Using Planners to Zero in on Tough to Catch Walleye
Finding walleye in any body of water, especially one youre not familiar with, can be a tricky ordeal. You can easily burn up those first hours of morning by dragging your line through dead water because the walleye are not behaving like the so-called experts say they are supposed to. Even the pros will admit that walleye behave strangely, and anything from a slight change in water temperature, barometric pressure, or population of prey creatures will effect walleye behavior.
When walleye stop biting, trolling with planers is oftentimes the quickest and best way to locate walleye and figure out what they are responding to.
There are several reasons why planer boards are so effective for catching and locating walleye. The first and most obvious is that you can put several lines in the water at once. Pair this with a combination of different baits running at various depths, either by using deep diving lures or attaching split shots to the line, and you give walleye a variety of lures and baits to look at.
Another benefit to trolling with planers is the vast amount of water you can cover. Dragging your outermost planers 50 foot away from the boat (with a few a little closer) means that you cover 100 feet of water with each pass. Not only that, when trolling in clear water, walleye are likely to swim to the sides of a boat passing overhead, sending them toward your bait.
Keep in mind that walleye tend to school up, meaning that where there is one, there are likely to be more, so every bite gives you a clue as to where the walleye are at, as well as what is catching their eye. You might discover that they are hanging on the edge of a dropoff, in a depression on the bottom, or are lunging upwards at anything passing over the top of a structure.
After you have identified their pattern, you can switch your strategy to put your line in front of several walleye on each cast.
Based on what you learn from trolling, you might find that pitching or vertical jigging is the best method, or perhaps trolling will continue to yield the most walleye. However, it is common sense that, in a group of walleye, you are likely to catch the most aggressive ones first. If a hole stops responding to crankbaits, you might try to bring a little finesse and see if a jig or slip bobber tipped with some live bait can help you put a few more in the livewell before moving on.
Trolling with planers helps you to try the biggest variety of lures and potential walleye hang outs in the shortest amount of time, making it a very effective way of finding out what walleye are up to on any particular day. In some scenarios, such as when walleye are in very shallow water, trolling with planers may be the only way to get your bait in front of walleye without spooking them. All these things mean that you shouldnt hit the water without at least a few planers in your arsenal
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