Hey there anglers! When it comes to walleye fishing, spinner rigs tend to be a favorite among anglers. Spinner rigs can be fished at a variety of depths and throughout several seasons, making them extremely versatile. If you’re ready to up your walleye fishing game, you’re in the right place. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, this guide will provide you with everything you need to know about how to fish spinner rigs for walleye.
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Table Of Contents:
Spinner Rig Basics
Before we can get too far, let’s discuss the basics of spinner rigs for walleye
What Are Spinner Rigs?
Let’s kick things off with a quick introduction to what spinner rigs actually are. Spinner rigs are comprised of a spinner blade and clevis, beads, hooks, a leader, and a swivel. Typically, the fluorocarbon line is used for the leader material and is several feet in length. In order to achieve depth, either an inline or bottom bouncer weight is attached to the line. Your choice of live bait or plastic is added to the hooks for added scent.
Why Fish With Spinner Rigs?
Why use spinner rigs for walleye, you ask? I know they don’t look like much at first glance, but they are extremely effective for whatever reason. The beauty of the spinner rig is that it is a subtle rig that still allows you to cover a lot of water. Typically, baits that cover water are extremely aggressive which is not always the answer for walleye. Additionally, spinner rigs can be fished at pretty much any depth depending on the size of weight that you use.
When and Where To Fish A Spinner Rig
Spinner rigs are one of those rigs that tends to work throughout most of the open water season for walleye. However, the way that you fish it changes slightly.
Spring
When fishing walleye in the spring, focus on the shallows. Use lighter weights and target shallow flats and drop-offs that have emerging vegetation. Minnows work well this time of year on a single-hook spinner rigs setup.
Summer
Summer might be the season where spinner rigs stand out the most for walleye. When fishing summer walleye with spinner rigs, weed edges are a great place to start. Walleye congregate on deep weed edges this time of year and spinner rigs allow you to cover long stretches to find active fish. Additionally, deep flats are another key location for spinner rigs. The key to finding fish on flats is to use your electronics to determine the depth they are relating to. For example, if you are marking fish in 20 feet, look for flats in that same depth range. Crawlers and leeches are great options for tipping your spinner rig in the summer.
Fall
Spinner rigs work well into the fall as long as you know where and how to fish them. When fishing fall walleye, transition back to the shallows. Baitfish is key this time of year. Find the baitfish and you’ll more than likely find the walleye. Any remaining green weeds in the backs of bays or on shallow flats are great starting points. Fish your spinner rig with lighter weights to effectively target this depth range. Tip your spinner rig with minnow profiles during the fall to match the main forage.
Clear Water
Another caveat to add to spinner rigs is that they excel in clear water situations. Don’t get me wrong, they’ll work in dirty water as well, but generally water visibility helps. Spinner rigs don’t create as much vibration and noise as a crankbait and rely more so on the flash of the blade. Keep this in mind when deciding whether or not a spinner rig is the right lure for your specific situation.
Gear For Spinner Rigs
In order to effectively fish a spinner rig for walleye, you’ll benefit from having the right gear.
Rods
With this technique, you can choose to either use a spinning rod or baitcasting rod. Ultimately this comes down to personnel preference. If you do plan on trolling with rod holders, a baitcasting rod is the way to go.
Spinning:
For spinning rods, I recommend a medium-light to medium power. Choose the power depending on the size of weight you are using. For weights 1 oz and under a medium-light is ideal. Anything more than that and I’d recommend upsizing to a medium power rod. As far as length goes, 7′ to 7’6″ is a good range to look for.
Baitcasting:
The baitcasting rod that you choose is dependent on how you plan on using it. For example, for hand trolling or casting applications I recommend a medium power baitcasting rod between 6’10” and 7’4″ in length. For trolling with rod holders or planer board applications, a rod between 7′ and 8′ is ideal.
Fishing Line
The two main lines that I use for fishing spinner rigs are fluorocarbon and braid. I tend to choose braided line when fishing weeds since it has the ability to cut through vegetation much easier. Fluorocarbon is my preferred choice when fishing more open water scenarios are in crystal clear water. For braid, 10-20 lb is a good range to choose. For fluorocarbon, 8-12 lb is ideal.
Weights
The two main types of weights used for spinner rigs are in-line weights and bottom bouncers.
In-Line Weights:
In-line weights are my preferred choice when hand trolling or casting with spinner rigs. They are much smaller in profile and allow you to get away with using a slightly lighter size compared to a bottom bouncer for the same depth.
Bottom Bouncers:
Bottom bouncers are essentially weights that have a wire dropper attached to them. As the name implies, these weights bounce off the bottom when they come in contact instead of weeding up or snagging right away. This is extremely advantageous when you are trolling more passively with several rod setups either through rod holders or with planer boards.
In order to determine what weight to use for a given depth, be sure to check a dive chart using an app like Precision Trolling.
Spinner Rig Variations
Not all spinner rigs are created equal and it’s important to understand the differences so that you can tailor your presentation to your specific situation.
Blade Types
The main blade types for spinner rigs are Colorado blades and butterfly blades. Colorado blades are known to have more vibration and put off more flash in the water. For that reason, Colorado blades work best between 1mph to 1.4 mph. Meanwhile, think of butterfly blades as a more finesse version of the two. Butterfly blades create less vibration in the water, but require significantly less speed to spin. For example, you can troll butterfly bladed spinner rigs close to 0.5 mph and you’re blades will still be rotating.
Hooks
The main types of hooks for walleye spinner rigs are octopus hooks and slow-death hooks. Octopus hooks are the traditional live-bait style hooks, Typically you’ll see spinner rigs with either one, two, or three octopus hooks attached. The two and three hooked rigs are meant for fishing night crawlers while the single hooked rigs are meant for leeches or minnows. Meanwhile, slow death hooks have a unique bend that creates a rolling action in the water. Slow death hooks are meant for fishing half of a nightcrawler. Be sure to rig the slow death hook correctly to get the right action.
Floating vs. Sinking
The final consideration to make before choosing a spinner rig for walleye is whether or not the body floats. Some spinner rigs bodies will be comprised of strictly beads; these are your sinking models. Other spinner rigs will have foam bodies, these are the floaters. Floating spinner rigs are ideal when the bottom is covered in vegetation. The floating body keeps your rig slightly further off bottom and keeps its running clean.
Color
When it comes to color, you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. I tend to choose the simpler approach. For clear water, focus on flash. Silvers and golds are two great options. For dirtier water, choose solid bold colors. Don’t be worried about mixing and matching beads in dirty water. Stick to one solid color to help it stand out better.
Bonus Tip: If you are fishing a metallic blade, the color of your beads will dictate the color that the inside of the blade appears to the walleye.
How To Fish a Spinner Rig For Walleye
What you’ve all been waiting for, the different techniques to use for fishing spinner rigs
Trolling
When trolling spinner rigs for walleye, feel free to use the conventional setup with rod holders and several rods. Here are a few other less conventional methods to use for trolling spinner rigs that work well also. Be sure to check your local regulations to see how many rods you can legally troll with in your state.
Hand Trolling:
Hand trolling refers to actively holding your rod in your hand as you troll along. This technique is ideal when fishing break-lines and smaller pieces of cover. When you are actively holding the rod, you have the ability to adjust the depth and reel in much quicker than if you had several rods in rod holders.
Planer Boards:
Planer boards are a great tool to use to spread out your lines and cover more water when trolling. Use planer boards for large pieces of cover that do not require much turning. Making turns is difficult when using this technique and requires a lot of space to do so. Be sure to use planer boards with the tattle tail flag system when trolling with spinner rigs since the bite is light.
Casting
Another option for fishing spinner rigs is casting. This is a deadly technique that is not talked about much by anglers. The key to this technique is to find a concentration of fish. For example, you may find an active school of walleye by trolling and covering water. However, if they are located in a 100 yard area along a 1/2 mile stretch it doesn’t make sense to keep trolling for those fish. This is the ideal time to cast spinner rigs for these fish. You’ll want a slightly shorter leader for this technique to make casting more manageable. Cast you spinner rig and out and let it hit bottom, then slowly reel it in keeping it within a few feet of the bottom.
Conservation and Ethical Fishing Practices
As responsible anglers, it’s crucial to prioritize conservation and practice ethical fishing
Catch and Release
Adhere to catch-and-release guidelines whenever possible to preserve the walleye population for future generations. Handle fish with care, use barbless hooks to minimize injury, and return them to the water as quickly and gently as possible. If you plan on keeping a few fish for a meal, release the larger fish to let them spawn. When trolling, walleye may experience barotrauma as well. Avoid fishing in depths greater than 30 ft, and learn how to fizz walleye.
Regulations and Limits
Stay informed about local fishing regulations and adhere to size and bag limits. These limits are in place to ensure sustainable fish populations and healthy ecosystems. Ignorance is no excuse, so take the time to familiarize yourself with the specific regulations in the areas you fish.
There you have it – everything you need to know about how to fish spinner rigs for walleye. Remember that spinner rigs have many variations, so be sure to tailor your presentation to the body of water that you fish. Continually experiment with different spinner rig types and retrieval methods until you find something that works. Whether you’re an experienced angler or new to walleye fishing, spinner rigs are a must have in your tackle box. So put your newfound knowledge to the test the next time you’re out on the water. Tight Lines!
More Walleye Articles:
- Ice Fishing For Walleye: Everything You Need To Know
- Midday Walleye: A Complete Breakdown Of Daytime Walleye Fishing
- Live Bait For Walleye: Everything You Need To Know
- Lure Talk: Full Guide On Fishing Crankbaits For Walleye
- Lure Talk: How To Fish Spinner Rigs For Walleye
- Trolling For Walleye: Everything You Need To Know
