Forward-looking, real-time sonar imaging like Garmin Panoptix LiveScope opens the door to entirely new fishing opportunities previously unavailable. In this video, Wired2Fish’s Kyle Peterson demonstrates the power of scanning structures for big nomadic walleyes and targets them with a drop shot and leech.
ELECTRONICS & TACKLE USED (*additional links at the bottom)
- Garmin Panoptix LiveScope System (The Bass Tank)
- Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv
- Garmin Force Trolling Motor
- Berkley Fusion19 Drop Shot Hook, size: 6
- ARK Fishing No Chip Tungsten Tear Drop Shot Weight, 3/8-ounce
- ARK Invoker Pro Series Spinning Rod, 7’6″ Med Lt
- Daiwa Tatula LT Spinning Reel, size: 3000
- Seaguar Smackdown Flash Green, 15lb
- Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon, 8lb
As Kyle notes, he’s not zeroing in on schools of fish, rather single individuals roaming or relating to baitfish. He explains how to maintain critical offset to avoid spooking the walleyes while making accurate pitch casts to land the bait in their face.
With an x/y axis in play, Peterson not only adjusts his casting distance (x-axis) relative to the fish but, just as importantly, targets their location in the water column (y-axis) — this, in turn, changes rigging. Longer drop shot leaders are more effective at catching active, high riding walleye then a short lead. Also, you can account for the angle of retrieve, which reduces bait distance off the bottom.
Lastly, Peterson shares the full details of his rod, reel and line setup for targeting big walleye to include a little trick to ensure his line to line knot doesn’t fail under repetitive casting and fishing big fish.
