Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2014 - 38

Angle Jigging
for River Walleyes
by Jeff Knapp

photos by the author

From late fall through early spring, river Walleyes collect in
deeper, low-current pools that provide wintering habitat.
Though not particularly aggressive, with water temperatures
ranging from the low 40s to the low 30s, they can still be caught.
A classic in the river Walleye angler's tackle box is the leadhead
jig, which is often very effective. How you fish the jig has a lot to
do with how sucessful your cold weather forays will be.

Vertical jigging

Vertical jigging, where the leadhead jig is fished
pretty much directly under the boat, is the classic cold weather
presentation.
This presentation has many advantages. You're minimizing
the distance between you and the fish, bites are easier to detect,
hooksets more effective and the jig's exact position in relation
to the bottom is easier to control. Since river Walleyes are often
in deeper pools and close to the bottom, a vertical approach is
often the best one.
Boat control and jig control are important factors in vertical
jigging, actually jigging from any angle for that matter. In this
case, the idea is to allow the boat to drift slowly downstream

within the confines of the pool being fished, working a leadhead
jig directly under the boat, a few inches off the bottom. This
may sound simple but can be challenging to accomplish. Factors
like wind, varying currents and depth changes require nearly
constant adjustment by the angler.
Let's visualize a typical river pool, one that has the stuff to
consistently hold wintertime Walleyes. At the head of the pool
is a large gravel bar, one formed at the mouth of an incoming
creek. This bar deflects the force of the current, creating the
low-current environment Walleyes seek. The slackwater pool
extends for about half the width of the river and varies in
depth from 12 to 20 feet. A bank portion of the protected side
of the pool is rocky and quickly drops into deeper water. At
the pool's tail, it rises from 18 feet, giving way to a flat that
averages 4 feet in depth. On the shallow flat, the current picks
up to a moderate level. The length of the pool from head to
tail is about 100 yards.
Let's do an imaginary drift, vertically jigging along the way.
We start at the head of the pool, positioning the boat along the
edge of the current, where the protected water meets the faster
flow. The depth is 12 feet. Opening the bail of the spinning reel,
we allow a ¼-ounce jig, dressed with some type of plastic or hair
body, to free-fall to the bottom. Then, we click the bail shut and
reel in just enough to lift the jig a few inches off the bottom.
As the boat floats downriver, we'll use an electric trolling
motor to make minor corrections to its drift, such as when
the current wants to pull us out into the main flow or when an
upriver wind tries to stall our progress. The angle of line will
serve as a gauge to help determine boat movement. It should

Pictured from top to bottom are a 4-inch split tail minnow, 4-inch ringworm,
4-inch curly tail grub, bucktail jig, 3-inch curly tail grub and 4-inch tube jig.
Walleyes will often respond to a leadhead jig dressed with a soft body or a
hair/fur/feather body. If the action is slow, tip a plain leadhead or a bucktail
jig with a live minnow.

38

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