The Art of Twistertailing

Berkley’s Cody Roswick says twin twistertails, trolled behind a bottom bouncer, are a hit almost anytime.

Innovations in methods of fishing artificial softbaits are rampant as inventive anglers explore new ways to wean themselves from livebait and catch more walleyes. Few fishermen have such a frontline view of the presentational evolution as Cody Roswick, field services manager for fishing goliath, Berkley.

A lifelong walleye hunter, Roswick works closely with top pros including Scott and Marty Glorvigen, Tommy Skarlis, Keith Kavajecz, Gary Parsons, Mark Brumbaugh, Mark Martin, and Mike Gofron. Besides channeling the pro staffers’ innovations, he experiments on his own, as well.

Last summer while showing me Berkley’s latest softbaits, Roswick revealed one of his favorite tactical inventions: twistertailing. Simple and straightforward yet deadly, it takes the success many of us have enjoyed tipping jigs with twistertails a step or two further, replacing livebait in split-shot and bottom-bouncer rigs with a softbait twistertail—Berkley’s 3-inch Gulp! Jigging Grub. “The grub has a thick, fat tail that displaces a lot of water and really thumps, even at slow speeds,” Roswick explains.

While the Jigging Grub is new, Roswick began tinkering with twistertails about 4 years ago. “A buddy and I were catching walleyes on spinners and ’crawlers along with livebait rigs on North Dakota’s Lake Audubon, and we ran out of bait,” he recalls. “We tried replacing the worms with white curlytails and caught more fish that way, which was pretty cool because the walleyes were already biting.”

Since that trip, he’s found twistertails work wonders with split-shot rigs as well. One of his go-to setups for trolling scattered weedbed walleyes is a 3-inch grub pinned on a #2 to #4 Aberdeen or octopus hook, 36 inches behind a 1/8-ounce split shot—all on 6-pound Trilene XL or Sensation. “Cast the rig out about 50 feet and slow-troll it over the vegetation,” he says. “Adjust sinker weight to the water depth over the weedtops.”

Another of his favorites is the double-grub rig (check local regulations), which as the name implies features twin 3-inch Gulp! Jigging Grubs. Fished 12 inches apart on 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro-carbon, 4 feet behind a 2-ounce bottom bouncer, the softbaits mimic multiple baitfish idling along the bottom. “It works anytime, but is especially good June through August in northern waters,” he says. “Troll it about 1 to 1.2 mph.”

A key point on fishing Gulp! baits, he adds, is recharging them in Gulp! juice in a bag or bucket every 20 minutes. “In my experience, and from talking to pro staffers like Skarlis and Gofron, it’s a pretty universal length of time between charges,” he says.—Dan Johnson

While not a necessity, tipping a swimming lure like the Rapala Jigging Rap and Northland Puppet Minnow can be a plus when targeting meal-sized walleyes, tempting sniffers, or twitching the lure horizontally.

Standard tipping procedures include slipping a head on the treble. Sometimes a tail on the rear-facing single hook does the trick; to further beef up this setup’s bulk and olfactory appeal, add a head to the front hook and torso to the treble. To spice up twitching moves, skull-hook a whole minnow on the rear-facing treble tine, then pendulum the presentation with side-to-side rod tip twitches.

Rapala staffer David James reports a trend in extreme tipping. “A few of my buddies developed a tough-bite system of ‘gobbing’ as many minnowheads and guts as possible onto the bottom treble, so it looks like a school of minnows feeding on a piece of bread.” From 3 to 5 minnows are skull-hooked and pinched so a juicy arrangement of entrails dangles below. (Tip: leaving the air bladder intact extends the duration of convulsive twitches.) The entire array is twitched side-to-side and raised occasionally, for attraction and to draw hesitant fish higher in the water column.

Artificial softbaits, such as chunks of various Berkley Gulp! products and plastics, are also viable options for adding bulk, action, scent, and taste to swimming lure presentations, both through the ice and in open-water situations.

Keeping livebait such as leeches and nightcrawlers at consistently cool temperatures can be tricky, with ice. To keep his bait lively longer, especially on extended road trips where standard refrigeration isn’t an option, walleye pro Scott Glorvigen uses Coleman’s 12-volt PowerChill Thermoelectric Cooler.

“It keeps bait at a steady temp without the hassle and fluctuations of ice,” he notes. “I’ve actually been able to keep ’crawlers alive all winter.” The portable 40-quart unit, which retails around $119, cools to 40ºF below surrounding temperatures. It plugs into a vehicle’s cigarette lighter, and a converter for drawing on household current is optional. The latter is particularly handy for longterm use in garages and basements. For product information call 800/835-3278 or visit coleman.com.