Timber fishing isn’t just for Spring

When I use Northland short shank jigs and minnows fishing in 30-40 foot of stained water lakes in Northern Wisconsin I win Spring Walleye Tournaments. Fishing in these deep water conditions and winning a tournament is rare. Walleye’s stay close to spawning area’s especially the males sometimes well into June. The shoreline timber and drop off underwater timber is great for spring Walleye. This is because the Walleye doesn’t want to chase dinner any farther than they have to. The best thing about timber is that you don’t have to search far for food, because their food source is always around timber for protection and cover, just like the Walleye’s are. They hang around timber because their food is close and prey is easy. The Walleye also need timber and weeds for their protection from other predators such as Northerns, Musky, and bigger Walleye. Just remember, everybody needs food and all fish are food.

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Fishing in timber takes a lot of patience and stealth, you need to be quiet, have a rod with good back bone and a fast tip. I recommend a 6’3” St. Croix Walleye Tournament Legend, Medium with a good reel, like the Shiman Stradic 1500. Also a must is either Power Pro braided stretch 8lb. test line (red or green) or Fireline Crystal. Great jigs to use are the Northland Weed Weasel or the Lindy Timber jig which helps you from snagging. I do not use weedless hooks because I’m so used to timber fishing. I set up right over the timber and use my polarized sunglasses to look into the trees or brush and drop the line down between the limbs and twigs. As soon as the Walleye takes your jig you need to set the hook and get him out of there ASAP. This is when a good rod reel and no stretch line come into play. If you’re fishing a large tree or timber area there could be a lot of Walleye down there. I’ve caught as many as 10 Walleyes and a few Northern from 1 big tree. Don’t think because you see 1 little tree there wont be anybody home, just like an iceberg there’s a lot more tree underwater than you see above. When fishing open water timber you can vertical jig, cast and retrieve, or even drag jig. If you are casting and dragging you should use a weedless jig that way you can jump your jig over the snag. Always remember if you use a weedless, always trim the weedless part of the jig to only the length you need, just to cover the hook. You will get a better hook percentage and less chance of spooking the skittish fish.

If you are in the Northwood’s…Northern Wisconsin, the U P, or Minnesota look for fallen Cedar trees or Birch which provide a lot of cover and limbs. If you are not in the Northwood’s where trees are everywhere, then any timber or tree would do.

Fishing timber is something I do all year long not just in the Spring. It can definitely be a challenge though, getting snagged can be good thing. It means that you are where the fish are, so be patient. Minnows, leeches, or night crawlers work best depending on time of year. I’ve also hammered a lot of aggressive Summer and Fall Walleye with Berkley Power grubs and Northland Slurpies Swim'n Grubs.

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Timber fishing can be very productive and rewarding if you put your time in and use the right equipment. So just remember to stay quiet, still and be patient and you’ll end up with a great day on the water.

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Big Walleye on a Sunny September Day on the Petenwell

As days go…it was just right, about 48 degrees clear and calm at the launch on the Petenwell Flowage. By 2pm it was 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, wind about 8mph with a slight chop. Not what you would classify as a Walleye day, more a day to take the family out for a boat ride or enjoy a barbeque on the patio. But for me and my fishing partner Steve, fishing is priority…just don’t tell our wives.

The day started out slow, we fished the shallows, mud, and rip rap with jigs and crawlers to no avail. I thought we might pick up a couple Walleye early up tight to the rocks, but not today. This year everything is about 3 weeks behind because of the long cold, snowy winter and late ice out it just never got caught up which means the normal fall patterns are not happening yet. We haven’t had much rain over the past few weeks and no real cold weather, so the fish are still in the main lakes and flowages. They haven’t started up the rivers yet like normal. So with that in mind, I decided to try the main lake buoy line which separates Strongs Prairie flats from the Main flowage lake bed. This measures from 8’ to 10’ to 35’ and it drops fast. We caught some Small Mouth Bass in the 10’ range but no Walleye’s. Now were getting to about 10:30am and we have 1 Small Mouth Bass, 2 Walleyes, 2 Catfish…its time to move.
I tried the rip rap Dyke on the SE Shore and tried vertical jigging up and down from 8’ to 26’ with no luck. This is usually a very good area in the fall but the fish aren’t moving at all. Now it’s about 1:30pm, we decided to go back to the drop off where we marked several spots with the GPS. Steve suggested we go to the area about 22’ which was a very wise choice. We anchored and I decided we would try dead sticking. I thought maybe the Walleye were just lying along the bottom and that turned out to be true. I don’t usually dead stick unless I’m Perch fishing Winnebago or Castle Rock. I prefer casting or vertical jigging, but today they wanted just the action of the waves, but we still were not catching as many as I wanted, one here…one there. So I tried something I use in the spring when the Walleye’s are very lethargic.The trick today was tail hooking the fatheads, just leaving the jig touching the bottom. The action of the minnow franticly swimming and churning up the bottom is too much for the Walleye to handle. Steve and I ended up with 18 Walleye’s, 10 catfish, 3 Small Mouth Bass, 1 White Bass in 3 hrs and we missed our fair share too.

The highlight of the day was at 4:30pm when I saw one of my older Rod and Reel combo’s start bouncing. The tip jiggled up and down like a perch bite and I thought to myself it must be a White Bass. We also had 6 lines out and only about 2 or 3 ft. apart rod to rod at most, not much room. Then the rod tip started slowly continuing to bend down almost pulling it out of the boat. I grabbed the rod made sure the fish was there. I think I mentioned to Steve I had a solid hit. Steve said yeah so, and went back to changing his jig to another color.

It was time to set the hook so I did, and when I did the fish didn’t move and I knew I had a big fish on…I told Steve to get the net. The fish was fighting aggressively and staying down, I didn’t want him to get tangled in the other lines so I was holding the rod out over the boat keeping him straight up and down. After 2 min or so he started to come up from 25 feet. I’ve caught thousands of Walleye’s but this fish had me guessing now…maybe a Big Cat. Then he finally came up to the surface, with Steve ready with the net in the water we saw it. Steve and I shouted at the same time. It’s a Walleye! It’s a Big Walleye! The Walleye was about 2 feet from going into the net, it seemed like forever to get there. But, Steve corralled him in my new Frabil Net and flipped him into the boat. My heart started pounding as the jig popped out of his mouth. Whew! It’s over…Walleye in the boat! She measured 29 ½”and 9 ½” lbs. my largest Walleye to date. I would have put her back, but I’ve fished for 48 years and have not gotten a Walleye that big, so I decided I’m going to put the Gal on my wall! The rod I used was my older St. Croix 6’ Premier with an older Shimano Symetre 1500, 8lb. Moss green Berkley Fireline and a 1/8oz.
Northland fireball short shank chartreuse jig with a tail hooked fathead. So next time it’s a beautiful 80 degree sunny September day, go wet a line, the big Walleye’s are still hungry!

Good luck and keep fishing - Gary

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