Efficient boat management below all circumstances will show you how to higher place and handle your presentation, and meaning extra fish within the boat.
November 21, 2023
I feel everybody can relate to being out on the lake and catching walleyes, solely to see a major drop in motion when the wind begins blowing. In actuality, it needs to be the other. When the wind begins blowing, it breaks up the floor and makes walleyes much less spooky, it strikes bait round and the listing of benefits goes on.
The rationale many anglers’ productiveness usually dips throughout these windy intervals is that we don’t modify to what the wind does to our shows. Listed here are 5 issues to contemplate when the wind blows in your subsequent walleye journey.
1. Mono
Trendy braided or fluorocarbon strains have considerably much less stretch than monofilament line. The typical monofilament has a stretch within the 20% vary, whereas braid options lower than 5% stretch. This distinction in stretch is a giant deal, as your lures surge in waves, or throughout turns it will possibly trigger lures to considerably change the pace at which they run—most lures blow out to the aspect when transferring too quick. An additional advantage is that stretch additionally helps enhance touchdown ratios with much less hook tear out.
2. Drift Bag
If there’s one cheap merchandise that walleye anglers ought to all the time carry of their boat is well a drift bag. Drift baggage work wonders for slowing your boat’s trajectory anyplace from only a smidge to some miles an hour because the wind speeds improve. As necessary as pace, the discount of surge is what I consider additionally helps produce extra bites. Carry completely different sizes to be able to modify your pace to the various winds. A drift bag is nearly like an autopilot in that it provides stable boat management and might drastically scale back the variety of changes that in any other case could also be required.
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3. Leadcore
To these within the know, leadcore line is the elephant within the room. The variety of walleyes that guides and event anglers have caught utilizing it’s astronomical. The rationale they use it’s easy, it constantly works. The benefit to leadcore over different weighted methods is that the load is distributed over the complete size of the road in comparison with a snap weight, bead chain or different weighted system. The distribution causes the lures motion to be a lot much less erratic and retains them from rapidly elevating and reducing within the water column. Much less surge equals extra bites day in and day trip—it’s reliably correct.
4. Rod Choice
You don’t want excessive greenback trolling rods to achieve success in walleye fishing, however you higher have the precise rod motion, or you’ll dig your self right into a gap. Rods which are too quick on the tip or too heavy in energy can do every part from rip hooks out to vary your lures motion in the identical manor we mentioned with line sort. I exploit Shimano Compre 8-foot, 3-inch 3 MD rods for a majority of my crankbait and small diving-device trolling functions. Whereas this mannequin excels for onerous baits, I observed that it was too stiff for fishing spinner rigs or different reside bait shows, and I labored with Shimano to develop the Compre 8-foot, 3-inch MMD mannequin. The MMD is way softer or extra reasonable and considerably will increase the variety of bites and fish landed with reside bait. I’ve additionally began utilizing them with crankbaits when the wind blows sufficient to create vital waves to once more scale back surge.
5. Doubled-Up Boat Management
Anglers usually ask, “Ought to I exploit a drift bag or my trolling motor? Or my kicker as an alternative of an electrical?” Correctly utilizing two types of boat management could be the reply in lots of instances. When the wind is blowing, I usually discover it efficient to make use of a drift bag out of the rear of the boat to gradual my surge and pace, but in addition use the bow mounted trolling motor for each steering and for pace changes. This setup can be very helpful for straitening the boat out when it needs to canine leg when below troll.
Alongside the identical strains, utilizing a kicker and a bow mount on the identical time can assist you retain management of your boat when going into the waves or when trying navigate tough seas and fishing on the identical time. Every boat and setup will deal with in another way, which is able to doubtless demand completely different wants, however don’t be afraid to make use of a couple of type of boat management.
We frequently have so many variables to contemplate whereas every state of affairs is happening, it may be troublesome to completely perceive what’s making a distinction when it’s truly taking place. Time on the water will show you how to determine every part to higher boat management. A terrific many hours on the water has taught me that straightforward methods just like the 5 above will scale back surge and maintain your presentation below management when the waves improve, in the end getting you extra bites.
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Capt. Ross Robertson
Bigwater Fishing
