This statistic has been documented on many fishing surveys. There have been many
fishing surveys published that show fishing for walleye with live bait accounts for over
two 3rds of all walleyes that are caught on a walleye rod and reel combo. Live bait is
still used by many of the advocates of fishing for walleye primarily with walleye
artificial lures when the walleye fishing gets slow.
Minnows and other small fish, night crawlers, and leeches top the list of the best
walleye live baits to use when fishing walleye. In some unique walleye habitat
situations at different times of the year, other kinds of baits such as water dogs
and frogs will work, but the majority of the time they won't produce like the old
reliables.
Many of the live baits used for walleye fishing are not available throughout the
year. Leeches one of the old dependable fishing for walleye live baits, cannot
be used if the temperature of the water is below 50degrees. For one you won't
find any in the bait shops because leeches are not active when thewater is cold
and will not swim into the leech traps. You will find only a few bait shop dealers
who will keep shiner minnows during the summer months because they die quickly
in the dealers tanks and in the fishermen's minnow buckets.
The first thing you need to do when you are making live bait selection for walleye
is to determine what live baits work in the different seasons. Although night crawlers
are a poor choice for a bait selection to fish for walleye in the spring time when
the season changes to summer night crawlers are one one of the best baits to use
to catch walleyes. You can use minnows for walleye fishing in the spring and in the
fall, but they are poor choice to use in the summer.
Selecting the right type of minnow is important at certain times of the year.
During the spring many times shiner minnows will be the best live bait to catch
walleye while no other minnow species will. When the season changes to the
fall shiner minnows are a poor choice for a live bait selection while fishing with
redtail chubs may catch walleye very well. The bottom line is different live baits
work better on different bodies of water and in different seasons. Also, it's a
good Idea to check with your local bait shop to find out what live bait will work
best to catch walleye.
Ribbon leaches are considered by many fisherman to be the best live bait for
walleyes.Leaches are an excellent bait because because they swim, and squirm
constantly after they are placed on the hook when the temperature is above
50deg. They are not a good choice in cold water because they arenot active at
temperatures below 50degs.
Make sure the live bait you use choose to fish for walleye, it is active and lively.
When walleyes are really biting you can get by with a half dead minnow or
chewed-up night crawler, but a struggling minnow or squirming crawler will
normally catch more fish.