Tips for Weed Walleyes

• There are still a lot of walleyes that have not transitioned into deeper water and they’re hiding in the weeds. These fish get very little pressure from anglers so consider them prime candidates when picking a location to fish.

• Present a bait right into the thick of the vegetation with a slipbobber rig. This will work in coontail, cabbage, curly-leaf pondweed and even milfoil. The trick here is to keep the sinker close to the bait so it will break through the vegetation and end up near the bottom where the walleyes are.

• On the edge of the vegetation just pitch a quarter-ounce weedless jig tipped with a minnow. Drag it back slowly over the bottom giving it the occasional hop.

• A live-bait rig should be rigged with a slip-bouncer snagless weight and fished on the edge of the vegetation, not right in the midst of the stuff.

• The nighttime is a great time to be fishing walleyes that are suspending on top of the vegetation. Use a shallow-diving crankbait with a slow retrieve under the light of the moon.