Blade Baits
Fishing blade baits is no big secret to putting spring time giants
in the boat. Here’s a blade bait you don’t want to overlook. The Echotail by Vibrations Tackle. This blade bait is very effective, versatile, and easy to use. Whether you like casting, trolling or jigging, that’s what makes this the most versatile blade bait on the market.
in the boat. Here’s a blade bait you don’t want to overlook. The Echotail by Vibrations Tackle. This blade bait is very effective, versatile, and easy to use. Whether you like casting, trolling or jigging, that’s what makes this the most versatile blade bait on the market.
Why is this blade bait different you ask; this bait has a totally different design, with adjustment holes on the top to give it a different presentation and vibration, it also makes it run at different depths when trolling it. Did I mention this bait also has a trolling depth chart; how nice is that!
Let’s get to best part of this design; the soft plastic tail. The Kallin’s grub on the tail gives this bait the extra action and sent, along with the vibration to trigger them trophy Marble Eyes, Bass, Muskies and the list goes on. You can also change the color of the grub to customize this fish catching weapon.
The Echotail is designed by fisherman for fisherman.
The Echotail is designed by fisherman for fisherman.
This bait is offered in great fish catching colors and sizes. If you like putting fish in the boat
check them out at http://vibrationstackle.com
Echotail; Vibration and Scent... a deadly combination!
Echotail; Vibration and Scent... a deadly combination!
We boat thousands of walleye every summer, including plenty of trophy 10 plus pounders, these trophy fish measure between 29 and 33 inches. What are the techniques I use to put so many walleye in the boat? Stay tuned I’m going to reveal my secrets on how to put plenty of trophy walleye in your boat.
Fall Walleyes on Green Bay
Whether you call them “Old Marble Eyes”, “Walters” or “Susquehanna Salmon”, there is no doubt that the walleye is one of the most sought after fish native to the Great Lakes ecosystem. Though it can be found in the majority of the accessible near shore areas in all of the Great Lakes, there are certain locations that are known for producing walleyes in both numbers and size year after year. Places like Lake Erie’s western basin, Georgian Bay in Huron, and the 1,000 Islands area of Lake Ontario are often mentioned by those walleye anglers in the know, but any list of walleye hotspots wouldn’t be complete without mentioning what some consider the crown jewel of big water walleye fishing, Green Bay Wisconsin.
Though Green Bay is definitely most famous for the football team that inhabits the city at the far southwest corner of the bay, people often don’t realize how big the bay actually is. Green Bay runs almost 120 miles from its namesake city in the southwest all the way to Escanaba, Michigan in the northeast and has a total surface area of over 1,600 square miles.
Because the bay itself is actually pretty shallow compared to the rest of Lake Michigan (averaging less than 50 feet deep), almost the entire bay has the necessary habitat to hold walleyes at some point of the year. It’s not just holding walleyes though that makes Green Bay such a great place, it’s the fact that all the factors work together to also produce some of the biggest walleyes caught in the country each year.
In order to get a better grasp on the fall walleye fishery in Green Bay, I enlisted the help of one of the best guides in the area, Captain Steve Paulsen at Walleye Madness Guide Service out of Oconto, Wisconsin.
The Fall Migration
Though walleyes aren’t considered a true migratory species in the sense of the Pacific salmon, they still have migratory patterns that affect how the best anglers target them. According to Paulsen, the walleyes start moving in early August and continue through the fall. “We typically catch the bigger ones closer to the City of Green Bay early in the year, and as the summer progresses into fall, they start moving up the bay toward the top.”
He thinks the migration is mostly triggered by baitfish movement and that the bigger ones are especially mobile. “You can still catch some smaller ones in the lower bay in early fall, but the bigger, trophy class fish start moving up towards Chambers and Washington Island, so we move with them. For some reason, the littler fish seem to drop out around Sturgeon Bay and above that, the class of fish you catch is pretty impressive.”
It’s Feeding Time
According to Paulsen, the fall is when the walleyes really start to put on the feeding bag, saying “once that water temperature starts to drop, it triggers the bigger fish to start feeding heavily, so they can start putting on some weight before winter.” Because of that, the fall is a great time to tangle with a trophy, and 26-30 inch fish are relatively common in September and October.
Paulsen thinks that the weight and feeding increase has a lot to do with the following years spawn, continuing “It takes a lot of energy for those big females to make eggs, so they need to start eating in the fall in order to have enough energy left to spawn in the spring time.”
Fall Tactics
“Because the waters of Green Bay are so vast, trolling is almost always the most effective presentation” Paulsen thinks, “and If you’re not covering water while trying to find the active fish, you probably won’t catch nearly as many as the guys out there trolling”
While the water temperature in the bay is above 50 degrees, Paulsen trolls nightcrawler harnesses almost exclusively. A crawler harness consists of some combination of spinner blades and beads, followed by up to three hooks to which a fresh nightcrawler is hooked. Trolled at a slow speed, the blades on the harness emit a subtle thump and flash to draw fish to the bait trailing behind. When selecting bait, Paulsen can get pretty particular, saying “I only like to use the biggest nightcrawlers on my harnesses. Something about that big crawler coming behind a big Tommy Harris spinner blade really triggers those bigger fish.”
After the water cools to about 50 degrees in late fall, Paulsen will then switch to crankbaits and troll a little faster, a much more effective presentation late in the season.
Trolling Gear
Paulsen relies on Okuma trolling rods and reels for all his Green Bay fishing. Most often with crawler harnesses he uses a 7’10” rod paired with an Okuma line counter trolling reel that he spools with 12lb test monofilament. He ties his own harnesses with Tommy Harris blades and his typical setup includes three single hooks to secure the crawler and provide more hookups.
You often see walleye anglers running their harnesses off of bottom bouncers, which are weighted pieces of lead designed to keep a moving crawler harness right on the bottom. Paulsen seldom uses them though, preferring to fish his harnesses only a few feet under the waters surface. He explains by saying, “Most of the time in the fall you are fishing suspended fish. You might be up over 30 feet of water, but the fish are only 5 or 6 feet down. The baitfish come up there to eat the bugs and plankton, so the walleyes follow the bait up. For that reason, you don’t need to run your baits down too deep most of the time.”
Even though he is fishing without added weight, Paulsen still trolls as many lines as he can by using Off-Shore Tackle planer boards. A planer board is a device that you clip your line into and then it uses the motion of the boat through the water to pull the line off to either side of the boat. This greatly increases the amount of water you can cover in one pass and Paulsen typically runs six lines while trolling.
What to Expect
Though there are certainly times of the year in which you can catch more numbers of fish, fall on Green Bay is truly a season of giants. An experienced troller can expect to have the opportunity to boat fish up to 30 inches, and each year specimens larger than that are caught by fishermen in the bay. “You may not be reeling fish in all day long” says Paulsen, “But the ones you catch are gonna be some of the biggest walleyes you’ve ever seen.”
Where to Go
Because the bay is so big, there are many options for where to stay if you decide to take a trip up to Green Bay to chase trophy walleyes this fall. Paulsen recommends the waters near the towns of Oconto, Peshtigo and Marinette for the best chance to catch a giant, but you can also stay in any of the wonderful places on the Door Peninsula as well.
Because the fishing is pretty gear intensive and the fall waters in the bay can be pretty big, it probably pays to hire one of the many Captains like Steve Paulsen to show you the best and most efficient way to chase that elusive wallhanger. There are many qualified guides available in each port that can have you taking pictures of your trophy in no time.
Steve Paulsen has been fishing the waters of Green Bay for over 20 years and is a USCG certified Captain. He works full time chasing walleyes out on the bay so he never loses touch with the fish. You can reach Steve at his website, www.walleyemadnessfishing.com or via email at walleyemadness@yahoo.com.
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