Walleye fishermen are well known for having lots of opinions. It seems everyone who enjoys targeting this species has their own pet way to put fish in the boat. Some like to jig, others like to troll, many depend on live bait and a few standouts rarely touch the slimy stuff.
Walleye anglers don't agree about a lot, but there is one point about targeting this species that few dispute. Pros and weekend warriors alike recognize the importance of depth control in walleye fishing. Walleyes are amazing fish that may be found on the bottom, suspended inches below the surface or anywhere in between. No matter where in the water column they turn up, the secret to catching walleyes is knowing how to present baits or lures at this critical depth.
Accurately presenting lures at specific target depths is what walleye fishing is all about. That goes double when the quest for walleye invades open water. Far from shore and targeting fish that are likely nowhere near the bottom, depth control fishing takes on a whole new meaning. Underestimate the importance of depth control in this environment and disappointment will soon lurk. Dial in those favorite baits to that magic depth zone and walleye can literally seem to be committing suicide.
Discovering this critical combination of both lure and depth is what tournament pros call wiring the bite.
CRANKBAITS & DEPTH CONTROL FISHING
For some time, walleye anglers have depended heavily upon crankbaits for their depth control fishing needs. Crankbaits are the obvious choice when targeting specific depths because these lures float at rest, dive when pulled and their diving ability can be controlled by manipulating just two variables.
"Line diameter and lead length are the two critical variables that influence crankbait diving depth," says Mark Romanack author of the popular book Precision Trolling. "The influence of line diameter on crankbait running depth is profound. Thinner lines have less resistance in the water and allow crankbaits to achieve greater depths. A quality 10# test monofilament line represents the ideal combination of line diameter and strength for most walleye trolling situations."
Lead length is the second factor that controls crankbait diving depth. "Lead length plays a major role in how deep crankbaits will dive," says Romanack. "The more trolling lead that's played out, the deeper a crankbait will dive. Reels equipped with mechanical line counters are the most effective way to monitor lead lengths when trolling."
Crankbaits dive deeper when the lead length is increased, but a point of diminishing return is soon reached. "Most crankbaits reach their maximum effective diving depths at lead lengths between 120 and 250 feet," explains Romanack. "While a lure may dive a little deeper when fished on longer lead lengths, the amount of additional lead required does not justify the modest increase in depth. Line stretch problems occur when exceptionally long lead lengths are used with monofilament. Line stretch in turn leads to poor hooking success. When maximum depths must be achieved, superbraid lines offer the thin diameter and ultra low stretch characteristics needed to both fish deep and achieve solid hookups."
ABOUT PRECISION TROLLING
Back in 1991, a research project was started that identified the variables that influence crankbait running depth. Using scuba gear, the Precision Angling team took this research under water to test and document these variables.
Once he documented that line diameter and lead length are the two primary factors that influence crankbait depth, the staff of Precision Angling went a step further. Setting up an actual controlled trolling situation, they demonstrated that it was possible to accurately measure the specific diving depths of popular floating/diving style crankbaits. This landmark research has since been used to collect depth diving data for hundreds of crankbaits on lead lengths ranging from zero out to 250 feet.
The specific depth data collected by the dive team is plotted onto a graph known as a "Dive Curve". "A "Dive Curve" is a simple XY graph that illustrates the running depth a crankbait will achieve on all specific lead lengths," explains Romanack. "Every lure has it own unique "Dive Curve" that can not be predicted simply by looking at the lure or comparing a lure to other similar baits."
The research conducted by the staff of Precision Angling has become the standard upon which both crankbait manufacturers and anglers use in judging diving depth. "Our testing structure allows us to measure crankbait diving depth to plus or minus three inches," says Romanack. "Now that's depth control fishing."
The book Precision Trolling is a collection of hundreds of "Dive Curves". Known by avid anglers as the "Troller's Bible", Precision Trolling is updated periodically to provide depth data for new lures as they are introduced and tested. The test data provided in Precision Trolling is based on 10 pound test monofilament, but conversion charts are also provided for anglers who fish different line diameters or types. For more details visit the site www.precisionangling.com.
BEYOND CRANKBAITS
Figuring out what depth is productive then putting other lures at that zone is what trolling is all about. Crankbaits are an outstanding tool for targeting specific depths, but these fishing aids aren't without limitations.
The effective maximum depth for modern crankbait designs is around 40 feet. Only a handful of lures will reach this depth and in fact the majority of crankbaits on the market are designed to dive less than 20 feet. Crankbaits are also most often effective when fishing for active fish. In the complex world of walleye fishing, there are times when fish show these baits little interest. This is where another trolling device comes into play.
Diving planers are a trolling aid that are designed to dive to specific depths while trailing various lures or live baits on a short leader. Useful for trolling shallow diving crankbaits, spoons and crawler harnesses, divers come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and specific designs.
The diver styles most useful to walleye anglers fall into two simple categories. The first category is the most limited. Divers that float at rest and dive like a crankbait are limited to one brand. The Luhr Jensen Jet Diver actually looks a little like a crankbait without the hooks. A diving lip on the front of the product causes it to dive in much the same way a crankbait dives. At the back of the Jet Diver is a swivel that accepts a leader.
Because Jet Divers float, they have the same diving characteristics as a crankbait. Line diameter and lead length are the two variables that control diver depth. The Jet Diver comes in five different sizes (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50) that achieve increasing deeper depths. Walleye anglers are best served with the 10-30 sizes. The lead length used with a Jet Diver is normally matched to the rod length. A six to eight foot leader is standard.
Because Jets are relatively small and they have only a moderate drag in the water, they can be fished in combination with planer boards. Both dual ski planer systems and in-line boards are great ways to deploy Jet Divers and achieve both depth control and outward lure coverage.
The second type of diving planers are directional divers. Round in shape, directional divers have a counter balance weight on the bottom that when turned clockwise or counterclockwise causes the diver to not only dive, but also to track out away from the boat. This tracking feature can be controlled by the position of the weight. Most divers have up to three outboard settings, but some offer as many as six. The higher the number of outboard setting that's chosen, the further to the side the diver will run.
Three common brands of directional divers are popular including the Walker Deeper Diver, Luhr Jensen Dipsy Diver and the Slide Diver.
The outward tracking ability of directional divers is helpful, but these devices can not achieve the outward coverage provided by planer boards. It's also important to note that when the outboard settings are used, the diving depth is reduced in the process. Every action in trolling has a reaction. In the case of directional divers, gaining outward tracking ability comes at the cost of sacrificing diving depth.
Like the Jet Diver, directional divers come in different sizes designed to target progressively deeper depths. Some models also come equipped with a removable "dive ring" that allows the diameter of the diver to be increased for achieving maximum depths.
The larger sizes of directional divers were designed with salmon anglers in mind, but these rather large trolling aids can also be used to target deep water walleye. Commonly in use on Lake Erie, full sized diving planers can easily achieve depths approaching 100 feet when fished on thin superbraid lines or wire line.
Most of the walleye trolling situations anglers encounter can be handled with more modest sized directional divers. Like the smaller sizes of the Jet Diver, these trolling tools have moderate drag in the water yet they easily reach the target depths walleye anglers are most likely to fish. They too can be used in combination with planer boards making them ideal for open water trolling situations.
The smallest of the directional divers are known as mini-disks. Three different sizes of mini-disks are currently available with the smallest size being about the diameter of a quarter, the middle size similar to a half dollar and the larger size being about the diameter of a silver dollar.
The Big Jon Mini Disk, Luhr Jensen Mini Dipsy and Finlander Mini Diver are all excellent products ideally suited to open water walleye trolling. Mini disks are directional like their bigger brothers, but the amount of outward coverage is limited due to their small size. Most anglers who use mini disks set them on the zero setting so they dive straight down and use planer boards to achieve outward coverage.
Like crankbaits and Jet Divers, the diving depth of directional divers is controlled primarily by line diameter and lead length. Because directional divers do not float at rest, trolling speed also plays a minor role in their running depth.
"Trolling speed has some influence on the running depth of all trolling gear that sinks," says Romanack. "In the case of directional divers the surface area of the diver helps to offset the influence of speed. When divers are trolled at speeds between 1.5 and 3 MPH, there is only about a 2% variance in depth. At slower speeds divers run slightly deeper than at faster speeds."
Fortunately for anglers who enjoy trolling with diving planers, the same "Dive Curve" technology provided for crankbaits is now available for open water trollers. A new depth guide called Precision Trolling Big Water Edition, this the third book in the Precision Angling series. This guide provides 150 different "Dive Curves" for all the popular brands and sizes of diving planers, plus interesting data for lead core line and snap weights.
The Big Water Edition includes depth data based on monofilament, superbraid lines and also braided wire lines. Larger divers were tested on heavier line diameters and smaller divers on smaller line sizes. This new depth guide can be ordered from www.precisionangling.com or by calling toll free 800-353-6958.
A WORD ON TERMINAL TACKLE
Divers can be used effectively with shallow diving crankbaits, spoons or crawler harnesses. Of these options, spoons are becoming the dominate force on Great Lakes waters. Two spoons including the Wolverine Tackle Jr. Streak and the Michigan Stinger Scorpion are the dominate forces in open water spoon fishing. Both of these spoons are available in a wealth of colors and are also the right size to imitate the forage walleye most often feed on.
Crawler harnesses can also be deadly when fished in combination with divers. To limit problems with line twist, use quality ball bearing swivels and limit trolling speeds with spinners to 2 MPH or less. Moderate sized Colorado, Indiana and willow style blades ranging from No. 4 to No. 6 seem to produce best with crawler harnesses.
A FEW MORE TROLLING TIPS
Anglers can take depth control too seriously. With the technology and products we now have at our disposal it's possible to present our trolling gear too precisely. "Open water walleye react best to lures that are presented slightly above them," recommends Romanack. "In clear or slightly stained water walleyes will move several feet to strike at lures passing over their head. Targeting baits two or three feet above fish located on the graph is a good starting point."
Romanack cautions anglers not to make the mistake of running baits at or below the level fish are feeding at. "Walleyes are aggressive predators, but they are very reluctant to go down in the water column to chase forage. Fishing under the fish is the best way I know to come up empty handed when open water trolling."
Another tip for open water anglers is to keep in mind that sonar can't mark all the fish in the water column. Fish feeding near the surface are missed by sonar because the fish simply move away from the boat, before the sonar can do it's job. "Fish at least one line high in the water column to target fish that don't show up on the sonar," suggests Romanack. "Often these high fish tend to be the most aggressive."
It's also important to understand that the accuracy of lead lengths deployed, depends on how much line is spooled onto line counter style reels. Mechanical line counter reels monitor lead length based on an estimate of how much line comes off the spool for each rotation when the spool is filled to capacity. If the reel is under spooled with line, the lead length estimates will also be underestimated. It's important to fill the spool of your line counter reels to capacity and also to use the same line diameter on all your reels.
WRAPPING IT UP
Not many anglers would argue with the logic that depth control is the key to walleye trolling success. Determining where fish are in the water column and then positioning lures slightly above that depth is the fast track to open water fishing success.
Thanks to fishing products including line counter reels, crankbaits, diving planers and the Precision Trolling guides we have the necessary tools to explore depth control fishing seriously. Suddenly the excuses for not catching open water walleye just got a lot smaller.
Walleye anglers don't agree about a lot, but there is one point about targeting this species that few dispute. Pros and weekend warriors alike recognize the importance of depth control in walleye fishing. Walleyes are amazing fish that may be found on the bottom, suspended inches below the surface or anywhere in between. No matter where in the water column they turn up, the secret to catching walleyes is knowing how to present baits or lures at this critical depth.
For some time, walleye anglers have depended heavily upon crankbaits for their depth control fishing needs. Crankbaits are the obvious choice when targeting specific depths because these lures float at rest, dive when pulled and their diving ability can be controlled by manipulating just two variables.
Most of the walleye trolling situations anglers encounter can be handled with more modest sized directional divers. Like the smaller sizes of the Jet Diver, these trolling tools have moderate drag in the water yet they easily reach the target depths walleye anglers are most likely to fish. They too can be used in combination with planer boards making them ideal for open water trolling situations.
