Worm Harnesses for Walleye

[johnnyb]

Hey guys....seeing a few people getting their worm harnesses ready, and it got me thinking that I should try these out this year. (I've always been a minnowbait kind of guy when it comes to walleye)

 

I'll be up in Temagami for walleye opener on the long weekend, and always thought that minnows were the bait of choice in the Spring, while worms and leeches are more effective in the summer. Should I be packing some worms and harnesses this early?

[Guest gbfisher]

Of course! You should always be prepared.

[Billy Bob]

On long trips you should always be prepared for anything.....but my spring time approach in cold waters is always a minnow "type" presentation.

[anders]

always good to have...little rule of thumb that i live by up here...if you put a leech or worm in the water and when you pull your line back up and they are curled around the hook then the water is too cold and you should stick to minnows.

[Nipfisher]

Hey guys....seeing a few people getting their worm harnesses ready, and it got me thinking that I should try these out this year. (I've always been a minnowbait kind of guy when it comes to walleye)

 

I'll be up in Temagami for walleye opener on the long weekend, and always thought that minnows were the bait of choice in the Spring, while worms and leeches are more effective in the summer. Should I be packing some worms and harnesses this early?

 

On Nipissing and around I use worms all season and go to minnows when the bite slows down (around end of June). I have had allot of success for walleye with worms in the spring. If the water is cold then the fish are not that active...what's an easier meal...a moving minnow...or a fat crawler just sitting there?

[Billy Bob]

On Nipissing and around I use worms all season and go to minnows when the bite slows down (around end of June). I have had allot of success for walleye with worms in the spring. If the water is cold then the fish are not that active...what's an easier meal...a moving minnow...or a fat crawler just sitting there?

 

OK, but then how does that explain "when the bite slows down" the walleyes go after a fast moving minnow....

[fishindevil]

there is NO wrong time to use worm harnesses,just vary the presentations at certain times of the year!! i use them in spring,summer fall...all the time,many,many times they will catch fish when nothing else will..time & time again,vary the blade size,the speed,the leader lenght,the weight or the bait,i also will use minnows on them leetches...as well as big dew worms....it is the most versitile live bait presenting lure of all time...and it sends out vibrations that drive fish crazy!!! i have caught everything from walleyes to sturgeon,big channel cats and of course muskies and pike go CRAZY for them....it never ends use them right away on the opener i am...

[Nipfisher]

OK, but then how does that explain "when the bite slows down" the walleyes go after a fast moving minnow....

 

 

I see the point BB. I guess I should have written it different. I meant when the bite slows down using worms....then the walleye will go after the minnows. Not that the fish slow down. Quite the opposite. As the water heats up in June-July then the fish are active chasing schools of baitfish. Then in late July-August as the water gets "soupy" here on Nipissing the fish are less active and we do better with worms.

[LeXXington]

Covering ground can't beat the worm harness.. anytime of the year

[Billy Bob]

I see the point BB. I guess I should have written it different. I meant when the bite slows down using worms....then the walleye will go after the minnows. Not that the fish slow down. Quite the opposite. As the water heats up in June-July then the fish are active chasing schools of baitfish. Then in late July-August as the water gets "soupy" here on Nipissing the fish are less active and we do better with worms.

 

Nip, you got your way of fishing and it's working for you...you have confidence in it and because of that you put more time in that kind of presentation...that's half the battle.

 

Fishindevil has said he fishes harnesses all year long and it's working for him....I definitely believe he hit the nail on the head when he said the blades cause a lot of vibration and that triggers bites.

 

AND each and every lake has it's own variables...what works on Lake Erie may not work elsewhere, etc....

 

Bob

[TDunn]

i also will use minnows on them

 

Ive done well on worms in snow storms during opener up here BUT definitly run a minnow on your harness. If the bite gets hot, nose hook a gulp minnow. I use them quiet often and have hit some really nice fish on them. Tie your rigs with 2 hooks. If you decide on the minnow route, just clip the second hook off. I usually pull them behind a bottom bouncer or split shot setup when "searching". Once you do get them on harnesses, pull the jig stuff out if you can!

 

Oh, maybe another thing you can try is tying your rigs with a single hook followed by a treble for worms. It works well!

 

edit - Sinclair just seen your post- Gulp works awesome!! Ive even used twister tails....

 

TDunn

Edited May 5, 2011 by TDunn

[irishfield]

There's no fish in Temagami !

[walleyejack]

There's no fish in Temagami !

 

Only suckers !

[Fang]

was waiting for that reply Wayne

 

small orange blades in the spring work for me, plus I do a lot of drifting with worms on small jig heads and floating and lead head. Sometime they want them on the bottom sometimes up a few feet off.

[bushart]

TDunn has it right--ya can pull minnows behind spinner rigs with bottom bouncers---works good in spring

[archie_james_c]

Pull worm harnesses with worms minnows or leeches at under 1 mph in the spring. Kicking the motor in and out of neutral works like a hot damn to...let the boat drift in neutral till your harness hits bottom then kick it in gear and wait for a strike! If you're getting short bites or not much action at all you should start lindy rigging or drifting jigs at a crawling speed!

[corvette1]

i limit out at quinte for the opener run the spinners

[OhioFisherman]

Dad always had great expectations when heading north for the walleye openers, he would take 500-1000 night crawlers with him for a week. He always used worm harnesses up north for walleye.

 

If you think about it the spring run off is probably washing a lot of them into the lakes and river systems. Probably more than they see naturally any other time of the year?

 

Dad and my uncle fished one of the Karwatha lakes, don`t remember which one, but they did real well on plastic worms on a worm harness. My uncle used to fish that lake pretty regularly.

[gaspumper]

I switched to rubber worms on harnesses last year in Quinte and done very well every time I went out.The reason I switched was to get rid of the small perch and the silver perch bites.

[fishhunter]

There's no fish in Temagami !

lol Your right I got them all lol

[johnnyb]

Hey guys just wanted to thank you for all the great feedback....tons of great info, and now a bit more confidence in the worms

[walleyemaster]

i like to use worms all year long, as a matter of fact i use minnows in temagami mostly for evenings and day time i use worm harness to drift and gigs tipped with a worms. i find that a worm harnes produces many fish and you can cover lots of ground i like pink in temagami works well for me and i like the metal line on worm harness it holds its shape better and less tangles