Jackson: When it comes to lines and setup, walleyes need options

There are two basic schools of thought as well as many "graduate schools" filled with walleye fishermen.

The old reliable jig-minnow setup and the minnow hard bait can be good fish attractors during the spawn and post-spawn conditions here in the Midwest.

While I am not a walleye expert, I'll chase them when a boat partner continues to drool all over himself as I try to explain that walleyes will chase our baits.

Dr. Jason Halfen, the force behind technolgicalangler.com, believes "shallow-running smelt-like jerkbaits are an excellent choice for post-spawn walleyes. These are extraordinarily detailed lures with three-dimensional anatomical features like fins, eyes, gill plates and scales, in addition to patterns, colors, transitions, and highlights that reflect Nature's handiwork. Their tight shimmering action on the retrieve recalls the movements of a living baitfish, widely dispersing visual flash to attract predators over long distances."

And, of course, there is the "magic jig-minnow" arrangement, which has brought me many walleyes to the net on the Fox River, both in Illinois and in Wisconsin at DePere.

I've learned that in post-spawn conditions females (the larger fish) have a tendency to move away from the shoreline, where eggs had been laid, and are being shepherded by the smaller males, otherwise depicted as the guardian.

It's the depth of the water in the nest area that will probably allow me to use a 1/16- or 1/8-ounce jig tipped with a live minnow. But I will also experiment with a plastic, minnow-like lure instead of a live choice.

If you choose to work the fast water below the dam at McHenry, be prepared to have enough jigs to last as long as you look for fish. Because that area is a prime spawning spot (the back-current pools), they are loaded with big boulders and other debris. And even your minnow imitating crankbait will hang up in the rocks unless you pare down the hooks to a lesser number.

Many years ago walleye pro Ted Takasaki taught me how to use a two-way rig. This is the setup with a heavy jig and plastic tail sitting on the bottom, making contact with the rocks. I then tied a five-foot leader to the jig and affixed a crankbait to that leader. More often than not I'll get hits on both the crank as well as the jigs. My senses tell me the larger female walleyes have begun their aggressive mode and are looking for forage following an energy-depleting spawning process.

In the crankbait department, Dr. Halfen suggests using an extra-heavy braided line, such as a Seaguar Smackdown.

My line choice would also be a braided type, or super line as many of you prefer to call it, in the 10-pound class.

Either way with whatever line you have available, slowly work the target area and use a sensitive spinning rod made especially for light bites.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.