By Mike Frisch
As I wrote about in another blog detailing bass fishing recently, the past open water fishing season was one of the best that I can remember! Various fishing partners and I were fortunate to be on several bodies of water when the fish were biting, we were lucky to catch lots of fish, and were fortunate to catch some big ones. Here are some of the things I learned, or at least was reminded of, as it relates to walleye fishing during 2024’s fishing.
Forward Facing Sonar (FFS) Rules, Or Does It?
In 2022 and in 2023 we caught lots of walleyes by “looking at them” out ahead of the boat utilizing FFS. These fish were often suspended and moving and we caught them by casting various lures to them, often a jig and minnow or jig and portion of nightcrawler. The FFS helped us monitor the walleye movements and let us see how high they were holding in the water column.
We used the same method in 2024, but this past season, however, we caught lots of fish using traditional 2D sonar technologies to find and target the walleyes. Don’t get me wrong, we still realize the effectiveness of FFS, but we found that we could also catch walleyes using traditional methods.
Pulling Plain Through ‘Em!
One of the very first bites we were on in early summer of 2024, was one where the walleyes were in the 18-22 foot mark relating to the drop-off edges of a couple underwater points. We cruised these areas, saw and marked the fish on 2D sonar, and then started to fish. We employed a rig we call “plain” which is simply a heavy bottom bouncer weight, rigged with about a 40” CONTRA fluorocarbon snell, and with 2 hooks tied in. We thread a nightcrawler on the 2 hooks and move through the fish cruising at around .8 mph. Often, we find walleyes that can’t resist this method and this summer was no different. The first “plain” walleye of 2024 pushed 30-inches, followed by a 28” a few minutes later.
On our first pass of a subsequent fishing trip on another lake, the day’s first walleye was 25 inches long, followed by several more good fish. Safe to say, “plain” continues to get lots of attention in my boat when walleyes are the target.
The “Other Rod” For Success
We caught walleyes pulling plain in good numbers in 2024. We also caught them on jigs and minnows and, in fact, often joked that we only need 2 rods for walleye fishing, a plain rig baitcasting rod and an extra fast walleye spinning jigging rod. We’ve settled on a 6’10” Lew’s Speed Stick jigging rod with that action that we use for light jigs of 1/16 ounce and also on heavier jigs up to ¼ ounce and even heavier! This rod has a cork handle, is lightweight, and is very sensitive. Plus, it’s very affordable. We used that rod, along with FFS, to look at fish early in the season on a bite where we fished the jigs with shiner minnows as bait. Again, the FFS allowed us to keep track of the fish and where to cast for them.
Starting in September and lasting into late October, we also used a jig-n-minnow combination, this time a big fathead or sucker minnow, to cast to walleyes. Some of the times we found the FFS to be important, while at other times the fish seemed to hold in the same area and we could simply cast repeatedly to productive spots.
We were fortunate to find productive walleye fishing spots in 2024 and are hopeful for the same, or similar type successes in 2025.
And, as always, remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors activity!
Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series on Sportsman Channel, World Fishing Network, and FanDuel Sports. Visit fishingthemidwest.com to see TV schedules and all things Fishing the Midwest!
Photo – Walleye ace Shane Gesell with a giant walleye from last summer!
