Tag: walleye-fishing

BERKLEY DEEP HIT STICKS

Reviewed by: CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

On my first trip to Lake Erie last spring the walleyes were acting more like the fish I normally encounter in early to mid-autumn trips. They were deep. Whether it was the water temperature, the waves or where they were finding the baitfish I don’t know, but my usual deep divers that worked with 60 to 80 feet of line out behind the planers weren’t getting into the zone.

We compensated by letting out more line – much more line to get our lures 20 feet or deeper to get to the level the fish were showing on the sonar and where we were getting the bites. How much more line? With some of the lures, twice as much line was needed to get them in the zone.

If we had been fishing areas where we could troll a few miles without needing to turn, the extra line wouldn’t have been a big deal, but on the calm days we found the most active fish near the Bass Islands where islands were creating currents where the active fish were holding. On the windy days, we used the islands as a lee area where we could fish away from the whitecaps.

Long lines behind planer boards aren’t conducive to whipping around in tight turns without tangling one lure with their neighbors. It started to feel normal to reel in a fish hooked fish on one lure along with the lure that had been running in an adjacent position. It also caused more lost fish since the longer it takes to reel in a lightly hooked walleye, the better the chance for it to pop loose before getting it to the net.

Waddayagonnadoo? A part of fishing is coping with the weather conditions and the moods of the fish.

One of the ways to cope is to examine the “tools” at your disposal. Mostly we’d been using Bandit Walleye Deep Divers and #11 Flicker Minnows let out 140 feet and 120 feet respectively, to get them over 20 feet deep according to the Precision Trolling Data app. One of my friends opened his tackle box and showed a few Berkley #12 Deep Hit Sticks he’d picked up on sale at FishUSA (www.fishusa.com). “Want to try some of these?” he asked.

The colors looked good. “Check the Precision Trolling Data chart to see how much line we’ll need,” I said.

I was shocked to learn we could hit our minimum trolling depth with only 88 feet of line. I wasn’t surprised when the next fish was hooked with the Clown pattern Hit Stick he’d just put out. We added another Hit Stick (Blue Chrome) and in the next couple of days, these two Deep Hit Sticks became our go-to baits. Early in the day the FireTiger pattern was particularly hot, as well.

Hit Sticks come in 20 color patterns (check them out at www.berkley-fishing.com) but color is only one these lures’ enticements. They have a great tail-wagging action and there was nothing subtle about the internal rattles. The walleyes loved them. Though we started using them primarily because they had a much steeper dive curve, we appreciated that they were also fisherman-friendly.  Each of the half-dozen “sticks” my friend purchased ran perfectly, straight out of the box.

FIREBRAND DEEP DIVER BANDITS

Reviewed by: CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

Though plenty of people fish with Bandit Walleye Deep Diver lures for other species of fish and in other places than in the Western Basin of Lake Erie, there’s no doubt that’s where the Bandit is the king. Either that or the name “Bandit” has become the generic name for deep diving stickbaits like people wipe their nose with Kleenex, regardless of whether it’s a Puffs or some other brand of tissue paper.

If you are only going to buy one, you might as well get the top seller. “So what’s the top selling color?”  That’s what I asked one of the product people at PRADCO – maker of Bandit Lures – at last summer’s ICAST. He chuckled when he answered, “Clear.”  You might be surprised by that answer; I wasn’t and not because I think walleyes would be a sucker for a clear plastic lure. It’s because turning out popular lures in custom colors has become a cottage industry.

Rick Fascinato is one of those custom painters that has turned his hobby of customizing the lures for his own tackle box into a business to produce lures for yours. I’ve had the chance to fish with some of Rick’s Firebrand recently near the Bass Islands in the Western Basin, specifically his “Bandits” and they were the top producers for the trip. The one I’m holding was tied on one of my lines the first day of the trip and stayed there until the final fish was in the net a few days later. Others were solid producers, as well.

In fact, this photo is the “after” photo and though I’m sure the lure accounted for a half dozen walleyes each day or more, it still looks like new. One of the selling points of Firebrand products is each is given an epoxy coating to keep them looking good, fish after fish, even toothy ones like walleyes.

Firebrand Custom Baits isn’t all Bandits, either. Rick customizes trolling spoons, flashers, dodgers, Thin Finns and other baits in imaginative colors sure to peak the feeding instinct in any Great Lake predator fish. Give them all a look and order a few for yourself at https://firebrandcustombaits.ca/.