Fishing deep in late summer is a given.....or is it? I had always thought so having spent a week for many years on Lake Minitaki by Sioux Lookout Ontario at a fish camp. We caught walleyes as deep as 40ft and often caught bigger ones of up to 8lbs speed trolling 20 down over 40ft of water. But my education continues.........This past summer I fished a lot of 28ft/32ft, fast and with big cranks. It seemed that the majority of fish were shallower and wanted things slower and smaller (as per KF's tendencies). So, I will take a bit more notice of water temps, even in August and try and be more flexible.

As per the jig heads........note the thinner wire on the Cobra jigs. They are a finesse style pike bait and are just fine for bigger walleye. Note that 1/2 ounce is the lightest size but add a 6" reaper or Kalin mugumbo grub and a reasonably slow fall could be achieved and 20ft of water fished well. Add some wind and 3/4oz or more might be needed. These jigs are tops in my book.

Jig heads and their shape........your a smart guy Kerry just consider the physics. Football shaped jigs go through the water with much in the way of variables due to their shape. But set them on the bottom and twitch the rod and they will "roll" back and forth and side to side. Add a plastic crayfish with floating claws and you have a very realistic presentation indeed for smallmouth bass. Then there are the "gliding" style heads. Flat bottoms so they do not tend to plummet straight down but rather glide. Charlie Brewers "slider" jigs do this very nicely and if you are fishing finesse shallow they are exceptional for a slow drop. The cobra jigs are also a slider type jig and with the tapered nose fairly snag resistant especially in weeds and timber (less so in rock). Round is all around (pun intended ;D) a good choice.

Premium jigs are commonplace these days. Abundant choices are at Bass pro, Cabelas and Tackle warehouse.  It used to be that jigs were super cheap. Not so much anymore as the companies have figured out we are willing to pay for quality (just ask Owner Hook co where hooks can be as high as $2 a piece.) Look for black nickel premium hooks.....some manufactures will also boast about their paint finishes. Paint is less important than you might think......I have caught plenty on unpainted jig heads and a few chips probably is not going to hurt much. I do like that little bit of sheen that a paint gives however.......think about water critters, they usually have that protective slime which gives a little sheen. Am I overthinking? Maybe, maybe not ;).

My philosophy is basically that little fish will eat big lures more often than big fish will eat little lures. I am not interested in driving 2 days to catch 16" walleyes all day. I can do that at home. So I upsize my baits and generally fish deeper during summer to target bigger fish.......but guess what? I still catch plenty of little guys anyway.

(But Mr Big hit in 15ft last trip so keep an open mind << My internal argument continues  ;D)