manitoubass2

Well, I woke up early this morning to get geared up for some shore walleye fishing. Loaded up the gear and boy was she cold out! But after 3 days of solid rain, the -6 temp wasn't gonna stop me! lol.

Water levels had rose about 2ft in the past few days, and the rain had muddied the water to almost zero visibility. Water temps also dropped due to the rising water, 36 degrees cold.

I went to one spot that holds alot of small males, but also produces big females if your patient. I tinkered with a few plastic/jig combos before I found one I felt confident in. Pink 3/8oz jig with a chart/white 3" Berkley Gulp minnow.

I focused mainly on a mud to rock transition, that goes from about 12 FOW to 22FOW. Right where the drop is, there is an eddie just off the main current. I figured the walleye would be bunched up there where they could ambush the shners being filtered through the current. Turns out I was right today! Lots of small walleye, it wasn't fast, but constant... I figured it would be slow because of how cold it was.

I fished about 6 hours, landed about 20 small walleye around 16-18", all fish were released.

Right at the end of the day, the sun finally started peaking out and heating me up. A bigger female hit my jig on a slow retrieve in 12 FOW. And she had alot of energy! I let her fight a few minutes and landed her. A quick measure and a pic, and she swam away strong! Real nice looking 26"er too, I wish I woulda got a better pic. This was a fat fish too, although the pic doesn't really show that. Oh well, the really big walleye should be here soon!

All in all, it was a fun day. I never seen any other species today, which was kinda shocking.

The plan now is to head back to the same spot this evening, and hopefully run into some more active walleye...

That is absolutly amazing there man!! Thanks for sharing your tips with us on how to make some. I have bookmarked this page so that when I start working and can get supplys, I will be doing so and will start making some of my own!! How does it feel going into a beauty store and leaving with multiple types of nail polish?? Your daughters pretty good at them too!!!

Thansk Brian, yes you do need to make some yourself! lol

No problem on the tips sharing, thats how we learn! I have alot of other tips as well, like trolling speeds, which types of blades etc.

The pics here kinda suck, maybe I'll take some more and give a more detailed account of how to make them.

Both my oldest daughter, and my oldest son make spinner baits. They do make em pretty good, they even tie the snells on there own. Some of them have very questionable bead selections though, lol, but as long as their having fun, right?

Buying nail polish is pretty funny. I usually go in geared up pretty good too. I always get a few extra looks, hehe. My girlfriend works alot, and I fish alot. And she does crafting/sewing in her down time. So we actually shop for alot of this stuff together, even borrowing from one another. It's a good way to spend some time together after the kids go to bed, as we both enjoy it.

The orange/black sparkle rig was actually a copper blade. I used nail polish to paint it orange, then used a binder sticker to paint a black cirlce on it, again with nail polish. Then I applies some glitter nail polish, then 3 clear coats.

lol

These are nail polished colorados as well



Craft store beads (way cheaper then "fishing beads", hehe



My 10 year old daughter made this rig, start to finish.

That is pretty amazing there!! Nice work on that, what do for getting the designs? I never thought about this process before, although I would prob not have patience for that lol.

It's very easy, and very cheap, especially if you buy bulk components and look around at craft shops for deals on beads. It costs me about 25 cents per rig.

Here is some supplies. I normally use Berkley XT or Berkley big game, but I was tying some rigs for my kids so I was using up some Southbend 12lb mono.



You can choose whatever style hooks you prefer. I use about 5 different kinds in all, but prefer #2 Gammies



Choose your line you want to use, and cut a 2-3ft length to give you plenty to work with. It can be cut to size at the end of the process. I make rigs from 14" to 24".



Have your supplies laid out and ready to go. 5mm beads, colorado baitfish image blade, quick change clevis, 2 barrel swivels and an egg sinker. This particular rig had an egg sinker because I'm making it so it's castable from shore.



To snell the hook, hold it upright as pictured. Run the line through the hook and give it about an inch and a half past the eye of the hook. Hold that tight between your thumb and forefinger.



Keeping the line tight, wrap the line 5-7 times around the shank of the hook. Keep the line tight, and keep your loops around the hook nice and tight and inline. Then pull the end of the line back through the eye of the hook the opposite way it went in.



Wet the knot and sinch it tight. Then dab a small amount of crazy glue on the knot and again pull the knot tight while it dries. It's not really an issue, but this prevents the knot from pushing the snell loose.



Then, add 4-6 beads of your color choice and size. Make sure to add enough beads so the the blade will not touch the hook while spinning. Put your blade on the quick change clevis, and slide it on the line. Then add another one or two beads to the top.



Now, I take an extra piece of line, about 12" inches or so. Tie to a barrell swive on one end. Add on bead, then the egg sinker of your choice, then another bead. Tie to another barrel swivel.



Then tie the egg sinker line, to the spinner rig. Viola, you have a castable spinner rig to use from shore for walleye!



When making spinner rigs for trolling, just omit the part with the egg sinker part of the rig.

Those are some nice, healthy looking pike! Good catch.

Im new to the forum, so im doing some catching up on older threads, lol.

I live in NW Ontario, so I cant imagine the feeling of walking through the city with all your gear. To me, that would just be an awesome experience, gladiator like, haha.