I was actually just about to re-up this post myself as this post has inspired me to tinker around with larger swimbaits for walleyes over the past couple of years. This tinkering has led to very little success (although part of that may to be attributed to a lack of confidence and not sticking with it long enough), until this past weekend that is. I had always fished these baits as the OP originally described, slowly reeling them with frequent pauses to keep the bait near the bottom. However, after seeing John Hoyer write about it and watching his show on the Next Bite I decided to try ripping larger swimbaits on cabbage edges and what do ya know… fish!

I had the most success on a 5″ Berkley Grass Pig on a 1/2 ounce Berkley Fusion Swimbait head. I would throw it out, let it hit bottom, and then rip it up 4-5 feet basically as hard as I could. I would then let the bait free fall to bottom and proceed to rip it again as soon as it touched down, all the way back to the boat. It was kind of similar to how I fish a jigging rap, but I was using a heavier baitcaster (one of my bass rods actually) and the fish were actually eating the bait on the fall as opposed to pinning the bait to the bottom. This meant that I had to keep the line semi-tight on the fall and watch it like a hawk, because I found myself missing fish when I went to rip it again instead of actually setting the hook. This can probably be attributed to the large hook on the jighead, as opposed to a small sticky sharp treble hook on a jiggin rap.

I fished several baits in this fashion, but had far and away the most success on the Grass Pig (bottom bait in picture). This technique produced about a dozen fish for me last weekend, with roughly half of them being over 20″. Nothing too crazy, but definitely enough action to continue to experiment with this style of fishing throughout the season!

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The opportunities in the trades for young guys are incredible right now, and I believe we need to do a better job of educating high school kids of these opportunities that don’t require college educations. As a kid from a relatively well off TC suburb it was pounded into my head from a young age that going to college was the only path to a happy and successful future, which is obviously not the case.

I don’t regret going to school, as I am now working in the construction industry with an engineering degree. But I do occasionally question my decisions when I am cooped up in the job trailer on a beautiful day and I look at the window and see kids younger than me out there busting ass and making comparable money to me with a fraction of the responsibility/ stress lol.

Using a credit card to pay for a gas is a no brainer. Using a credit card for practically all purchases is the way to go, paying in cash is old fashioned and outdated. Perks of using credit cards:
-Safer than carrying/using cash and/or debit cards.
-If your card gets lost/stolen there is literally 0 chance you lose any money, the credit card issuer takes on all the risk.
-Allows you to earn various rewards/perks (I just booked a flight using solely Delta SkyMiles).
-Helps you to build your credit score.

Pay it off monthly, never carry a balance, never pay any interest… it’s not “new fashioned”, at this point using a credit card for day to day purchases is basically common sense.

I am actually currently living and working in the Tri Cities and I drive over the Columbia literally everyday. Not having a boat out here is absolutely killing me. My coworker snuck out with one of our subs the other day and put a beat down on them. Smallest fish they caught was 21 and biggest was 30″. They caught them pitching plastics up shallow, sounded like an absolute blast. I need to get out with a guide one of these days before the good spring fishing is over. Some guide recommendations I have gotten:

-Flatout Fishing (seems to have the reputation of being the best in the area)
-Miller Time Fishing
-Markel Outdoors

If you come out hit me up. I would love to find somebody to split the price of a guide trip with.

Thanks for all the responses guys, I’m going to have a tough decision to make.

Does anybody have any experience with the newer GLX jig & worm rods? I’ve been eyeing the 6’8 M XF (802). These rods are more geared towards the bass guys but I’m thinking they’d make a killer jig stick for walleyes as well.