02-25-2005, 03:33 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Hey Mr. Prince, you are welcome to join us whenever we post up a planned trip. We are going to have a few toons and tubes at Lincoln Beach tomorrow morning (Saturday). However, we will be seriously fishing for at least the first couple of hours after daybreak so we won't be conducting any classroom stuff. However, once we are off the water, you are welcome to look over the tackle and lures we use, and hopefully the fish we caught.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of the things we have tried to encourage is having little mini seminars on different topics of interest. If there are a few more members who would like to get together for some "sharing sessions", let's do it. I know Mike and Alan are always open to having something in their warehouse, in Midvale. However, if someone down in Utah County has a place big enough for several people to hang out for awhile, we might consider having one down there.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have been fishing Utah's walleyes since the early sixties. I have taken them all around Utah Lake, just about every month of the year. And, I have hung them on everything from flies to carp meat. These days I use plastics almost exclusively, although there are times when they are active when a noisy crankbait works best.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Anybody who claims to be able to catch walleyes anytime they fish Utah Lake will lie about other things too. We have some real walleye pros among our BFT members, and most of them will admit the same thing. They love walleyes largely because they are such a challenge. True, they are great eating, but they will never win any contests for being the most acrobatic fighters. It is the thrill of fooling them and feeling those heavy head shakes that keeps us coming back for more abuse.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]For the most part, walleye fishing is "finesse" fishing. You need good quality tackle, matched to the size and type of lures you are fishing. You need to be able to concentrate on just what is going on with your lure, rather than fighting a balky reel or springy line tangling around your rod tip. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You need to be able to cast a reasonable distance and then keep your retrieve just above the bottom, moving slowly without diving into the rocks (Lincoln Beach eats jigs). That means using the right balance of jig head size, hook size, plastic size and speed of retrieve. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You need to know when to use a single jig and when to rig a tandem setup...and how to rig them. Then, you have to balance the tandem jigs to provide the right retrieve without being too heavy and hanging up in the rocks on every cast. You also fish a tandem rig differently than a single jig rig.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Those are all things that are "hands on" and learn by doing. You can't possibly learn everything you know just by reading. It is best to fish with someone who has "been there, done that" and to practice the right stuff until it becomes natural. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Once you learn all the basics, you will spend the rest of your walleye career relearning what you think you know on every trip. You can never count on anything for certain. Maybe you whack them one day, using a certain color and retrieve. You go back down the next day and can't buy a hit using all the same stuff. Only after experimenting around do you finally find the pattern of the day. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You really do need to know more than one way to fish them, and you need a complete arsenal of the best potential lures on any given trip.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If I were to offer some simple suggestions, I would begin with FISH LIGHT. I use line no heavier than 6 or 8 pound, and often throw 4# for small single jigs. A fast tip rod, medium action, 6 to 7 feet in length. I prefer a 7 foot, especially for tube fishing, because it helps me control the line better. Buy the best and smoothest reel you can afford. Keep it tuned up and keep the drag set just tight enough to set the hook, but loose enough to give a little line when a big mama walleye makes a surge. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Most big fish are lost by being impatient and trying to net them before they have been whupped. If you try to pull a walleye in too fast, head first, they will often open their mouths at the surface, shake their heads back and forth, and you will have to duck the jig as it comes flying back at you. Keep their heads under water and just lead them into the net.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]This is turning into another TubeDude epistle. Spend some time with a good search engine on the internet, learning as much as you can about walleye in general. Then, be ready to toss a lot of it out the window, because Utah Lake fish are different. They live in totally different conditions than "traditional" walleyes and they behave differently.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Nuff said for now.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of the things we have tried to encourage is having little mini seminars on different topics of interest. If there are a few more members who would like to get together for some "sharing sessions", let's do it. I know Mike and Alan are always open to having something in their warehouse, in Midvale. However, if someone down in Utah County has a place big enough for several people to hang out for awhile, we might consider having one down there.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have been fishing Utah's walleyes since the early sixties. I have taken them all around Utah Lake, just about every month of the year. And, I have hung them on everything from flies to carp meat. These days I use plastics almost exclusively, although there are times when they are active when a noisy crankbait works best.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Anybody who claims to be able to catch walleyes anytime they fish Utah Lake will lie about other things too. We have some real walleye pros among our BFT members, and most of them will admit the same thing. They love walleyes largely because they are such a challenge. True, they are great eating, but they will never win any contests for being the most acrobatic fighters. It is the thrill of fooling them and feeling those heavy head shakes that keeps us coming back for more abuse.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]For the most part, walleye fishing is "finesse" fishing. You need good quality tackle, matched to the size and type of lures you are fishing. You need to be able to concentrate on just what is going on with your lure, rather than fighting a balky reel or springy line tangling around your rod tip. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You need to be able to cast a reasonable distance and then keep your retrieve just above the bottom, moving slowly without diving into the rocks (Lincoln Beach eats jigs). That means using the right balance of jig head size, hook size, plastic size and speed of retrieve. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You need to know when to use a single jig and when to rig a tandem setup...and how to rig them. Then, you have to balance the tandem jigs to provide the right retrieve without being too heavy and hanging up in the rocks on every cast. You also fish a tandem rig differently than a single jig rig.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Those are all things that are "hands on" and learn by doing. You can't possibly learn everything you know just by reading. It is best to fish with someone who has "been there, done that" and to practice the right stuff until it becomes natural. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Once you learn all the basics, you will spend the rest of your walleye career relearning what you think you know on every trip. You can never count on anything for certain. Maybe you whack them one day, using a certain color and retrieve. You go back down the next day and can't buy a hit using all the same stuff. Only after experimenting around do you finally find the pattern of the day. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You really do need to know more than one way to fish them, and you need a complete arsenal of the best potential lures on any given trip.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If I were to offer some simple suggestions, I would begin with FISH LIGHT. I use line no heavier than 6 or 8 pound, and often throw 4# for small single jigs. A fast tip rod, medium action, 6 to 7 feet in length. I prefer a 7 foot, especially for tube fishing, because it helps me control the line better. Buy the best and smoothest reel you can afford. Keep it tuned up and keep the drag set just tight enough to set the hook, but loose enough to give a little line when a big mama walleye makes a surge. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Most big fish are lost by being impatient and trying to net them before they have been whupped. If you try to pull a walleye in too fast, head first, they will often open their mouths at the surface, shake their heads back and forth, and you will have to duck the jig as it comes flying back at you. Keep their heads under water and just lead them into the net.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]This is turning into another TubeDude epistle. Spend some time with a good search engine on the internet, learning as much as you can about walleye in general. Then, be ready to toss a lot of it out the window, because Utah Lake fish are different. They live in totally different conditions than "traditional" walleyes and they behave differently.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Nuff said for now.[/#0000ff]
[signature]