The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently ran an article about the expected shortage of shiners in Minnesota to be used as bait for walleye. That got me thinking. I had great success last fall fishing for walleyes using shiners as bait. Every day I fished Leech Lake during the 2007 MEA week I caught at least 5 walleyes. All fish were caught using lime green or chartreuse 1/8-ounce or 1/4-ounce jigs tipped with lively 4-inch+ shiners.
But with shiners expected to be in short supply this year, I decided to conduct a little experiment. This coming season, I will fish exclusively with artificial bait. In the pictures above, the image on top is of a real emerald shiner. The image on the bottom is a Berkley Gulp! Alive! 4-inch minnow in emerald shiner color. This May when I launch my boat and begin my open-water hunt for walleye, I will no longer use real shiners, rather I will fish only with artificial shiners and leeches.
Another part of my usual approach for walleye is using 4-inch Northland Slurpie Swim'n Grubs in either firetiger or Super-Glo ladybug colors on Neon-Tone Gumball jigs. I also will continue to use this very productive method for catching walleyes this season.
Another artificial bait with which I have had great success for walleye is the Northland Mimic Minnow Spin, particularly in the gold shiner color. Hmmm, the Star Tribune says that real golden shiners are going to be in short supply and I've already had great success using artificial gold shiners. Why use the real thing when an artificial will do?
Plus, artificial baits have several advantages. First, they never die. Anyone who has ever shelled out $5 plus for a good scoop of shiners only to find every last one of them floating belly up in the bucket the next morning knows how frustrating live bait can be.
Second, live shiners, or fatheads for that matter, often come off the jig when casting. I've often had my jig go in one direction while my bait sails off in another direction. With Slurpies or Mimic Minnows this never occurs.
Third, you can catch several fish on a single Slurpie or Mimic Minnow before having to replace the bait. With real shiners, I have found that if I don't put a new shiner on after every walleye I catch, my chances of catching another fish goes way down. That's if the fish didn't eat the shiner completely. I've not yet fished with the Gulp! Alive! minnow, but from what I've read, I'm expecting to be able to catch multiple fish with one bait. I know for sure I can catch multiple fish on Slurpies and Mimmic Minnows.
Of course, all of this is nothing but theory at this point. I won't know for sure until I hit Leech Lake in May if artificial shiners and leeches will perform as good as, or better than, live bait. I'll have a detailed report right here at that time, so stay tuned.
But with shiners expected to be in short supply this year, I decided to conduct a little experiment. This coming season, I will fish exclusively with artificial bait. In the pictures above, the image on top is of a real emerald shiner. The image on the bottom is a Berkley Gulp! Alive! 4-inch minnow in emerald shiner color. This May when I launch my boat and begin my open-water hunt for walleye, I will no longer use real shiners, rather I will fish only with artificial shiners and leeches.
Another part of my usual approach for walleye is using 4-inch Northland Slurpie Swim'n Grubs in either firetiger or Super-Glo ladybug colors on Neon-Tone Gumball jigs. I also will continue to use this very productive method for catching walleyes this season.
Another artificial bait with which I have had great success for walleye is the Northland Mimic Minnow Spin, particularly in the gold shiner color. Hmmm, the Star Tribune says that real golden shiners are going to be in short supply and I've already had great success using artificial gold shiners. Why use the real thing when an artificial will do?
Plus, artificial baits have several advantages. First, they never die. Anyone who has ever shelled out $5 plus for a good scoop of shiners only to find every last one of them floating belly up in the bucket the next morning knows how frustrating live bait can be.
Second, live shiners, or fatheads for that matter, often come off the jig when casting. I've often had my jig go in one direction while my bait sails off in another direction. With Slurpies or Mimic Minnows this never occurs.
Third, you can catch several fish on a single Slurpie or Mimic Minnow before having to replace the bait. With real shiners, I have found that if I don't put a new shiner on after every walleye I catch, my chances of catching another fish goes way down. That's if the fish didn't eat the shiner completely. I've not yet fished with the Gulp! Alive! minnow, but from what I've read, I'm expecting to be able to catch multiple fish with one bait. I know for sure I can catch multiple fish on Slurpies and Mimmic Minnows.
Of course, all of this is nothing but theory at this point. I won't know for sure until I hit Leech Lake in May if artificial shiners and leeches will perform as good as, or better than, live bait. I'll have a detailed report right here at that time, so stay tuned.
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