Boat control, patience, and natural attraction are vital aspects of livebait rigging for walleyes. You must have good boat control skills to proceed at just the right speed over the right spot, giving your bait time to work naturally to entice a response from walleyes.

Match rigging components—snell length; weight size; and hook type, size, and sharpness—to conditions. Traditional walking slip-sinkers, for example, perform best in rocks or on smooth bottom, but tend to pick up weeds. Bullet sinkers teamed with short snells and maybe even a weedless single hook perform well along weed or timber edges. Egg sinkers are a fair compromise to both versions, allowing effective presentations in most conditions. Snag-resistant sinkers, like Lindy Little Joe’s No-Snagg, work their way through most snags, making it easier to fish cover like boulders and wood.

Slipsinkers slide down the line until they encounter a stop. Tie a #10 or #12 barrel swivel, swivel clip, or snap in-line above the hook; crimp on a split shot; or add a slipbobber stop and bead to your main line at the desired position. In all cases, some form of stop determines snell length by positioning the sinker a certain distance from the hook.

Weights like Rubbercor sinkers, split shot, or in-line weights like Mojo Lures’ (909/591-4739) adjustable slip-shot sinker are designed to be secured a desired distance from the hook. Weight secured to the line, however, prevents you from feeding line through the weight so fish can further engulf the bait. But feeding line isn’t always the answer—like in river current, where excess line creates drag and reduces control. Sometimes, keeping constant pressure between you and the fish further entices the fish to engulf the bait.

Six- to eight-pound test is standard for snells; downsize to 4-pound for finesse rigging. Three- to six-foot snells work fine for most conditions. Short snells (2 to 3 feet) reduce snags in timber or weedcover, but they minimize bait mobility. Ten- to twelve-foot snells aren’t unusual for finesse presentations. Longer snells, however, complicate hooksets and make landing fish more difficult.

Bait type, size, and liveliness can make a difference. Lively bait creates vibration and flash that attracts walleyes. Leeches, nightcrawlers, and minnows are the most popular livebaits for walleyes, which show a seasonal preference for specific baits. In spring, for example, minnows may be the livebait of choice. A preference for crawlers may appear by midsummer into early fall. Leeches can be good in spring, but they tend to excel in summer and early fall. In late fall, large minnows (4 to 6 inches) may be the ticket when walleyes are feeding heavily for the winter.

Match hook size to the size of the livebait. A hook that’s too heavy may fatigue and diminish bait effectiveness. A short-shank light-wire #6 hook allows a 3-inch fathead hooked through the lips to swim freely. A #4 or #2 offers sufficient hook gap for bulkier baits like a chubs.

A properly hooked minnow creates a natural swimming motion, even when resting on bottom. Hooking minnows through the lips is the most popular method. A minnow hooked near the tail can be effective, too, particularly when hovering or still fishing. The minnow struggles to swim away from the weight, which creates flash and vibration that attracts walleyes.

The most common way to hook nightcrawlers is threading the hook through the dark end (nose) of the crawler, bringing the hook out just in front of the collar. Thread the crawler on a #2, #4, or #6 light-wire Aberdeen hook, squeeze the nose over the hook eye, leaving only the barb protruding in front of the collar. In short-strike situations, use a half-crawler, or add a second hook and bury it toward the crawler’s tail.

A 3-inch leech can swim easily with a short-shank #8, #6 , or even a #4 hook. Smaller leeches swim better on a #6 or #8 hook. Hooked once through the sucker and out the back is a good hookup for most situations, allowing a leech to swim and wiggle.