Back when I started fishing professionally over 30 years ago, walleye fishing was a little different. Yes, there were walleye way back then and no they did not swim with dinosaurs! One of the presentations that routinely produced fish in those days was a technique known as “tipping” a wobbling plug. Tipping is the process of adding one or two inches of nightcrawler to either the belly or tail treble hook on a wobbling plug. Tipping presents a scent stream in the water and a l

The lipless crankbait is hardly the new kid on the block, but for walleye anglers these lures are just starting to make a splash. Classic lipless crankbaits like the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap or Cotton Cordell Super Spot have been catching bass for decades. Most often used for fishing among submerged wood or aquatic weeds, the lipless design of these crankbaits allows them to fish through cover with amazing efficiency. Lipless crankbaits are making a big splash among walleye angl

Anyone can fish walleye in a river system, but only a select group of anglers are routinely successful in flowing water. Rivers comes with a complete set of fishing issues. Namely, maintaining boat control in moving water comes with some challenges. Jake Romanack of Fishing 411 TV holds a typical river walleye caught vertical jigging in the upper St. Clair River. In part, boat control when fishing is rivers is challenging because the variables are constantly changing. In the

The times, they are a changing. When I first started taking a serious look at developing my trolling skills, there wasn’t much in the way of trolling reels on the market to pick from. Most of the reels we did have to choose from were sloppy handled bushing reels. The silky smooth continuous anti-reverse and ball bearing reels we have today were only pipe dreams in those days. The times have certainly changed since the author purchased his first Daiwa trolling reels more than

It is safe to say that most fishermen these days are using four stroke outboards. Since Yamaha and Mercury both stopped producing two stroke outboards, it seems as if anglers don’t have a choice anymore. It may seem to the casual onlooker that two stroke is yesterday’s news, but there is more to the story. Evinrude’s G1 and G2 outboards are two stroke, but these engines are not the outboards of your youth. Mention two stroke technology and most anglers conjure up images of th

What if I told you it was possible to catch twice as many fish, with the same number of trolling lines? I’m betting that every serious troller out there would “double down” on that deal! A simple rig fished on an Off Shore Tackle Tadpole Diver is becoming very popular among crappie fishermen and this set up can be easily modified to catch walleye as well. Let’s call it the Tadpole Double Down Rig. The Double Down Rig is ideal for slow trolling applications commonly used to ta

Anyone who has ice fished for walleye or other larger fish species knows that the moment of truth comes when the fish is at the bottom of the ice hole. Getting that fish’s nose into the hole may seem simple, but it’s amazing how often fish get off at this critical moment. What makes this situation even more frustrating is the fish comes unbuckled right before your eyes! A number of years ago I got so frustrated at losing hard fought fish at the hole, I started rigging my ice

The times they are a changing in the Great Lakes fishing scene. The traditional fiberglass deep V und style of fishing boat that once dominated on the Great Lakes may have run its course. Larger “charter style” boats provide a lot of space and creature comforts, but these boats must also be slipped in a particular port. The owner and/or charter client is saddled with the necessity of fishing only one port all season long. Mark Romanack the Executive Producer of Fishing 411 TV

Just about everyone who has used a high definition sonar/GPS unit or the newer underwater video machines has come to the conclusion these fishing tools are invaluable for finding fish, structure and fish holding cover. The problem with these units is they pull a lot of amp power and if you’re not prepared dead batteries are going to be the norm of the day! BOAT FISHING In my boats I rig two cranking batteries wired in parallel (positive to positive and negative to negative) t

It’s true that no fishing boat is perfect and/or capable of doing all the things an avid angler might have interest in. Boats in general and fishing boats in particular are a lesson in compromise. Fishing boats are a compromise because no single boat design or model is capable of performing flawlessly at the many ways anglers target fish. Case in point, that sleek and speedy bass boat hull that’s ideal for chasing largemouth on in-land bodies of water, is about worthless for