Fish Facts at Strike Zone Custom Tackle: Jigging for Walleye

Before we get into "Jigging for Walleye" I have a request.
I am hoping that we can put together a "Photo Album", but obviously I will need photos to do that so what I'm hoping you'll help me with this buy sending in any fishing pictures you might want to share with a little bit of info if possible (i.e. date, location, bait, you know what I mean). It doesn't have to be trophy fish, it can be anything with a story.
Now to the main attraction, "Jigging for Walleye"
One of my favorite techniques for catching "Ottawa River"walleye is bouncing a 1/4oz jig or 3/8oz jig for heavier current conditions off the bottom.
From season opener through till the cool waters of fall this technique probably produces more fish than any other method.
Jig fishing though can be broken down into different techniques in itself, some being; casting and retrieving with a jig/grub combination while varying retrieval speeds, you can also add to this buy stopping and letting your presentation sink to bottom every few feet, this often triggers strikes.
You can even add a spinner blade to your jig and cast or troll with it.
My personal favorite though, along with many other walleye anglers is to hook a minnow on just a plain jig head and hook and bounce it off the bottom to trigger strikes from wary walleye.
The actual technique for hooking the minnow varies between anglers but I will discuss my personal methods for attaching bait in a later blog.
Bouncing a jig off bottom can also be coupled with casting your presentation, this can attract walleye that are within casting distance of you.
Cast your offering, let it sink to bottom then lift your rod tip binging your line slowly towards you, let sink back to the bottom and repeat the process until you have completely retrieved your bait.
This technique along with just bouncing your jig beneath you can be even more effective if your using a rod with a sensitive rod tip as walleye are known to bite very lightly and the more sensitive the rod tip the more chance you'll have to recognize a strike, or if a wary walleye has possibly inhaled your offering.
I came up with a system that even increases the success rate of jig fishing.
Because I get most of my offerings stolen or striped from my hooks I decided to increase my odds by attaching lead lines to my jigs whereby I have attached a second hook approximately 1ft above my jig thus giving me a second chance at walleye that manage to get a free meal from the first hook.
This also works well due to the fact walleye usually travel in schools therefore meaning that there is usually more than one walleye eyeing up your bait.
Another positive feature to my invention is you don't necessarily have to reel up and re-bait when you miss a strike because you have a second offering to maintain their interest.
I call my creations "Jigging Harnesses"