The speed, flash, vibration and action of spinner rigs triggers summer walleye strikes in warm water. Match your sinker system to fish depth and position for best results.
Fishing Big Structures
When fishing big structures, it’s important to cover the water you haven’t fished yet. We were able to drop GPS coordinates to mark where we caught a few fish. This enabled us to see the path the boat was taking and how we had combed the structure.
We noticed that the fish were holding closer to the bottom, so we rigged up VMC Switch Bottom Bouncers to position our spinners and baits just above the bottom. If we had been fishing around weeds or timber, we would have switched to bullet sinkers which slide more easily between stocks and sticks without snagging.
Spinners Work Everywhere
Spinners work just about everywhere that walleyes swim, if you rig them properly with the correct sinker style for the conditions. Walleye anglers use a variety of sinkers to troll spinners, matching their components to the situation at hand.
Reservoir anglers typically use snag resistant bottom bouncers whose wire legs crawl up down and over rocks and sand with few if any snags. They’re also great for fishing rocky reefs and Canadian waters. On Mille Lacs Lake, walleye anglers often use three-way rigs to present spinners two to three feet above the soft bottom of the Midlake mud flats, making sure the spinners remain visible well above the gooey bottom.
Conclusion
Trolling spinners is a great way to target summer walleyes. By rigging them properly with the correct sinker style for the conditions, you can have success in a variety of environments. Whether you’re fishing in reservoirs, rocky reefs, Canadian waters, or mud flats, spinners can be an effective way to catch walleyes.
