Hall of Fame angler and fishing guide, Tom Neustrom has been fishing the northern part of Minnesota and the Dakotas for decades. He’s seen a thing or two. One of the most overlooked things he’s learned is a shallow walleye bite that occurs in hottest parts of the summer. In the latest Live Session from Virtual Angling, Jason Mitchell sat down with Tom to discuss this unique summer bite.
“A lot of anglers get so focused on deep structure they don’t realize that fish are up shallow in vegetation. It provides them more oxygen. Everything you read about summer fishing is you have to fish deep. Always find deep structure and pick it apart.”
But as Tom goes on, he explains that anglers miss out on a great shallow walleye bite that occurs when the water temps get north of 75 degrees. While fish can certainly be caught in deep water, if that bite gets tough when the heat moves in, many times the walleye move up into shallow weeds to get better oxygen levels.
How to Catch Them
While a jig tipped with a minnow or plastic can work with in this scenario, Tom chooses to troll a single hook spinner rig. Using half of a worm, Tom will troll at 1-1.25 mph using a 1/8th to 3/16th bullet sinker to make the spinner rig brush through the tops of the weeds. He also recommends varying the amount of distance the spinners are running behind the boat. “If you have the ability to fish two lines or have a friend of two with you, make sure each rig is running at a different length behind the boat. If one rig is getting all the bites, that tells you what length you should have the rigs at,” Tom explains. Personally, Tom usually has his lines 30-40 feet behind the boat.
Subtle changes to the rig can make a big difference in getting bites also. Changing the spinner color, adjusting speed, and as mentioned above, adjusting the amount of line behind the boat can all improve a slow bite.
For the full version of the Live Session with Jason Mitchell and Tom Neustrom click the link below:
Ep. 7 Everything Walleye with Jason Mitchell & Tom Neustrom – Virtual Angling
