When walleye fishing warm midsummer water, Tournament Pro and guide Max Wilson, generally likes target walleyes with “feeding” style baits like the Walleye Nation Creations Death Jig, one of his go-to’s for Green Bay. Other traditional baits for this part of the season include more “reaction” style lures like glide baits, jigging raps, shiver minnows, and Tika Minos.
When choosing your bait on any given day, it’s important to understand that walleye feeding patterns are often related to the current water temperatures. When water temperatures become drastically cooler, feeding patterns flip into more of a “reaction” bite versus the “feeding” bite you get in warmer water where fish follow and chase before deciding to bite.
In this clip, Max covers a few different “reaction” style baits he likes to use when fishing water that has drastically become cooler midsummer. When the bite is slightly less aggressive, he’ll run Tika Minos which have a slower, more muted fall rate over jigging raps or shiver minnows. Blue chrome is good starting place for those clear, sunny days. For another option, Max likes to run large spoons like Bink’s Pro Series. These are also “reaction” style baits but have an even more muted cadence. When you snap them, slow or fast, they flutter down instead of darting around like a jigging rap. Again, shiny spoons for sunny days are a great go-to. Finally, although it’s more of a spring-time bait, he’ll try the Rapala Rippin’ Rap. They’re a bit more aggressive as they have the loud rattle and added vibration as they go through the water that helps trigger those more aggressive “reaction” bites. They have a slightly different action and flutter a bit as they fall, so it’s important to play around with the cadence of these baits to figure out what the fish want.
Don’t let vast changes in water temperature deter your midsummer walleye trip or put you in a panic. When the water cools off quickly, reach for your more aggressive “reaction” style baits and it will make a world of difference for landing more fish in your boat.
