Bait Blasting--Plan B Floater Rigs Revisited
It’s no secret that every serious walleye angler has a box of floater rigs in the boat…Spin-N-Glo’s, Smile Blade/Slo Death Combo’s with small floats, various action floats with wings and ripples designed to spin…and boy do those rigs work!
For several decades I wrote articles proclaiming the importance of floater rigs as a “Plan B” alternative whenever the expected bite didn’t come through. Spinner bite dies off? Drag baited floater rigs through the area at half the speed. Jigging the weed edges fizzles out? Time to go to plan B and drag floaters on those same weed edges. Weather system knocks the suicide bite straight to the cemetery? Plan B floater rigs with crawlers continues to pry open the lips of some of those lethargic leviathans.
Similarly, when you travel to a new water body and need to figure out a pattern quick…yet it just isn’t happening…slip on a baited floater rig and cover ground until you find the areas with concentrated fish populations. I did that my first time on Leech Lake in Minnesota and within a couple days those savvy Gophers stacked up on my new spot with a dozen boats working my newfound walleyes. Done the same thing on several Alberta and Saskatchewan waters over the years. Post spawn dispersal with fish moving and roaming…Plan B floaters in shallow muddy water and bingo--Fish On!
I Carry These Floats as Backups to My Pre-Tied Rigs. Needless to Say, Floaters Are a Serious Part of My Arsenal!
I’ve been a freak for tiny chili-bean sized Flashing and Spinning Cheaters as well as Spin-N-Glo’s since, well, since before I had ever caught a walleye. I grew up on Salmon Creek in Washington using tiny Spin-N-Glo’s and half a crawler for searun cutthroat trout, and when the late Paul Beaupre invented the F&S Cheaters I was an immediate devotee. Walleyes love ‘em! Once upon a time I was on the Columbia River during a major bug hatch. All of the boats—including mine—were struggling to get bit. No sweat, dark colored Spin-N-Glo’s with smallish crawlers and zippedy doo dah…can’t keep ‘em off the line. Done the same thing during the mayfly hatch at Mill Lacs in Minnesota. I love that slow spin, and more importantly, so do the walleyes!
And there’s a common thread to all these approaches mentioned thus far…either the float spins or the smile blade spins above the float…they are all subtle spinners. If there is an instinctual response involved…and I believe there is…then that lopping spin must somehow look like an emergent nymph or like a struggling minnow or who knows exactly what, but all species of gamefish are sometimes triggered to strike by spinning action on your lure. It’s a real phenomenon reinforced by the time-proven success of in-line spinners like Mepps. The floatation just makes it less snag-prone and capable of slow creeping presentations.
With all that spinning success, who’d want to do something different? What insane maniac would dump something that’s such a perfect Plan B? I raise my hand enthusiastically like Little Johnny in the Schoolteacher jokes…I’m that insane maniac, and I’m about to open your eyes to another floater option—VIBRATING FLOATS with added bait.
Big Tiber Reservoir Walleye on Vibrating Floater Rig...32"+ Skinny 9.5 Pounder. Vid Clip image while fishing alone. Note additional video cam on the net...vid clip from net camera below
Note that this is not a product pitch. This first product isn’t even available anymore, but it illustrates my point. Back in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s I had a small fishing tackle manufacturing company and I combined with a Colorado trout guy who had a patent for a small vibrating lip—like the lip on a small crankbait—that could be added ahead of most any lure or bait. I crimped ‘em on ahead of a colorful Cheater float with a size 2 Octopus-style hook and the SWEEPER was born. One of the first test days for the Sweeper was on the Columbia River in February. Then Quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, Dave Krieg, joined me and some media folks who were there to cover Krieg’s every move. I didn’t want the entire day to be spent vertical jigging the 42-45 foot deep breakline, so I moved into the 30 foot “shallows” and popped a ten-pound-plus walleye the first pass…yep, on the Sweeper. The hard vibrations were kind of the opposite of the subtle spin of a Slo Death crawler combo or of a winged float with bait. It was an attractor the fish could FEEL!
The Original Sweeper Lure Uses a Vibrating Lip Like a Crankbait. It's No Longer Available, So I'm Glad I Squirreled Away a Few Hundred To Get Me By For Awhile!
Though the Sweeper fell by the wayside when I sold my tackle company, the idea of vibro floats is still around (at least for us tight-lipped bastards sitting on the secret all these years). The Lindy Lil' Guy follows this vibrating floater rig idea into the modern era. Vibes like a crankbait but it's a floater rig for bait. I prefer the smaller 1" version to keep "lift" to a minimum. Just as I prefer very small spinning floaters, I also prefer to use smallish vibrating floats. My current favorite is the Worden Lures Wobble Glo in 1/2” and sometimes ¾” size. I don’t want my rig to actually float. I want it to be close to neutral with added bait. If you fish Lil' Guys or Wobble Glo's too slow in very shallow water they will end up on the surface. In deeper water you may be dragging 3-4 feet above bottom--day-in-and-day-out that's too high for Western walleye. Keep enough speed to get vibrating action AND to force it to follow directly behind your sinker.
My Personal Favorite Vibrating Floater Rig is the Worden Lures Wobble Glo in Smallish 1/2" and 3/4" Sizes. It Really Works Great with the Biggest Leeches You Can Find!
A couple years ago I got onto a terrific leech bite that seemed to cover the whole state of Montana. One weekend I added the vibrating Wobble Glo to my plain hook leech rigs…rassled a few scary large jumbo leeches (thanks Jesse Taylor the Leech Guy) and had a field day on Tiber reservoir. In one twenty minute period I caught a 31” 12.25 pound walleye followed by a snakey 32” 9.5 pounder. If I told you how many 4-6 pounders I caught that weekend you wouldn’t believe me…
Wobble Glow/Leech in the Maw of 32"+ Tiber Walleye (Vibrating Floater Rigs Work With Crawlers Too)
That same Wobble Glo rig with oversized--downright frightening--leeches produced for weeks all around Montana. One afternoon on one of my home reservoirs I caught and released 17 walleyes over 20” with the biggest just over 8 pounds—Wobble Glo rig. Father’s Day that year was a thunderstormy mess. I watched the radar reports and found an hour and a half gap between storms…So, I drove to the lake, launched my boat and immediately vibed up an 8.5# and a 6.5# on these Wobble Glo/jumbo leech rigs. Only about an hour of actual fishing time but what a great Father’s Day trip!
Thrashing 8+ Pounder Grabbed a Wobble Glo/Leech Combo Between Storms on Father's Day
But don’t let the story ruin the point…VIBRATING FLOATER RIGS TERRORIZE THE WALLEYES! This is true regardless of where you live and regardless of the size of your region’s walleyes…Unlike the slow and subtle approach most common with the spinning floater rigs, vibrators produce well with a bit of speed—.8 to 1.5 mph in my boat. And just like shallow diving stickbaits, these vibrating bait rigs also work great with a sweep and drop approach giving ‘eyes a chance to feel the vibrations on the sweep and then home in for the kill on the pause. And be careful, if you aren’t at full attention when you drop the rod tip back you just may get your rod yanked out of your hands!
I’m convinced that many walleye behaviors harken back to innate programming deep in their tiny brains. Like spinning floats (or spinning things in general) seem to touch an instinctive nerve almost forcing them to bite. Vibrations massaging their lateral lines also tap into primordial reactions the fish almost can’t resist. Combine the allure of an annelid for bait with those buzzing vibrations and you are tipping the walleye equation in your favor.
So, don’t get me wrong, I still use the small subtle spinney floater rigs as my standard Plan B. But nowadays I’m apt to select a vibrating floater rig as Plan A when the bait bite is cooking.
As a Side Note: I Really Like Using a Streamlined Float Underneath When Fishing With a Smile Blade (Mack's Lures). The Companies that Cater to Salmon and Steelhead Anglers Have Tremendous Selection. These Are Worden Lures "Winner" Floats