Minnesota Pro Tip of the Week: Be nimble in your spinner-rig presentations

Tip by Brad Hawthorne

Years of guiding experience: 16

Home waters: Lake Mille Lacs

Angling pressure has actually been pretty light on Lake Mille Lacs, and the walleyes are biting, if you can figure out the right combination. For starters, with the water clarity what it’s been, you need seperation between your sinker and your spinner. I’m talking about leader lengths of six to eight feet.

I also think right now, blades such as Northland’s Butterfly are key. If you stall or make a turn, they keep on spinning. Metal blades shine best when fish are fixated on minnows, but right now, we have minnows, bugs and everything else. Another key is deciding between beads and floaters. The other day, we worked a bunch of fish for 15 minutes without a bite, so I switched to floaters. It made a difference, and figuring out which one to use matters sometimes.

Lastly, I’ll say weight matters. Lighten up. That allows that bait to get behind the boat. With so much bait in the water, walleyes don’t have to tolerate a jenky presenation if they don’t want to. Put those fish at ease by getging your bait behind the boat with lighter weights.

Hawthorne runs Hawthorn’s Guide Service. Contact him at www.millelacsguide.com or 651-271-8600