Small fish can draw in much larger ones
Wild minnows, trapped or netted from the same watershed being fished, are outstanding bait for bass and walleyes.
From area lakes, such as Keystone Lake and Lake Arthur, to larger venues, such as Lake Erie, live minnows can be the best option when the bite is tough.
An angler has two basic options for working these kinds of areas: cast/pitch to the cover and work the bait back to the boat or fish in a more vertical manner, hovering the bait. The best option depends on the layout of the structure, as well as how fish are relating to it.
When working a more gradually sloping weed edge/structure, it's often preferable to pitch back into the weed edges, where small turns and points create fish-holding pockets.
Since minnows will quickly die from repeated casts/pitches, I prefer to use a leadhead jig to present them in this situation. Action will be imparted to the bait by the working of the jig. It doesn't seem to matter to the fish that the bait remains alive, so long as it was in good shape when initially hooked. Any minnows that died in the bucket likely will make poor bait for bass or walleyes.
Wide-gap hooks like those on Lindy's Max Gap jig are ideal for working wild minnows in the 4- to 5-inch range. When jigging and pitching, I often opt for smaller minnows, as the jighead adds size to the profile of the presentation.
While some anglers might raise an eyebrow, I prefer not to employ a stinger hook. I feel such hooks minimize the action of the jig-minnow combo, reducing strikes. The minnows often don't lie naturally and the tines of the stinger often snag on vegetation.
Bass and walleyes of any size have no trouble inhaling a 5-inch minnow on a leadhead jig. The stinger often ends up in the gullet of the fish, reducing the chance of successfully releasing the fish, if you so choose.
Quarter- to three-eighth ounce jigheads are right for working weed edges in the 10- to 16-foot range. Hold the boat 20 or so feet off the weed edge. I keep a close eye on the sonar unit. As soon as it starts displaying wisps of weeds, I turn the boat deep, away from the cover.
Bass and walleyes also will hold off the edge of the weed cover, along the clean lip, as well as along the deep edge of the dropoff.
For this situation, it's often better to use a bait rig of some type. My preferred rigging for this setting is a three-way rig. I tie a 2-foot dropper to one of the free attachments and a short (8- to 12-inch) fluorocarbon leader to the other. A half- to three-quarter ounce dropshot weight is clipped to the long dropper.
The fluorocarbon leader gets either an octopus-style wide-gap bait hook or a circle hook. The stiffness of the fluorocarbon line helps prevent it from tangling with the other dropper line.
When rigging for bass and walleyes with live minnows, boat control is vital. Allow the rig to free fall to the bottom, pretty much under the boat. Then, using either a bow or transom mount electric motor, slowly work along the edge of the contour.
Impart lots of stalls in your progress, so the bait pendulums back to the boat. Keep a sharp eye on the sonar, letting line out or taking it in as depths change. A GPS unit that lays down a trail of your movement is an asset in this situation.
When you find that spot on the spot where fish are holding, which is common in the fall, you can keep working the area with precision.
A longer rod is a plus for rigging deeper water, both in manipulating the bait and in picking up line during a sweeping hookset.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
