In concert with the post about catching trophy-size northern pike at one of Loon Haunt’s five outposts, this article examines the strategies necessary to catch a trophy-size walleye during your trip this summer.

Fortunately, many of the tips and suggestions for rods, reels, and line combos as well as the tackle used for pike can also be used for walleye, albeit in smaller weights and sizes.

In these parts, a trophy-size walleye is typically 27 inches or longer, and many of the guests’ land at least a few during the week.

Walleye are serious eaters all day and night but primarily during low light hours at dawn and dusk. They typically feed on minnows, shiners, and even perch along rocky points, drop-offs, and the edge of weed beds. At Goose Lake as well as Unnamed Lake, they are particularly active below the falls as ample nutrients are constantly being deposited in the rushing waters.

In the spring, walleye can be found in the shallow waters as they are spawning or feeding on baitfish. Summer months, they tend to be deeper below the thermocline but move up to feed in the evenings. In the fall, they are typically found in the shallows fattening up for winter with a healthy buffet of baitfish.

Regardless of the fishing technique you use for walleye—jigging, casting, or trolling—each provide ample opportunity for landing a lunker in your boat. As noted in the pike fishing article, this primer is for the expert angler to review as well as the novice angler looking for ideas before heading off to the tackle shop.

Rods: Walleye fishing rods come in a wide variety of lengths, powers, and actions but the perfect rod is one that will allow you to use multiple fishing techniques mentioned above.

Again, stick with a rod in the range of 6’8” to 7’2” …anything longer makes for a hassle in regard to transport on float planes in the rod tubes and storage in the boats. As for the power, choose a rod with a Light-Medium to Medium-Heavy weight. The former can be used for jigging and casting lighter or smaller lures, while a Medium weight is probably the best option as it allows for more diversity with techniques, even trolling in the 4-8 foot range. Finally, a Medium-Heavy rod for walleye should be used for casting larger baits or for deeper trolling in the 8 foot range and deeper. Loon Haunt’s lakes can get up to 30-feet-deep but rare is the guest that comes to troll deeper waters when ample walleye are found along rocks, ledges, and the falls. Finally, the action should be Fast as it can manage a wide variety of lures and fish sizes.

The choice between a spinning or casting rod for walleye is really up to personal preference. However, when it comes to walleye a spinning rods/reel combo may be the choice for most anglers. Best options: St. Croix, Daiwa, Abu Garcia, Fenwick

Reels: Keep it simple when selecting your walleye reels and ensure they reel matches the rod weight. Typically, a Lite-Medium rod and Medium rod requires a reel in the 1000-2000 range (or 100-200 range depending on the manufacturer). A Medium-Heavy rod needs a reel in 1500-3000 range (again 150-300 depending on the manufacturer). Anything above a 3000 (or 300) is just not needed unless you are planning to troll the deep, deep water with lead-core line. Unless you are going to trek a portage to Lake Nipigon, the really big stuff can stay home. Best options: Daiwa, Shimano, Abu Garcia, Penn

Line: Braid, fluorocarbon, or monofilament line? For a trophy walleye, it is best to stick with what works for you but be sure to tie a  fluorocarbon leader to your line with an Albright, Blood, or Double Uni knot. The mainline should be 8-15 lbs. test or even upwards of 20 lbs. test if you are planning to do some trolling. The fluorocarbon leader will save your line from being cut by them walleye teeth. Best options: Suffix (braid and mono), Berkely (fluorocarbon), a 10-12 lb fluoro leader, mono is an option for those fishing bobbers.

Lures: Walleye lures cast a wide net, and it depends on your preferred technique whether that be jigging, casting, or trolling. This is the 10,000 ft resource, touching on what works best in Loon Haunt’s lakes and portages.

Pro Tip: If you go through a lot of swimbaits during your trip, do NOT toss the old ones in the water. Keep them in a pile on the boat bench or back by the transom and dispose of them properly. Too many times, guests have been tossing old swimbaits into the water creating the dreaded microplastics in the lakes.

Jigging: A 1/8-3/8 oz jig works best when using live bait such as minnows or leeches, with the preference being toward the 1/8 scale to allow the baits to move around. The 3/8 jig can be used for swimbaits, grubs, flukes, etc. Live bait can be used anywhere on the lakes to produce walleye but focus on the deeper drop-offs and noted honey holes. The plastics are great for casting rock piles and islands in the middle of the lakes or along sharp, deep drop-offs along the cliff walls. Best options: Z-man, VMC, Northland

Casting with Jigs: Walleye are aggressive and swimbait soft plastics rank among the popular baits. Be forewarned, the tails of some swimbaits can be a little flimsy to provide more tail action with the bait. A few short strikes and you will notice tails being bitten off, so take this into consideration. Best options: Berkley PowerBait, ZoomFluke, Strike King Rage Swimmer, Kalin’s grubs

Casting with Crankbaits and Jerkbaits: Shallow running crankbaits are great in the spring while deeper diving crankbaits are great for trolling or hot summer days. Experimenting with depths, colors, and actions will provide you with more data about what is working with the walleyes. Of course, wind-blown shorelines for trolling will always produce but some anglers prefer to cast laydown, rock piles, and weed beds to find out the key bait. Best options: Bomber Long A, Rapala Rippin Rap, Rapala X-Rap, Smithwick Rattlin Rogue

Trolling: Use your depth finder to spot schools of walleye, or just head to one of the rock walls with deep water when trolling. The lake maps have depths noted, so use a bait that is comparable to the depth and not deeper—no sense in dragging up a tree branch when you should be hauling in a lunker. Best options: Rapala Countdown, Northland Crawler Hauler, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow, Walleye Nation Reaper

As for colors, don’t overthink it…gold and silver during sunny days; brighter colors during overcast days. Tight lines!