This is not a how-to livebait story, but a quick glance at the hot question running throughout the walleye world: livebait or artificials. Pros as a rule don't look at one or the other as better or worse. Every tactic will work sometime, and when it's time, they have to be ready. That's why walleye boats are so big. They have to carry lots of gear and keep bait in prime shape. At times, livebait seems absolutely necessary, while at other times, successful anglers pitch jigs and plastic.

Many PWT tournaments have been won on artificials. It started during the early years, with trolling crankbaits. Leon Houle won an early Lake Winnebago tournament casting Rapalas at rocky islands. For every winner using artificials, though, I can cite those who continue to do well with bait. Even in some of the first Lake Erie tournaments, when crankbaits were taking over, pros like Mike McClelland won with bottom bouncers and nightcrawlers, and Brian Ney jigged to a top-10 finish with Northland Whistlers and minnows.

Cranks covered more water, and when anglers contacted a pod of giants, they could run through their GPS coordinate many times. When cold fronts and muddy water shut the fish down, Will Lage and Dan Plautz both won with bouncers and spinners on bottom. The pros know that to be successful, they must keep an open mind and keep experimenting. They have to make the fish bite.

That's why the debate over livebait or artificials boils down to what works best at a particular moment. If it works, do it. The advent of Power Bait and other plastics have created more techniques, making Power Crawlers on spinners an effective tool. The scented plastic crawler works 100 percent of the time; small fish like sheepshead and white perch don't strip it off. A jigger has hundreds of options in colors and shapes of plastic to offer fish.

A feature in March 2003 In-Fisherman issue described thumper plastics for walleyes. These larger offerings attract bigger fish and often result in hits on every cast right next to someone dragging a minnow and jig through the same spot. Dan Stier says, "When they want plastic, use it. When they want a big redtail, hook one on."

Shallow-water anglers like Mike Gofron and Daryl Christensen began by using a combo, then only plastic. "The plastic makes my jigs weedless, plus it adds color and scent," Christensen said. Being allergic to leeches, Gofron, with more top-10 PWT finishes than any other pro, uses half-crawlers lots of times, but has found rivers and shallow weedy areas prime jig and plastic water. "Whenever the fish want it fast, go plastic," Gofron said.

If fish are shallow, more casts allow anglers to cover more water. Twitch baits like Husky Jerks are superb in water to 10 feet deep. So are Shad Raps, the new Matzuo lures, and a host of deep-billed cranks. Pros have cast spoons (just like fishing for northern pike) in shallow and stained water. Some pros cast lightweight spoons, like Northlands Fire-Eye, let it sink to the weed tops, then rip it up, let it settle, rip and repeat. This works great. In deep water, vertical jigging with spoons is deadly (the 1/2-ounce and heavier Lindy Rattler and Northland Buck Shot produce big time), even in cold late-fall conditions.

That same time of year--late fall--brings out the jiggers with large chubs in the 30 to 50 foot depths. Does all this mean one method is better than another? No. It only means that walleye fishermen must continue to learn and be versatile, to try the newest methods while never forgetting what was discovered 10 or even 50 years ago.