COVER MORE WATER AND CATCH BIGGER FISH
As the hot months of summer arrive, fish often head for deeper waters to avoid the warm water. Finding fish like walleyes in the deep water can be difficult sometimes, especially on large bodies of water. Ross Robertson from Big Water fishing has a knack for finding big walleyes in deep water. Robertson makes his living guiding and developing fishing products. “Finding fish can be difficult in big water because locating the cool water temperatures and locating bait fish requires more work,” Robertson said. “The best way to find fish is to cover as much water as possible in a short period of time. The problem is if I rush, I can miss fish. If I cover water too slowly, I might not find them. The key to success is going the right speed and using the right bait presentation.”
When fishing the Great Lakes, Robertson wants to be extremely efficient with his time. “I want to get my lures in the deep water where the fish are as fast as I can. One of my go-to rigs is a small spoon like a Silver Streak Jr.
When running this presentation, Robertson will using use a Jet diver. “By using this type of setup, I can get my spoons down deep where the walleyes are and I can go at a pretty good speed,” Robertson noted. “I like to go about 2 or 2.5 miles an hour so I can cover a lot of water. At the end of the day, I can often cover 16 miles. I am able to cover 2 to 3 times the amount of water I would cover if I was using lure presentations that required me to move along at 1 mile an hour. If we are struggling to find fish, I will even go 3 miles an hour or a touch faster.” Robertson is often running these spoons in 30 feet of water, which is often where the big walleyes live during the summer.
When guiding anglers who are looking to catch big fish, going fast is often the key to success. “Covering a lot of ground helps me find more fish and helps me catch bigger fish for my clients,” Robertson said. “We catch some smaller fish, but as a rule we catch less garbage fish, less non-target species, and fewer small walleyes when we are going between 2 to 3 miles an hour.
As stated above, Robertson’s go-to spoon is a 3-inch Silver Streak Jr. In some cases, he will go even bigger and use spoons that are over 4 inches in size. “With the big spoons, we don’t catch as many walleyes but the fish we catch are good size and that is what my clients are looking for. Like salmon anglers, Robertson likes to use spoons that have a lot of color and contrast that will catch the attention of the walleyes.
Summer is here. Get on the water and use spoons and speed to put more walleyes in the cooler.
