Using Owner Hooks for fishing Dark water Walleye

I’ve found a great hook for live bait. I use it for deep water vertical jigging, stained, or night fishing. Owner Hooks has a no. 2 bait hook with soft glow bead on it. I prefer the black hook with green bead.
They have super sharp needle point and the green bead glows lime green. Slip the bead up over the knot and the eye of the hook, it works as an attractant and protects your knot. - Gary

Check out these Owner Live Bait Hooks Offshore models $10.99 a pack

Drop anchor!

Anchoring a boat works well when slow presentations are your only option. The technique of fishing directly under the boat or casting out and retrieving works the best when fish are in shallow water or in a specific area. This method also works well if you are dead sticking for perch on mud or a gravel bottom. Keep fishing and good luck - Gary

Fishing in Cold fronts

As a rule of thumb try fishing warmer waters of the rivers or the more shallow weedy, darker stained lakes. Try smaller diameter line, lighter jigs, smaller baits, and fish deeper water with a slower presentation. Also try not to fish large clear water lakes, fish will spook easily. - Gary

Fishing Timber Walleye - Northland Weed Weasel

Predator game fish hide in timber or weed cover to attack their prey! Slowly and quietly bring the boat up to or over the timber. Use a timber jig with ½ crawler or minnow and jig right in the timber or logs. When you set the hook pull the Walleye out fast or the fish will snag you in the timber fast! Use at least 8lb test braided line for strength an abrasion resistance. You’ll be surprised at how many Walleye you catch and the size of the fish you can get out of one tree. Good luck and keep fishing - Gary

Check out this Northland Weed-Weasel Jig

Tail hooking the Minnow

Tail hooking gives the minnow a frantic fleeing look that triggers more fish strikes where hooking in the mouth does not have that effect.

The constant up and down swimming motion creates a disturbance on the surface whether it is mud or sand. Fish will be curious and this will trigger an attacking bite. They will not want the potential meal to escape, so they will strike at the minnow.

This technique will get you a better hook set because the fish will be attacking instead of reacting. Never be afraid to change up the recipe when fishing, you might be surprised at the results. - Gary

Keep those Minnows alive with the Frabill Bait Station

Here are some useful tips for keeping those expensive minnows alive. Use an aerator in your minnow bucket with the highest concentration of micro bubbles. When adding water, try to use spring or distilled water to keep the impurities out. Always keep ice in a plastic bag or zip lock when you use it in your minnow bucket. Try to keep your minnow net out of the bucket as much as you can. Only use it to take out 1 or 2 minnows, otherwise you can damage their delicate scales. I recommend you always have a minnow bucket with a Styrofoam liner. This will keep the water at a more constant temperature.

The best aerated bait bucket on the market is the Frabill aqua life bait station. The Frabill aqua life bait station also has a light for night time operation. It runs on 2 D-cell batteries and holds 6 gallons of water and is very quiet.

This ultimate portable bait well has a streamlined design that seals all electrical components inside a watertight compartment located in the lid. It also has a large capacity 6-gallon outer bucket and a removable foam liner that insulates your bait. The Micro bubble oxygen diffuser and air tubing mount inside the liner. Another great feature is the built-in light which is waterproof and illuminates the inside of the bucket when you open the bait door. Good Luck and keep fishing - Gary

Find the Frabill Aqualife Bait Station here today!

Best Fishing Times

I would say any time you can get out on the boat or ice and enjoy a day of fishing is the best time regardless. However, to increase your chances of being more successful, there are a few things you need to know.

Try to stay away from cold fronts, high winds and east winds. When you are fishing in clear water, the best time to fish is early in the morning or at night. Also, cloudy days and choppy water is preferred. Fish can easily spook in clear water and bright sunny days. When you are fishing on rivers, flowages, or stained water, sunny days and light winds are the best days.

Weather fronts don’t affect rivers as much as lakes, because of the moving water. So if you can pick your perfect day to fish, great! But if not, just keep fishing. A day of fishing on the water or the ice is always better than a day of work!

One more tip to make your trip out more successful. Try a Rapala Shallow Shad Rap in the shallow water when you are early morning and night fishing. - Gary

Get the Rapala Shallow Shad Rap here today!