Match the jig to the bait. In order to get a good hookset with bigger minnows, a larger hook gap is required to compensate for the bulk of the bait. Jigs with wide-gap hooks, like a Northland Fire-ball or Bait Rigs Odd’ball, deliver a powerful hookset with bigger baits. Hook a minnow up through the lips, rather than through the skull, to keep it livelier longer. Lip-hooked minnows struggle and wiggle against the weight of the jig, creating vibration and flash. Try hooking a minnow through the tail, too, which causes it to try to swim away from the jig during pauses. Leeches or half-crawlers also produce. Thread half-crawlers onto the jig through the torn end. A leech hooked through the sucker allows it to stretch out and swim.

Consider fine-tuning your jig combos. A jig pretied with bucktail, feathers, or dressed with a plastic tail changes the profile and action of your presentation and adds color. Jigs with added dressing have more water resistance, though, especially when tipped with a minnow, which makes them fall slower, and they’re difficult to feel. An easy solution is to use a heavier jig to compensate for the bulk of the dressing. Small plastic bodies with marabou dressing, like a Lindy-Little Joe Fuzz-E-Grub tipped with 21⁄2- to 31⁄2-inch minnow, increase the profile of your jig, yet maintain a good sense of feel.

Jig Moves

Walleyes holding tight to the edges of structure are ideal candidates for vertical tactics. Use electronics to look for fish at the bases of drop-offs, like where a hard bottom meets a softer bottom. Fish located on or near breaks, or suspended off bottom or in open water, can be caught on vertical tactics, too.

Drop the jig to bottom, and once the line goes slack, reel up so a lift-drop of the rod tip makes the jig rise on and off bottom. Different motions to the rod tip create different actions at the opposite end. Some days, expect hits with minimal rod motion. Other days, try an added snap to the lift-drop, making the jig scoot up before free-falling to bottom.

Lifting slightly off bottom during pauses, letting the jig hang almost vertically on a tight line, works too—especially a lively minnow struggling against the weight of a jighead. Most days, however, a lift-drop of about 6 inches to a foot may be all that’s needed to trigger strikes. Gently lift the rod tip, then drop, but avoid excess slack. Fish generally strike the jig as it falls or rests on the bottom.

When walleyes are right on bottom, slower presentations may be the best option. Dragging the jig right on bottom can stir up some action. Tension on the line causes a dragged jig to pivot back and forth on its nose, raising the tail of the jig upward each time the jighead grabs bottom. When the jig momentarily catches on a rock, stick, or other mini-obstruction, it eventually pops forward and up before slowly returning to bottom, which seems to trigger strikes.

Pay close attention to detect light strikes. Fish that hit your jig on the fall, or a fish that inhaled your jig off bottom, can be hard to detect. Try to retain just enough line tension as the jig falls to detect a subtle strike. If you feel weight, set the hook.