Drifting for Walleye

[wetfootwilly]

Hey folks, sorry for the late report... We didn't have the success that wetfootwilly had..lol I tried erie dearies with worms and drifting but no hits, then used elecric motor to troll real slow and nothing. then Used inline spinner with worm on downrigger to get to a somewhat known depth and still nothing... So as we trolled slow I put my leadcore in and within minutes...... fish on.. lol. We must have been doing something wrong. anyway boys were looking bored so I had to do something. As long as they could use their rods I was able to troll with lead core and one downrigger, other 2 lines were theirs... lol barely enough line on the reels after letting lures out. I used bottom bouncers and one had a silver and black redfin ( because that was on leadcore and it was going off continously) other had a shad rap perch colour.. his choice but he seems to know what lures to use. He landed 3 with that and the other caught 2.. One double header when lead core and rigger were silent. Must have been the right depth at the time. Anyway after 3 hours we managed 16 altogether, put a few back. They enjoyed catching 3 at 8lbs each and 1 at 5lbs. They were caught on my gear luckily or they would have spooled them little reels..lol.. all and all we had another great time out, boys are learning to net fish and land them pretty good for 9 and 7. I am sure we will try again so if it seemed like I did something wrong let me know.... or wetwilly can share some of his secrets..... worms cost me 12$ for 3 dozen! was not a cheap alternative..lol Anyway take a kid fishing, it's crazy, it's busy, it gets stressful, but it's awesome! so worth it!![/QUO

If you had ur worm dangling off that erie dearie then i think u were letting way too much line out and were fishing too deep...we've been getting them higher than u would expect....sometimes that type fishing is slow especially with young ones...dont gv up....its a real fight when they hit and a blast

 

[skippy]

Been doing good like everyone this year trolling for walleye, limits each outing. However my 9 and 7 year old boys really want to use their own poles to catch fish and even though the action is non stop they want to catch them on their own. So... I'm going to give drifting a try and see how that works. Anybody have any pointers? I inherited a number of erie dearies, going to give them a try and maybe some spinners both tipped with minnow or worm. But I would appreciate some pointers if someone has any. I will have my gear on board to troll just in case or I may just troll for a bit to at least get 1 limit then try drifting just in case.... .lol Honestly kids would be happy catching anything so if there is a trick to catching silver bass that would be appreciated too.

we've been out a few times this year drifting anywhere between pottahawk to the elbow to the light house using dropshots. dragging when shallow and about 15 to 25 ft when deeper with a worm harness - decent results

 

[TMAN]

with the erie dearies you have to count down to get your depth..every second is about a foot.cast out bail open count say 20 seconds close bail and slow retrieve back to boat 20 seconds should be est 20 ft down and so on

Guess I need to count next time. I was just drifting with them. So count down and then reel slowly back? Gonna give it a go next time

 

[dave w]

Guess I need to count next time. I was just drifting with them. So count down and then reel slowly back? Gonna give it a go next time

yes my friend and if you where doing that you probably were always on bottom.the count down method will keep you at the depth you want when retreving it back to boat.

 

[wetfootwilly]

We werent really counting...just small/ med cast out...flip the bail and wait...we experiment abit...i person will fish deeper until we get it right....depends abit on how fast drift is too....sometimes they are difficult to catch...just ask my wife

 

[big rod]

The casting boats are doing poorly in the westend the meat trollers are doing great in certain locations