Artificial bait for walleye?

[Sterling]

I'm heading north in 6 weeks. We bring worms, but after 7 days the worms are pretty much dead even if we bury them and keep them cool. Minnows aren't allowed on the lake so that's out of the question.

 

As an alternative, I'm thinking of using artificial bait of some sort. I've used Powerbait dough before for Rainbow trout and it worked pretty well, but have never tried it for Walleye.

 

Should I try dough? Eggs? Cured minnows? Gulp minnows? Anything else out there that actually works?

Edited July 3, 2015 by Sterling

[Garnet]

What colour of black bucktail are you taking.

[porkpie]

I fish harnesses a lot, and if the bite is on, I have used the gulp worms and they have worked. I'm pretty much a pickerel fisherman, and nothing replaces live bait depending on the technique, but on a hot bite I've caught fish on the gulp 3 inch minnow and gulp worms as well. I keep a Plano soft plastics container in my boat at all times, and keep a mix of gulp baits in it soaking in juice for emergencies, or when I run into to many junk fish with worms. I have never had it leak a drop. You pretty much need to throw away the gulp bucket that comes with the bait, I guarantee it will leak. I would never rely on them for pickerel, but they will work in the right circumstances and are better than nothing. Bass eat them with abandon though, so you can use em elsewhere.

Edited July 3, 2015 by porkpie

[Acountdeleted]

Hopping a dropshot minnow off of steep ledges had always worked well for me in Ogliotrophic lakes.

[BillM]

Vertical jigging spoons (Think ice fishing)

[Steve]

buy a pound of leeches.

 

they'll last much longer than worms.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Steve

[captpierre]

Gotta take some crank baits

 

2-4inches. Walleye Divers etc.

 

Various depths.

 

Countdown Rapalas.

 

Twister tail jigs

 

I don't use live bait.

[manitoubass2]

Berkley 3"ripple shad in firetiger, jig

 

3 and 4" berkley powerbait minnows in golden shiner, jig or harness

 

Matzou 3" swimbait in black/red fleck

 

Black bucktail jigs

 

Kalins 3" grubs in bluegill color on jig

 

Lotsa hammered copper harnesses

 

Gulp 3" leeches on jig or harness

 

Livetarget golden shiner lipless cranks

 

Williams silver/gold spoons

 

Rapala 3ft diving square bill cranks in crawfish for shallow evening bite

 

Matzuo 6" senko style worms in pumpkin on shakeyhead jig for fishing the weeds

[Beavertail]

Vertical jigging spoons (Think ice fishing)

X2.

One of my favourite tactics. Some of my go to's are the smaller size Williams, (half and half) I've caught everything on those. Also have had success with Crippled Herrings and Vibrados.

[OhioFisherman]

We trolled ( long line) on Lake Erie for years using a diving crank bait like a storm wiggle wart or hot n tot, they were all you needed to limit out by noon.

 

I have caught them on tube jigs, rattle trap style lures, jig and twister tail, burning a blade bait like a heddon sonar out of the shallows, and my personal best came on a spinner bait up north.

 

Find hungry fish?

[Craigson]

I personally would cure minnows n take them with you.

We go up past North Bay every August and I bring 12 dozen worms and 12 dozen frozen n salted minnows.

Takes a bit of prework but i think its worth it.

[Fang]

A few years back i tried brining a few dozen larger emerald shiners with Fire Brine (seen it as SAIL recently I think) and they worked great. They stored well in a ziploc bag in a cooler and kept them in the fridge all week. They were tougher and stayed on the hook

 

I bought 4-5 doz shiners and let them dry out with some pickling salt in the fridge. Then coaked them in fire brine overnight. I bought the brite yellow liquid and the minnows will take on that color.

 

Lots of home made recipes from the salmon guys out west for brining cut herring. Have seen minnows done with laundry bluing too and these stay really shiny

[Tomcat]

We did a 9 day fly into the Gouin, Quebec region in late June last year. We buried our crawlers (100 per plastic container) in holes we dug in the shade under the cabin and covered the containers with about 6 inches of soil/compost. We used a small Cryopak in each container to keep the crawlers cool. We still had active crawlers at the end of the trip. As for an alternative artificial bait, try a 5 inch PowerBait Ripple Shad or a 3.25" Pulse-R Paddle Tail by Authentic X series plastics.

[adempsey]

A lot of people swear by salt cured minnows. I've always been meaning to make some, but have yet to do so. It's fairly straightforward and a Google search should bring up some good instructions.

 

I am also curious how you're storing your worms. Maybe all you need is some adjustment to your storage system? I assume you don't have a refrigerator to store them in and they are basically cooked by the end of the week?

 

That being said, artificial bait definitely works. I've had great success with Gulp minnows on a jig and Gulp Fry (the 3" worm type) on a Slow Death and Walleye Killer rig. Of course, 90% of my fishing is jigging with plastic grubs or paddletail minnows. I am currently partial to Yum 3"/4" grubs in white or pink and the Northland Impulse Paddle Minnow in Electric Chicken.

[Ron]

What colour of black bucktail are you taking.

 

X 2.

 

Don't waste your time taking worms to begin with.

[mike rousseau]

G. U. L. P.

 

Good on harnesses and jigs...

[Canuck2fan]

Have you tried putting your worms into Fabril worm bedding before you go? Then a styrofoam container buried or cover it with damp moss. Spritz the bedding a couple times with some non chlorinated water to keep the bedding moist and you should be able to keep worms for at least a week in any temp...

 

Leeches if you can get them and they are allowed on the lake. Although if the lake has a big bass population that might be counter productive. LOL

 

Twister tails

[Bondar]

Take your worms outbox the dirt they give you and buy the worm bedding. Last a long time

Or gulp.

I also prefer the vertical jigging. I like the hopkins

[Joeytier]

Cured minnows are very effective, but are typically soft and come off easy, so if you have to impart an aggressive jigging action they're no good imo. Gulp minnows are almost always my number 1 for walleye, and have on many occasions outfished guys with live bait because of how much more aggressive you can fish them on structure like boulder flats and weedbeds. And ripple tail or 'fluke' style bait can be deadly effective really. I'm not really sold on using gulp on the crawlers but I'm told it works. Also, crankbaits of course are a must. Husky jerks and Wally divers are my two favourites

[FrankTheRabbit]

Went out on lake that I've never been to before. No Navionics map available and we didn't have a depth finder. We just winged it and caught walleye with a Mepps spinner and a red coloured crankbait. I've also been able to get them on a 3/8oz perch pattern spinnerbait, slow rolling them above weeds and also on a Rapala X-rap (xrs-8) also in a perch pattern.

 

I find that the time of day and water temps were more of a determining factor than the type of bait/lure used.

 

Good luck on your trip!