I like the cranks with rattles for larger walleye when fishing the windward shore or windward side of a reef.  The size I use is more of a function of the depth I want to reach.  Usually in these conditions the fish are up shallower, less than 15' for the most part.

I think the rattles help the fish notice my lure better in the noisier conditions I find where the wind is pounding the waves against a shoreline or reef top.  I've boated a lot of 4+ lb. walleye with a midsized Lightnin' Shad deep runner (no longer in production, unfortunately).  Believe me, I went on a spending spree when they got discontinued and started to hit the bargain bin to clear them out.  I think I hit every tackle store in a 20 mile radius.   

I'm usually running it in the bottom 2-3 feet of the water column.  As long as I bang bottom occasionally, I know I'm hitting the right depth.

Color, to me, is almost the last thing I'll consider.  Sometimes it can matter a lot but often it's much more about lure action and depth.  My partner and I will switch baits and colors a lot until we find the hot lure for the conditions, never running the same lure or color as the other until we gradually dial in on the lure of the moment.

For sure, the warmer the water the more I tend to use baits with rattles.  When the water temp has the fish active, the rattles will call 'em in from a good distance for a look-see.  When the water is colder, I tend to go with balsa baits a lot more and slow down.

On a few occasions, we've found it effective to have one rattling crank on and a balsa bait on the other line.  Seems like the rattler wakes them up and the balsa sticks 'em.  When we both go to balsa, the bite dies off.  Doesn't happen often though.

jaximus wrote on May 26^th, 2011 at 5:27pm:


That is VERY sad.    It's not nearly enough! 

Better go back and crunch the numbers again.

You know Jax I don't really lose as many lures to pike as you might think. Hard baits can be a little different than soft plastics where they seem to just inhale everything and nip you off. I probably catch 70% of my pike bites that pop a crank. Perhaps it is because I am partial to a longish crank especially for walleyes. Although my fav fell out of production (the large fat rap in perch on 6 lb test).

SD made a ton of good points IMHO. Being aware of how much noise is generated by waves and surf can effect lure choice for sure.

Invisileaders.......is that an oxymoron? I want you to have 3 lures that you are willing to "expend", no leader! Preferably large deep divers. I trolled last summer the first week of July on Basswood day and night. I lost zero (as in 0) lures to pike using 6 and 8lb mono exclusively. My average walleye was right at 5lbs. I caught very few under 4lbs and my biggest was 6.5..........The point being you can fish for walleye or you can fish for pike but it's counterproductive IMO to try and cover all your bases with the addition of a leader for fear of losing a lure.

Now what's up with using FC at night? Then you can get by with rope for line. I usually tie a uni knot for my FC to Power pro connection but it can be rather delicate work in the lighter pound tests. Plus without the stretch of a long piece of mono which acts like a shock absorber, it's surprising how easily a 3' section of light FC will part ways with you. On my last off shore trip a guy turned me onto a knot called a "slim beauty". I liked it very much. Looks to be supreme. I was tying it with 80lb test........I will be interested to experiment with it on lighter line. Check it out.

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against all my instincts, i will try trolling without a wire leader and try a fluorocarbon or mono leader. its not just pike, but also snags. with powerpro/fireline you can generally pull the lure free by bending the hooks or getting unhooked from the log/rocks. i dont know if mono/fluoro could do that.

she promised to never touch the canoe trip because its a 'tradition.' she likes the outdoors, fishing and canoeing, but cant do it for as many hours on end as i can.

i actually have tried the % of shoe money for fishing stuff. i got a big old 'yeah right' as she bought her wedding shoes on my card.

Women are easy peasy Jax. Just warm the massage oil in the microwave (be sure to test it) and while your rubbing her back start talking about all the things you want or are going to do. If your not to fast, you can have what ever lures you want or go on just about any trip you want............."but honey you said just last night that it would be OK, don't you remember" .

Works every time .

Oh, and don't listen to ST, he'll just get you into trouble .