Walleye Trl

[jay0115]

I keep hearing a lot of people talking about walleye fishing on TRL. Anybody got any advice on fishing walleye in this lake? Baits? Techniques? I'm going to be up there for 2 weeks over the 4th and would love to catch a few.

[powerdive]

I like to troll crankbaits at 20-30 feet just above bottom on the edges of gravel flats flanking inside turns. Pay special attention to the points at the mouths of ditches/turns in the contour. Bouncers/crawlers are often a better option. Best to look around with sonar before fishing--look for lots of bait and hooks close to bottom.

[jay0115]

What kind of crankbaits and color for this time of year. I have tried crawlers and the bass just eat em up.

[Hunter91]

I just have to wade through the bass on bouncers but if you are hitting the areas PD suggest you'll get some eyes as well as other fish. I have the same experience trolling cranks catching bass, whites, crappie and then walleye. But once you catch a few you can key in on them and have a better chance of picking up a walleye instead of everything else. Good luck.

[Hunter91]

Whites, silver or chrome and orange have been some of my catchers in flicker shads

[rps]

To hit 20 to 30 feet requires several specific things:

1. Use 10/4 or 10/2 braid.

2. original series wiggle warts hit 26 feet down on 250 feet of 10/2 braid

3. Cabelas Walleye Runner hits 30 or 31 feet down with the same amount of line out

Read the article I wrote for Phil that he has posted on the forum site for mor information. BTW Hunter91 and Powerdive know what they are talking about.

[jay0115]

Thanks for your help!

[powerdive]

Jay, TRL is a shad buffet, so I also tend to use whites and silvers. Primarily diving shad baits, Hot N Tots, Deep Rogues and Deep Husky Jerks on leadcore. Reef Runners and Deep Thundersticks longlined on braid. Small white stickbaits behind inline weights. Once you find a productive depth, say, 26 feet, stay with it on separate spots. Look for areas with lots of abrupt contour changes--not just dropoffs, but highly irregular runs. Flats cut by ditches, humps and long points are the key areas on the mid- and lower lake.

You're going to catch bass. Get used to it.

Good luck!

(P.S. Tip: Check out the Bull Shoals reports for the lower lake. More often than not, Table Rock walleyes can be caught at the same depths.)

[flyman]

Rps, do you have a link for the article you wrote? I'll try searching a bit more too.

[rps]

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/table-rock/trolling-for-walleye/

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/white-river-walleye-on-worm-harness/