of your line is nicked in just behind the head of the bait. If you don't use quick-strike rigging, a single small treble works better than a single hook. Nick one tine of the treble near the dorsal fin of the baitfish.
Select active bait. Sucker minnows, for instance, tire quickly and eventually are content to just stay motionless. Shiners, rainbow chubs, or even large lively fatheads typically produce better.
There are loads of ways to catch midwinter walleyes. But the best approach is simply to get out there and find 'em. After all, even if they're not as active or aggressive as they are at first-ice, they still gotta eat.
