A game of inches

Pitching the shallows for waist-deep walleyes

Walleye anglers tend to equate walleye fishing with deep water and structure, but the fact is sometimes walleyes act like bass. They penetrate the extreme shallows, often in and around some type of cover. Approach them closely enough to reach out and tempt them with a bait or lure, yet avoid spooking them in water that barely covers their bodies. The contrast is, for walleyes, this means using a small, subtle bait, rather than a bold or gaudy lure like bass might respond to. A silent entry, slow drop speed and finesse retrieve are critical to success.

Tournament walleye pros have learned to pitch small, lightweight jigs tipped with live bait or soft baits into inches of water, then slither them back with minimal snags. It requires a different form of tackle than the bass brigade employs. Rather than beefy casting tackle and heavy line, walleye anglers pitch light line on spinning gear, opting for stealth rather than power. It takes a little getting used to, but pays big dividends.

The windup and the pitch …

The mechanics are basically the same, no matter what kind of lure is used. Stand in the bow of the boat or on the deck at the stern. With about a foot of line off the rod tip and gripping the line with your forefinger and an open bail, dip the rod tip downward and across your body to load the rod. For right-handed anglers, it’s easiest to dip down and to the left. Southpaws, do the reverse – just like always.

Immediately following about an 18- to 24-inch dip, stop the rod tip. The rod tip will load up as the lure passes and tugs at the tip, then stops. This is the moment of truth. Immediately fling the rod tip upward, pointing it at the casting target. As the lure begins to move forward, release the line with your forefinger, and watch it sail on low trajectory toward home.

If it’s in the neighborhood, let it fall into the water at its own pace. If it’s about to overshoot the target, reach up with your forefinger and pin the line against the spool, stopping lure momentum just inches above the surface. The lure will drop, plop and slowly sink with barely a ripple.

Engage the reel, and follow the lure downward with the rod tip as it sinks, watching the line for the telltale jump of a subtle strike, a bump against cover, or coming to rest on bottom. At that point, gently lift the rod tip to make the lure swim, lift-drop a couple of feet across bottom, crawl over cover, or do another motion; the exact application depends on the depth, cover and bottom content. Sneak in and hit ’em before they know what happened. Then jerk ’em out.

Done correctly, it’s easier to flip lightweight walleye lures with spinning gear since the line literally flies off the spool, rather than having to be unwound by the lure’s momentum, as is necessary with casting tackle. It may be an underhanded way to catch walleyes, but all’s fair when the bite’s shallow and spooky fish demand a sneaky approach. On point. On demand. On target.

Pitching works along shorelines, for working individual forms of flooded cover or across flats – just about anywhere it’s shallow and the fish are spooky or fussy. The key is using the electric trolling motor to slip in within reachable distance and pitch in. Work the lure back out. Reposition the boat for the next pitch, then let ‘er fly. Poke. Prod. Probe. Just keep the volume down and the tap-dancing to a minimum. The point is to try not to let shallow walleyes sense the boat’s presence, an angler’s moving profile or the sound of shuffling feet across the boat floor.

For a few pointers on applying the pitching tactic to different walleye waters, let’s see how a couple of Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour pros use the technique to their advantage.

Jason Przekurat on pitchin’ rivers

BP pro Jason Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wis., who is a two-time Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year on the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, has been a walleye pitcher since way back, having grown up, fished and guided on the Wisconsin River system. “Shallow jigging is by far my favorite technique,” Przekurat said. “Not just on the river, either. It works almost everywhere walleyes swim.

“I do a lot of pitching jigs in shallow, heavy cover. Much of the time, I’m pitching to specific targets like wood tangles or rocks. I use fairly heavy line – usually 10-pound-test hi-visibility Berkley FireLine. I like to watch my line to detect light bites, cover and changes in the bottom. I need to know what my jig is doing 100 percent of the time. I’m not concerned over line color spooking walleyes, especially in dingy or dirty water. If they want it, they’ll hit it.

“There’s no better time than spring for using a pitching technique; the fish are generally shallow this time of year. The Wisconsin River has flooded heavy timber, and my guide clients are usually surprised how aggressively I fish them in the cover. Most people try to fish edges, but I generally try to get my jig right down into the cover, using a small underhand pitch inside the trees.

“I use a weedless jig for these conditions, and the Lindy Veg-E-Jig is my favorite for several reasons. The pointed, narrow profile and inline hook eye design slides through timber better than a broader, rounder head. It also has a beefier hook compared to other weedless walleye jigs, which tend to have light-wire hooks designed to bend under pressure to get a jig out of snags. With a heavier hook, by comparison, I can horse walleyes out of cover; this is no time to let them run. The drag must be pretty much tightened down to get ’em up and out. Then you can back-reel to fight them in open water.

“Most of the time, I use a 1/8-ounce jig; occasionally, I might go heavier if I need to fish deeper water or heavier current,” Przekurat said. “The smaller, 1/16-ounce size is better for crappies.

“I’m a big fan of tipping my jigs with plastic or other soft baits. Throwing a jig into cover gets a reaction strike. Walleyes often hit on the fall. They see it and hit it before it gets away.

“I use the 3 3/4-inch Lindy Thumpin’ Ringworm a lot. It has a flexible, lifelike body. I generally start with darker colors like black, purple or blue that work in both clear and dirty water. With two anglers in the boat, we might start with one dark worm, and the other bright like orange or chartreuse, and let the fish tell us what’s best.

“I work a worm aggressively. I let it free-fall, and as soon as it hits bottom, I lift it back up with the rod tip. There’s no finessing; it’s a fast technique.

“I may switch to live bait if the bite goes sour and the fish veer away from plastic. Last year, after the first day of a tournament at Red Wing, for example, I sensed a change in the bite and switched to leeches hooked up through suction cups. Most of the time, however, soft baits are perfect – durable, easy to fish with and productive.

“When I’m fishing river systems, any type of current break or eddy is liable to hold walleyes, even in relatively shallow water. A small eddy along a shoreline point might not hold a bunch of fish, but it might hold the right ones. There doesn’t necessarily need to be a flooded tree, because even a little bit of current break may hold a few good females. But when there are two together – current breaks and wood – that tends to make spots better.

“Sometimes, walleyes can be on specific targets. At Red Wing, for example, there’s lots of cover and eddies – mixes of everything. Fish a good spot, and multiple fish can be caught in short order.

“Despite the effectiveness of pitchin’ in shallow water and flooded snags, most of the tournament guys still don’t do it,” Przekurat said. “First and foremost, don’t be afraid to get snagged. Also, don’t get disgusted with snags. Even the best angler is bound to lose some jigs, and that’s not a bad thing. Instead, during prefishing, I like to learn the snags. I feel them out and figure out where to cast. Then I throw to adjacent clean areas, or to places where I have a high likelihood of getting my jig back. If I know there are three branches on an underwater snag, I can either work around it or work my lure over each twig, visualizing and knowing what my jig is doing all the time.

“Pitchin’ shallow timber is not for the faint of heart. I spool up a Shimano Symetre spinning reel with Berkley FireLine and tie directly to the jig, with no leader. I use a 6-foot, 1-inch Fig Rig medium-action rod. I believe shorter rods are better than longer ones for pitching jigs, allowing more control. They’re also more sensitive – there’s not as much graphite to go through to detect a bite.

“And here’s one final tip that pertains mostly to tournament guys, rather than weekend anglers. When pitchin’ any form of heavy cover, remember a jig is a search tool. You’ll lose some, even with weedless hooks. Weedguards may also cost you the occasional bite, so you have to make a judgment. Therefore, during tournament days, I tend to switch back to a regular open-hook jig because my hooking percentage is better, and one big fish can make a huge difference in how I finish. I risk some snags, but if I’ve done my homework in practice, I already know where and how to cast and work my jig back to the boat. I make my own 1/8-ounce roundball jigheads with a bigger, heavier hook simply to handle big fish better. In more open or non-snaggy areas, a standard Lindy Fuzz-E-Grub would be good.”

John Campbell on reservoirs

John Campbell’s return address may be Marco Island, Fla., but he’s actually from the Chicago area and spends most of the angling year up North in walleye country.

A veteran walleye tournament angler who also fishes for bass, muskies and other species, he applies his shallow-water insights to walleye fishing in a big way.

“I probably fish shallower than most anglers when I use a pitchin’ technique,” Campbell said. “I prefer windy conditions when active walleyes may be right up in inches of water along shore. But at times, I’ve caught walleyes in 2 to 3 feet of water during calm conditions where I could see and catch them on long casts. The upshot is I’m never afraid to try fishing for them in the extreme shallows.

“When I’m pitchin’ reservoir conditions for walleyes, I typically use a 1/16- to 1/8-ounce jig tipped with a minnow, leech or about 1 1/2 inches of night crawler. I often bulk up the jig with a piece of plastic to slow the fall as it glides from the surface to the bottom. Lightweight jigs have a slow fall rate that triggers bites. Heavier jigs often don’t produce.

“In reservoirs, long shoreline sections often appear much the same, but they’re not. I pay particular attention to bottom types and transitions between them. In Western impoundments, shale and pea gravel often provide key areas that draw walleyes into the extreme shallows. Pieces of scattered wood might further enhance such spots.

“I look for shorelines with the right bottom content and then focus in on sections that fall immediately into 3 or 4 feet of water, rather than those with a gentle slope. Walleyes push and trap minnows and baitfish up against these steep shorelines. It’s a great spring pattern and can apply all summer and early fall, especially when the wind blows. When it’s windy, it’s possible to cast crankbaits without spooking skinny-water walleyes. But when it’s dead-calm, pitchin’ is the way to go.

“Some lakes and impoundments have shallow weed flats where the weeds only rise 4 to 6 inches off bottom in 3 to 5 feet of water, particularly during early season and postspawn,” Campbell said. “They hold lots of walleyes up shallow. Flooded cottonwood trees are also common, with fish lying in and around the roots. All are ideal pitchin’ targets, whether fish are spread across weeds or tucked down inside specific pieces of wood cover.

“In clearer water conditions, walleyes may not just load up and attack, but rather slide in and chew. I don’t set the hook right away; I let it load up, then sweepset. By setting the hook too quickly, you may miss them.

“I generally use Lindy Max Gap Jigs, not getting very fancy or flamboyant in color; chartreuse in my go-to color. I use 6-pound-test hi-vis Stren line in clear/blue to help me watch the line, detect light bites and know what my jig is doing at all times.

“I swim the jig a lot in the shallows, and don’t let it hit bottom much, at least until it gets away from shore. I watch for walleyes pushing baitfish up against the shoreline or feeding on insects; in super-shallow water, sometimes swirls are seen as fish move in and suck up a jig. Again, don’t set too quickly, or you’ll miss them. Feel the strike, and then set the hook.

“Sometimes, you only catch keepers fishing this method. At other times, it’ll produce the biggest fish in the system. You won’t know until you try. Check out wood, reeds, cane, etc., especially along transitions like edges and pockets. You never know where walleyes might be.

“Pitchin’ even works on the clear Great Lakes, where ice often gouges and dredges 3- to 4-foot troughs close to shore. You can sneak up within pitchin’ distance and catch walleyes, even on a calm day.

“At times, I’ll toss other lures in the extreme shallows, depending on how they’re laid out. If the shoreline drops fairly quickly, I might throw a No. 5 Rapala Shad Rap. If it’s a slow taper, I might sneak an Esko lure or Rapala CountDown in there. These lures require a bit heavier line, like 8-pound test, but the principle’s the same. Get in there shallower than most anglers fish, and see what lives there.”

Weedy natural lakes

Let me close with some observations on pitchin’ weedy natural lakes for walleyes. Casting and tickling jigs along and down deep outside weed edges is an effective method, both for detecting fish-holding irregularities in the growth and for catching the fish that live there. Multi-species catches are common, including more than a spattering of walleyes.

When it comes to pitching shallow inside weed edges, shoreline rock points, riprap, flooded shoreline trees and other forms of waist-deep cover or edges, most natural-lake walleye anglers haven’t adopted pitching to any degree. Bass fishermen and even muskie anglers have adopted it, but walleye chasers really have not. This is particularly true in classic deep, clear walleye lakes of the North Woods, where walleye fishermen glue their eyes to their electronics, rather than watching their lines.

The fact is shallow natural lakes in farm country tend to have fertile, dark water and are ideal places to pitch jigs for aggressive, feeding walleyes. Windswept rock points, reed beds, gravel flats and other shallow spots draw feeding walleyes, particularly under windy conditions. Pitch a jig up into inches of water, and slither it back.

Also, pitch a jig along inside weedlines, across scrubby weed flats, atop rock reefs, etc., in clear natural lakes – especially when the wind blows, during low-light conditions or at night. It’s more akin to fishing reservoir conditions than river habitat, with fish tending to be a bit more spread out along edges, rather than stacked on individual objects. But the principles are the same: Pitch in. Yank out. Use a silent entry in the shallows to avoid spooking walleyes. Slither along, through and over cover. Use a heartbeat of explosive heave-ho when jerking walleyes up and out of their lair. After that, all’s fair when fighting them in the adjacent open water, where they can’t break off in their tangled domain.