12-21-2014, 05:49 PM
[#0000FF]Walleye teeth are like needles...not like the sharp edged teeth of pike and muskies. Good quality mono or fluoro is usually adequate. I have caught several hundred (if not thousands) of walleyes over the years and most of them have been on 4 or 6# mono...often while fishing for other species.
Not many lost to line cuts or breakoffs. Far more lost to the characteristic open-mouthed headshake just as you are reaching for them with the net. If they don't like your fly or jig they open wide, shake their head no and give it back to you. Always best to keep them swimming with their heads down while you guide them over the net...rather than pulling them to the top and letting them do that self-release thing. Impatience will cost you fish.
Even the anglers who fish for them specifically generally use light gear to present light lures on light lines and to be able to detect light bites. However, when walleyes are post spawn and in an active feeding mode you don't have to worry about feeling a light bite. They usually slam their jaws down on their prey to stun or kill it...and that feels like a solid thump on your end.
Catching walleyes...on any tackle...is like many other things in life. A puzzle and a mystery until you have done it a time or two. Then once you get the feel and the technique working it becomes much simpler. Simpler...but not always easier.
Those fish frustrate even the pros. They feed on their own schedule and bite (or not) for their own reasons. If you hit it right you are golden. If not you smell like skunk. With many species the hard part is finding the fish...but if you find them you can usually catch at least some of them. With walleyes, finding them is never a guarantee of catching. You earn every one you bring in.
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Not many lost to line cuts or breakoffs. Far more lost to the characteristic open-mouthed headshake just as you are reaching for them with the net. If they don't like your fly or jig they open wide, shake their head no and give it back to you. Always best to keep them swimming with their heads down while you guide them over the net...rather than pulling them to the top and letting them do that self-release thing. Impatience will cost you fish.
Even the anglers who fish for them specifically generally use light gear to present light lures on light lines and to be able to detect light bites. However, when walleyes are post spawn and in an active feeding mode you don't have to worry about feeling a light bite. They usually slam their jaws down on their prey to stun or kill it...and that feels like a solid thump on your end.
Catching walleyes...on any tackle...is like many other things in life. A puzzle and a mystery until you have done it a time or two. Then once you get the feel and the technique working it becomes much simpler. Simpler...but not always easier.
Those fish frustrate even the pros. They feed on their own schedule and bite (or not) for their own reasons. If you hit it right you are golden. If not you smell like skunk. With many species the hard part is finding the fish...but if you find them you can usually catch at least some of them. With walleyes, finding them is never a guarantee of catching. You earn every one you bring in.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]