By: Mark Romanack
Small boats like this SmokerCraft Freedom 160 T are ideal for fishing most of the wilderness walleye waters found across Ontario. A boat equipped with a dependable outboard, electric motor and sonar makes the task of finding and catching wilderness walleye much easier.
For those who love to fish in remote destinations, late May marks a milestone. The walleye fishing season across most of Ontario opens the last Saturday in May. At this latitude, the walleye spawning run is just wrapping up and anglers willing to travel are gifted an opportunity to enjoy what could be called a “second” opening day experience!
Even better, because the weather in late May up north in Ontario is just starting to warm up, walleye are going to be found in shallow water and jigging tactics take the majority of the fish! So for those anglers who love to jig fish and can’t get enough jigging action, a late spring early summer trip to Ontario might just be what the doctor ordered.
I’ve been blessed to have enjoyed more than 30 early spring trips to target Ontario’s wilderness walleye fisheries in my life. While there are lots of great fishing opportunities closer to home, it’s hard to not get “lured” back to what Ontario offers. Not only is the fishing experience world class, the opportunity to escape the crowds while enjoying the experience with family and life long friends is something I look forward to every year.
TAKE YOUR OWN BOAT
While lodges and fish camps often provide boats and outboards, I’ve always felt more comfortable fishing from my own rig. The beauty of using your own boat comes in having those modern conveniences that make fishing more enjoyable such as a trustworthy electric motor, quality sonar, comfortable fishing chairs and an outboard that doesn’t have to be pull started!
Since the majority of anglers own boats smaller than 18 foot in length, these craft are ideal for targeting walleye in most Ontario waters.
The author is in his “happy place” when targeting wilderness walleye on jig fishing tackle.
AN ASSORTMENT OF JIGS
The jigs most commonly used to target walleye in Ontario range in size from 1/8 ounce to 3/8 ounce in size. For many years my “go to” jigs for targeting walleye in natural lakes has been the Eagle Claw Eagle Eye jig. Available in 1/8 and 1/4 ounce sizes, this ultra premium aspirin style jig features the popular Lazer Sharp ProV hook with a unique keeper that holds soft plastics and also live bait securely on the hook.
This is the jig I depend on primarily when casting soft plastics or when using half a nightcrawler as bait.
I also travel to Ontario with a good assortment of bucktail jigs in the 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce sizes and six fish catching colors. Our staff at Fishing 411 TV recently helped Eagle Claw develop a new line of bucktail jigs featuring a tear drop head design and the ProV Lazer Sharp hook. These jigs feature the best quality natural bucktail money can buy with some synthetic fibers to add flash and extra action. The beauty of bucktail jigs is they have action even when the jig is sitting motionless. When it comes to imitating crayfish or mud minnows, nothing does a better job than a quality hand-tied bucktail jig.
A third category of jig every walleye angler should carry are the swim jigs featuring a 60 degree eye tie. Most jigs feature a 90 degree eye tie designed for vertical jigging. The 60 degree eye tie is more efficient for casting and swimming the jig in open water, through weed cover, rocks and submerged wood.
Another Eagle Claw jig called the Boxing Glove Jig was made especially for fishing modern soft plastic swimbait bodies. Available in 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 ounce sizes, these jigs are equipped with a Trokar wide gap style hook that is machined sharp. The Boxing Glove jig is a short shank design that works great when throwing 3-5 inch paddle-tail grubs, action tail grubs and split-tail minnows.
SORTING OUT THE PLASTICS
When it comes to soft plastics for jig fishing an angler could easily sink the boat with all the options and colors available. A modest assortment of sizes, styles and colors will get the job done day in and day out.
In the three inch size, a few paddle-tail grubs and curl-tail grubs is a good starting point. Some classics in this category include the Big Bite Baits Sensation Pro Swimmer, the Swimming Jerk Minnow, the Fat Grub and the Berkley’s Ripple Shad. Choosing three to five color options is a good starting option. More colors can be added over time. In Ontario the waters are normally clear to tannic stained in color. Experience has proven that soft plastics in pearl, Tennessee shad and perch patterns are productive year in and year out.
In the four inch size, a few Big Bite Baits Slim Minnows, some Lunker City Fin-S Fish and Luhr Lipstick Split Tail Minnows has that category covered nicely. Again, settling on three or four natural colors is better than worrying about having every color option on the market.
THE JIGGING ROD COMBINATION
Jigging is a game best played using spinning rod and reel combinations. A good rod for wilderness walleye jigging should be seven feet long with a medium to medium/light action or power. Quality graphite rods start at about $90.00 and range upwards of $300.00 each.
Match that rod up with a 20 or 25 size spinning reel. Good spinning reels range in cost from about $60.00 to $150.00 each.
The best line for wilderness walleye jigging is a super braid in the 8 to 10 pound test range. Eight carrier braids are super smooth and deliver the best casting distance. At the terminal end add a 36 to 48 inch leader of 10-12 pound test fluorocarbon leader and tie the jig directly to this leader. Using a fluorocarbon leader provides an invisible lure to line connection and it also makes it easier to break off snagged jigs and tie on a new one. Tying the jig directly to the super braid is a broken rod tip or reel bail just waiting to happen.
SUMMING IT UP
Those who have experienced the wilderness walleye experience Ontario specializes in are hooked for life. If you haven’t made the pilgrimage north, you owe it to yourself to see what all the excitement is about.