We love us some weed-dwelling walleyes! Not all vegetation is created equal, but Joel Nelson has a trick for finding the right type of weeds in the right spots:
> Knowing your weeds is important. Cabbage is a broad-leafed, rooted plant in our lakes, and to me is the premium fish-holder. Coontail is a close second, though there are many species that hold fish.
> Being a map nerd with a natural resources background, I’m fascinated by the amount of info the MN DNR has on its
lake vegetation reports. There are detailed maps on species, locations, and abundance (not all lakes).
Quick screenshot from the Leech Lake, MN veggie report, but way more info here:
> Research the lakes you fish to see if there are prime weedbeds in key locations: cabbage locations with an interesting twist, inside turn, or point…with broad sandy shallows inside, and immediate deep water outside.
> The deep end of the cabbage is around 10-14′ early on. This time of year the weeds are sparse, so you can drag rigs right through ’em. You’ll want turbid, stained water or a good chop with overcast conditions…otherwise you’re just pushing fish around the shallows with your boat.
> The perfect weed-bite lakes don’t have crystal-clear water, but have enough clarity to support ample weed growth to depths in the mid-teens by mid-summer.
> Early I’ve pulled shiners, rainbows, or even large creek chubs on a short leash (3′ leader or less), with a heavy 1/2-oz bullet sinker and float. This is a great early-season big-fish technique.
> As weeds develop more, I’ll float a worm up off the bottom a bit. Adding a float keeps the bait away from the bases of those stalks which are the snaggiest and least forgiving. You may tangle in the leaves, but can easily pull through here.
> A good way to reduce snagging is to take a #4 or #6
VMC Walleye Wide Gap hook and Texas-rig the crawler by burying it into the body. The larger gap allows that worm to collapse on the hookset.
Keep reading the full Joel Nelson write-up here.
