Over-Looking Walleye

A productive trolling method I’ve noticed that works well throughout the year is slow trolling Salmo Hornet’s relatively close to the surface of the chosen body of water. My favorite lure to troll is the Hornet because they swim “true” out of the box and the variability of speed is like no other bait on the market.

They have a gradual swimming action at slow speeds or an erratic characteristic at faster speeds. When you see bait fish swimming near the surface, use this tactic to your advantage. I normally start slowing around 1.0 miles per hour and slowly begin to move faster as I experiment with snap weights and how much line I let out.

I may pull a couple off shore boards with 25-50 feet of line and pull a couple with the same amount of line but adding a snap weight to gain just a tad more depth. I make subtle adjustments until I start to trigger fish.

Make sure you write down the specifics (colors, line length, speed, snap weight length or size) so you can catch some fish and mimic each line to improve your odds. I’ve caught walleye five feet below the surface of the water using this method on multiple occasions.

Remember, many of these fish will not show up on your electronics due to the cone angle and the boat spooking them.