New to walleye ice fishing

[CrappieHunter]

This winter, I want to fish for more walleye. Any tips for spots, lures, depths, anything? I have a Vexilar and will probably get a Livescope pretty soon (I'm planning on fishing western MN lakes and DL)

 

[Downrigger]

Western MN lakes can get a little tough in the winter for walleye fishing. Get out early ice and be safe. Targeting main lake structures such as points and inside turns against the weedline is a safe bet for Walleyes here. Usually 18-24 ft depending on the lake. Lures can be as simple or as creative as you like but tough to beat a shiner on a red hook and then bounding something off the bottom with a minnow head. Target them at dawn and dusk for prime time bites but there are some decent bit windows during the day if you find a dirty water lake. If you're pulling a late shift on the water, don't forget about those shallow water bites that can occur at night. I've never had a fast and furious bite up there but those fish are up there to eat.

Personally, I'd run west to fish walleyes before I went east in the winter.

As for DL, I'll let someone else chime in on that.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Assortment of rattle spoons such as Northland Buckshot in 1/16th and 1/8thoz, a few flutter spoons such as PK Flutterfish, VMC Tingler, a few jigging raps or similar style in round #5, couple ripping raps. A good bobber rod setup for a deadstick. Lots of good quality rods out these days that can be found from $30-120 in ML-M, for a more affordable reel I have a few Pfluger Trions that have never let me down but have others as well, I'm a gear junkie. For line I prefer 4-5# Mono or Flouro and pretty much always have a Flouro leader with a small VMC swivel 18+ inches above the lure.
Bare in mind I suck at catching walleyes and have next to zero MN walleye experience anymore. Tom Boley has lots of good info out there that is walleye specific that might be worth watching

 

[CrappieHunter]

Western MN lakes can get a little tough in the winter for walleye fishing. Get out early ice and be safe. Targeting main lake structures such as points and inside turns against the weedline is a safe bet for Walleyes here. Usually 18-24 ft depending on the lake. Lures can be as simple or as creative as you like but tough to beat a shiner on a red hook and then bounding something off the bottom with a minnow head. Target them at dawn and dusk for prime time bites but there are some decent bit windows during the day if you find a dirty water lake. If you're pulling a late shift on the water, don't forget about those shallow water bites that can occur at night. I've never had a fast and furious bite up there but those fish are up there to eat.

Personally, I'd run west to fish walleyes before I went east in the winter.

As for DL, I'll let someone else chime in on that.

Thank you, I’m more used to western Minnesota lakes so I plan on fishing there but if I get some good info on devils I’ll change my mind

 

[CrappieHunter]

Assortment of rattle spoons such as Northland Buckshot in 1/16th and 1/8thoz, a few flutter spoons such as PK Flutterfish, VMC Tingler, a few jigging raps or similar style in round #5, couple ripping raps. A good bobber rod setup for a deadstick. Lots of good quality rods out these days that can be found from $30-120 in ML-M, for a more affordable reel I have a few Pfluger Trions that have never let me down but have others as well, I'm a gear junkie. For line I prefer 4-5# Mono or Flouro and pretty much always have a Flouro leader with a small VMC swivel 18+ inches above the lure.
Bear in mind I suck at catching walleyes and have next to zero MN walleye experience anymore. Tom Boley has lots of good info out there that is walleye specific that might be worth watching

Thanks for all the tips, and the recommendations on Tom Boley. I’ve watched his crappie videos for years but I should probably check out some more walleye videos from him.

 

[Kurtr]

Out here on oahe jigging raps. I didnt even set up a dead rod once last year. Kept moving till we found fish

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Thanks for all the tips, and the recommendations on Tom Boley. I’ve watched his crappie videos for years but I should probably check out some more walleye videos from him.

He likes his walleye that is for sure. I finally caved and got Elliot 44L and 44UL rods for my hole hoping and love them. Stuck a 5+ Bass on the UL with 3lb line while perch and gill fishing 2 winters ago and a 4-5lb this past winter on the Lite. Spendy rods but they are legit and I am now a big believer after the way they handle bigger fish, plus I'm 6'1" and don't get up and down as easily anymore so moving holes and kneeling down for 5-10min isn't as enjoyable these days. There are a couple Fenwicks that I have that were really good price and seem to be on sale regularly every year, I can't remember the model but they are really silver, little stouter and more of a feel rod than visual but have been nice when I have used them on aggressive tactics

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Out here on oahe jigging raps. I didnt even set up a dead rod once last year. Kept moving till we found fish

I committed myself to learn to fish jigging raps a couple winters ago and killed it at the last ice, not that there is really a trick to them but just learning to have confidence and understanding jig cadence. 2 days worth of jigging rap or tungsten jig and plastic yielded good perch and walleye limits. @CatDaddy was there when I learned how useful they can be

 

[Kurtr]

I committed myself to learn to fish jigging raps a couple winters ago and killed it at the last ice, not that there is really a trick to them but just learning to have confidence and understanding jig cadence. 2 days worth of jigging rap or tungsten jig and plastic yielded good perch and walleye limits. @CatDaddy was there when I learned how useful they can be

It also took me a bit to have confidence in them but once i figured it out it was fun

 

[CrappieHunter]

He likes his walleye that is for sure. I finally caved and got Elliot 44L and 44UL rods for my hole hoping and love them. Stuck a 5+ Bass on the UL with 3lb line while perch and gill fishing 2 winters ago and a 4-5lb this past winter on the Lite. Spendy rods but they are legit and I am now a big believer after the way they handle bigger fish, plus I'm 6'1" and don't get up and down as easily anymore so moving holes and kneeling down for 5-10min isn't as enjoyable these days. There are a couple Fenwicks that I have that were really good price and seem to be on sale regularly every year, I can't remember the model but they are really silver, little stouter and more of a feel rod than visual but have been nice when I have used them on aggressive tactics

I got a frostbite 37” for crappie/ multi species fishing and I love it. I don’t think I touched my ultra light for crappie once after I got that rod. I also had a 39” but it broke now it’s probably a 36 I use it on my IFish pro

 

[CrappieHunter]

Out here on oahe jigging raps. I didnt even set up a dead rod once last year. Kept moving till we found fish

Is having to run around to find fish kinda a theme on ND lakes?

 

[Kurtr]

Is having to run around to find fish kinda a theme on ND lakes?

On the smaller lakes not so much i dont think. But no the bigger ones and Ohae and sak i would say those fish move so much it is an advantage

 

[luvcatchingbass]

I like to leave fish to try to find fish sometimes then come back to find out fish left because I left, then I'm off to find fish again. After searching for fish I realize other fisher people showed up and started catching fish in the area I started catching fish but left.
Then I just stand there pole in my hand, soggy pocket, a tear in my eye and frozen fishsilces in a bucket.

 

[Allen Gamble]

Not a fan of Elliot Rods after a bad experience with their long rods and a warranty claim... Since then I've switched to St Croix. However, I do have a 36" 2B ice rod that I picked up that's been phenomal so far. Ice fishing is great and a livescope is only going to help you times a 100!

 

[luvcatchingbass]

People will say they have had trouble with Jason Mitchel rods too but I have a few and they are well used with zero issues, few buddies have them as well. For the money I still think they are a very good option for a lot of people looking to do some multi species with minimal gear. I have some custom rods that fall into a similar category and think the JM is still as good for 1/3 the price.
I've only had to warranty 2 rods and they were both Scheels rod, 1 ice rod wasn't much issue but the open water rod was a big argument deal with the Scheels snot nose kid, when I pushed hard to have a manager come talk with me he finally did the warranty.

 

[CrappieHunter]

People will say they have had trouble with Jason Mitchel rods too but I have a few and they are well used with zero issues, few buddies have them as well. For the money I still think they are a very good option for a lot of people looking to do some multi species with minimal gear. I have some custom rods that fall into a similar category and think the JM is still as good for 1/3 the price.
I've only had to warranty 2 rods and they were both Scheels rod, 1 ice rod wasn't much issue but the open water rod was a big argument deal with the Scheels snot nose kid, when I pushed hard to have a manager come talk with me he finally did the warranty.

I have a few JMO rods and I love them, not as nice as my frostbite rods but they’re not bad