Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Tips for catching Walleye.

Last year I stocked a few small WE into our ponds. Naturally I haven't seen them since the day they were released, so I'm wondering if any survived....one of the ponds I put them into is the home of Flat Albert, so all bets are off there, but I would still enjoy finding out for sure.

My problem is a lack of angling experience with WE. I have zilch. Everything I read deals with large lakes and reservoirs, not 3/4 acre ponds. Can someone suggest techniques and baits for taking these fish from a smaller BOW?

I fish from shore most of the time, but taking a boat is also not a problem. I've tried throwing cranks, but LMB are the only takers thus far.

I welcome any and all suggestions!

I've always had pretty good luck with White Mr Twisters. In my opinion tho, the best bait is what they eat everyday. Catch some minnows, use a #6 hook thru their snout about 8-12"s behind a split shot and drag across the bottom.

Both Bob-O's suggestions are what I would use in the pond setting.

What you will notice is the way the walleye hit the bait. Very distinctive. You feel a light tapping on the line.

I like jig and minnow bumped along the bottom. A fat crawler bumped along the bottom works too. Problem is both methods work for Mr LMB as well.

I probably should have said pumped along the bottom. Move the bait 2 or 3 feet and let it drop and sit 2 or 3 seconds. That soft tap bite usually happens for me during that little wait time.

This would be my suggestion here. Pretty slow at first too.

Sounds like a minnow on the bottom is the go-to rig. I'm looking forward to giving it a shot.

Set the hook at the first tap?

Thanks guys!!

Slip bobbers and a live minnow just off the bottom would also be an option if you have debris or weeds on the bottom a ji and minnow would catch on.

Second or third tap to set the hook...

Deepest water? Shallower structure?

For my pond, it was on a steep angle drop off to deeper water.

Thanks Sunil!

Yep!

And watch your line. Instead of a tap you might see your line go slack.

Fishing is a jerk on each end of the line! Lol


Pat

Fish the breaks, but I've also caught them on edges of weedbeds. In Spring and Fall I can find some hanging off the break from 5-12' depth in front of the feeder. I suspect they make a good living ambushing from the deeper darker water hammering BG, YP, GSH which are feeding on pellets. I do well on minnow/jig combo - fished near or on bottom - but also like Bob's more stripped down rig of Tru Turn aberdeen wire hook or octopus thru nose and shot 12-24" up the line - very subtle and you can fish super slowly. Slip floats work too drifting along breaks at various depths using the wind, but I seem to catch more with an active angling approach. Like Sunil said, you'll feel a series of taps a lot like YP - 2nd or 3rd usually results in a hookup.

If you want to experience your WE more often, you can also start feeding your WE some HBG from your dock or shoreline and get them acclimated ala Condello. Yolk is doing amazing things with his SMB and WE feed training - super impressive. Between them, Bruce and Dave have successfully feed trained LMB, SMB, Crappie and WE on cut BG...which is incredible. I hope Dave posts some shots of his SMB and WE - I bet there are some truly solid fish there.

On the ice I try minnow and slip float in a few holes around me in varied depths, but am actively jigging spoons with small minnow, minnow head, or plastics in my primary spot. When I call in fish beneath the spoon, I vary jigging action to illicit strikes. Aggressive snaps 12-18" is sometimes the ticket, other times they like slow rises and pause ever 4-6" and wiggle/shake the spoon, then up another 4-6" and repeat the jiggle. As you know, the WE will tell you what they want that day - both in presentation and color. Keep a snap swivel on your jigging rod[s] so you can change spoon colors from silver to gold to copper or the ancillary colors chartreuse, pink, glow, etc. I usually fish 1/16 oz Slender Spoons - amazing action and super affordable. We caught most of our WE thru the ice on jigging spoons while crappie and YP fishing and the WE were a bonus. 90% of our WE came in the last 60 min of daylight, and 2 hrs into dark then everything shuts down at my place. In late December that's 4:00 - 7:30 PM.

Outstanding.....I'll see what I can do, and thanks for the tips!

OK Tony, how many did you catch this morning? I demand photos and WR metrics immediately. With this advice you could join the PWT and make millions!

I hear you, and I fully realize I've been handed the keys to the kingdom. I'm ashamed to have to admit that I didn't make it out this morning..this menial, degrading task of having to work a steady job vexes me more and more with each passing sunrise.

It is my sincerest hope that one day, one glorious day, I will rise and throw off the shackles and restraints imposed by the man and his monetarily driven society.

No longer will the hours be spent toiling in the dirt, the grease, the decayed, moldy, maggot-infested grass that clings to the underside of mower decks. Instead I will be free to explore the mysteries that have confounded man since the beginning....is braid really necessary for bluegills, or is low-stretch monofilament sufficient?

Tackle bag, or box? Do ceramic guides really allow one to cast further? Why do longear sunfish have short ears, while redbreast sunfish have long ears?

If birds really can transport fish from one BOW to another, can they be trained to differentiate between a SMB fingerling and a GSF? If so, could they then be used in clandestine stocking operations, by agencies of sinister motive?

Could they locate Yolk Sac's pond after dark?

You have a temporary pass - want results following the weekend. That is all.

Don't give him a pass!!!

He thinks he can get all Henry David Thoreau on your ass, and get a pass??????

I appreciate the leniency. I will do my best to meet the expectations set forth by TJ, Sunil, and Henry David.

Wouldn't matter, your tree hugging Communist kingfishers would never be allowed into Tennessee airspace.

I thought that with the polar vortex that reared its' ugly head a while back you'd be concentrating on comperssors , snow throwers, ice augers and chainsaws?? I thought grass season was long past?

Still doing mowers. And a compressor or two.

Three words Yolk - avian stealth technology.

If the fish are full I have a hard time catching them. Minnow on the bottom has been my best bet.

Just got in from the morning attempt, nothing to show for it but cold hands...

Try again in a few!