Percid enthusiasts can’t wait for the thickness of the ice to be safe enough for them to go after them.
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Sought after both during the cold season and in open water, the walleye is very popular with handlers of fishing rods and small fishing rods. jigger for its tender and delicious flesh, but also for the fights which can be exciting!
A specialist
The great guru, the ice fishing pro of La Belle Province is undoubtedly David Vadnais. This chic guy from Saint-Hyacinthe, aged 50, was already teasing the various species under the frozen crust, with his parents, when he was only 3 years old.
To give you an idea of how pissed off he can be, as the expression goes, know that he voluntarily worked an evening shift, for 25 years, in order to be able to go fishing in the mornings. .
He now works during the day, which allows him to go out at the end of the day to try to outwit the walleyes. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing him on the subject. Here is the gist of what he said.
Localisation
When the water cools in the fall, walleyes begin to feed more in order to accumulate fat and cope with the long winter months in frigid water.
They are very active from the end of November until the ice forms, then until the second or third week of January.
During this peak period, yellow percids will frequent shallow waters. They will evolve near structures or directly on them.
In fact, they will look for places where the bottom is uneven. Embankments and escarpments towards the depths are recommended. The shoals and flats that rise close to the surface are also real walleye magnets.
You can fish the slope of the structure and even on top of it, particularly in dark times or at night. If there is a current, David suggests fishing downstream from the shoal, that is to say on the side where there is no water movement.
Just like in summer, walleyes also like rock points. If you have the chance to exploit this type of structure, do not hesitate to present your lure at different depths. If you plan to fish on the point until dark, it is recommended to drill your holes in advance up to 1 m close to the bank. This way, you won’t frighten the specimens as they approach.
At nightfall, it is not uncommon to capture large predators hunting in less than 1 m depth.
Large flats with a depth of 3 m and less near banks with a stream or river mouth are normally very good early in the season. If these plateaus are dotted with a few patches of aquatic weed, everything indicates that you will get more action.
Best periods
Lucifuge, this species is often fished in the evening, at night or at dawn. In fact, the best times are the first two hours after sunrise, the last hour of daylight before nightfall, and sometimes even when darkness reigns.
The eyes of walleyes have a layer of daylight-reflecting pigments called the “choroidal carpet.” It provides fish with excellent night vision and forces them to avoid too bright lights. In turbid water, it can remain active during all periods of the day. In certain waterways, such as Lake Saint-Louis, our expert has often achieved success upon his arrival in the middle of the afternoon. You should therefore not hesitate to carry out your own tests.
At the dandinette
Contrary to what some people think, you don’t need to have a huge arsenal to target walleyes. Please note that for several years, fishing jig has become the most popular technique to get them to react.
It provides a lot of success in addition to offering beautiful moments of emotion during fights. The appropriate type of equipment for this type of approach is a 28 to 32 inch rod of medium power with a small, light cast.
The reel will be spooled with 10lb/test braided line designed for winter, connected to an 8lb/test P-Line HP-Ice fluorocarbon leader. You can also tie a small swivel on the end of the line to change your lures more quickly.
Rod holders with electronic jigging mechanism have become very popular over time. Equipped with a reel and a rod, it will jigger your lure in order to provoke the fish into hunting.
Some models offer the possibility of arming the rod for automatic hooking.
For his part, David Vadnais prefers not to bait them, because the walleyes generally seize the offering in a subtle way, which has the effect of taking it out of their mouths. It simply adjusts the reel tension to minimum while letting the rod holder mechanism generate the jigging action.
Artificial lures
Walleyes are true predators. When they are hunting, the waddling movement of an offering is very provocative.
However, to increase your chances of success, the pro interviewed strongly recommends adding an olfactory lure.
Ideally, if regulations permit, adding part of a dead shiner will significantly increase your success percentages. If you cannot use this method, an artificial egg or a small earthworm will also do the job.
Among the proven offerings, there is the Bio-Minnow Vertical Jig 1⁄2 oz perch from FishLab, the Mister Twister Meeny or Teenie on a jig head, the Bucktail Jig from Mepps, the CC Spoon, the Lindy Rattl’ n Quiver Spoon, Ice Jig J50, Nipigon, Jigging Rap, Rattl’n Flyer Spoon, Williams W30-40 with Dead Shiner Head, FishLab 2″ Guppy Blade Bait, Glow Spoon and Glow Streak.
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