You can learn a lot in a fish cleaning house. Walt Matan shares what he learned from a stranger about fishing the weeds for walleyes.

Weedy lakes are known to harbor largemouth bass, pike, muskie and panfish…but what about walleyes? I learned all about the weed/walleye connection from a guy in Wisconsin that I met in a fish cleaning house.

It was a humbling experience, as I plopped my catch of two skinny walleyes up on the counter while some local was filleting five plump walleyes right next to me. I snuck a few peeks, checking out his walleyes and filleting technique.

I pried him for info: “Those are some nice ones. Did you get them on the reefs?” “Nope, in the weeds,” he replied. “What’d you use, a jig-n-minnow?” “Nope, jig-n-’crawler.”

“That’s a pretty nice rig you got there,” he said, staring at my Lund on the trailer. “Yeah, but boats don’t catch fish—fishermen do. If you want to meet me here in the morning, I’ll take you out on it.” So, the plan was hatched. I was going to learn something new from the guy I just met in the fish cleaning house.

The next morning Ol’ Joe met me at the ramp with his rod, a paper bag with a few jigs inside and a coffee can full of ‘crawlers. They weren’t just any ‘crawlers; they were supercrawlers that looked more like garter snakes than worms!

Ol’ Joe explained that he buys ‘crawlers in bulk, packs them in bedding and keeps them in his beer and bait fridge in the garage. Then, the night before going fishing, he pulls out the ‘crawlers he needs and puts them in a can full of iced well water in the fridge overnight. These crawlers will pump up into supercrawlers, twice their normal size. However, they are only good for the next day’s fishing; then they shrink up.

So, off in the boat we went. We headed out to a windswept shore and I slowed down the boat. Joe explained that there was a nice bed of coontail weeds that extended out to 10 feet of water. I checked it out on the locator and marked a GPS point. I kept the boat nose into the wind and held it with the trolling motor.

We were parallel to the shore so that we could each get a good cast to the weed edge. Ol’ Joe pulled out his secret weapon: a 5/32-ounce homemade jig painted hot pink with his wife Betsy’s nail polish. He slid the supercrawler on the hook nose-first and fired a cast to the weed edge. I watched him as I rigged up, and then the magic happened…

Joe got a bite (I could see his rod tip jump), opened the bail on his spinning reel and began to count. Then he closed the bail, reeled in the slack and set the hook. Soon, a 4-pound walleye was in the net. I looked over at him, dumbfounded. “The secret,” Joe quipped, “is to know when to set the hook!”

After a half-dozen misfires on my part and two more walleye in the net for Joe, I broke down. “Joe, I gotta see what you are doing.”

So, I handed him my St. Croix rod and he cast it to the weed edge. “You want to cast about two feet into the weed edge and get the jig stuck in the weeds. You reel up until the line gets tight and then jiggle it until the jig pops free. That’s when they strike.”

After a few more casts, Joe got a bite. The rod tip bounced, and he opened the bail. “So, now you need to let the walleye eat the worm. I like to count to ten: One Mississippi, two Mississippi…ten Mississippi. Now hold my hand and let’s see if the walleye is on.” “Joe, I don’t know you that well.” “Just hold my hand if you want to catch a fish, ya bum.” So, I held Joe’s hand, and sure enough, felt some nibbling, and Joe opened the bail. “He’s not ready yet, so now I’m gonna count to five: One Mississippi, two Mississippi…five Mississippi.” Joe reeled up, I held his hand again, and now could feel a steady pull, and Joe slammed the hook home! Then he handed me my rod so I could reel a fish in.

Six hours and two dozen walleye later, I had a technique that would work in every weedy lake that holds walleyes.

You definitely need to try this technique out for yourself next time you are in walleye country on a weedy lake. And don’t be shy in the fish cleaning house; you just might learn something new yourself!

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