TECHNIQUE
But there is more to dam fishing than structure and time of day. To further your odds for taking home a monster, you should become accustomed to the best fishing techniques.

“The old tried-and-true method is vertical jigging,” Lodemier said. “The key is getting that jig on the bottom. There is a variety of currents you have to deal with depending on how the gates are set and you have to have enough weight to get to the bottom.”

He said some people treat river walleyes like lake walleyes and use small jigs tipped with small minnows.

“The jigs will never sink deep enough to be effective,” he said. “I can tell you all about size and color, but none of it matters if you don’t get it to the bottom.”

Lodemeir recommends using a 6- foot, 6-inch medium rod with 9-pound line. If you can’t feel the jig hitting the bottom, try a heavier one.

Use a 5/8- to 3/4-ounce hair jig in a natural color. Known as Killer Jigs, the most popular patterns are flat-headed and have a treble hook stinger. Blue, black and green seem to be the most popular colors and they are traditionally not fished with live bait.

Using this size jig, you should be able to feel the bottom. Vertical jigging is preferable to casting provided you are positioned directly above the seams in the current. At the same time, you can better control the action of the jig and tempt these walleyes into striking. This technique may also help you keep that favorite jig. Rocky bottoms are notorious for eating them.

Now that you have the right jig, you need to perfect your presentation.

“Be prepared for snags,” said Tim Shurson, a frequent river fisherman. “If you aren’t getting snags, you aren’t deep enough. Rip the jig up with a full sweep of your arm and let it settle back to the bottom. If that isn’t working, cast up toward the dam, let it sink to the bottom and then alternate flicking the jig with retrieving a few cranks on the reel. To do this correctly, snap the rod tip up, and then let the jig sink back to the bottom. When you snap the rod tip, the jig should rise a good 3 or 4 feet off the bottom. When the walleye hits, you’ll know it.”

“Some people treat river walleyes like lake walleyes and use small jigs. . . . Jigs never sink deep enough to be effective. I can tell you all about size and color, but none of it matters if you don’t get it to the bottom.”

There are other artificial bait choices that are effective, but they aren’t usually tried until the jigs prove ineffective.

The first is sonar. It’s a bladed bait with a pulsing action to get their attention. This action can help bring the walleyes to you instead of the other way around.

“They buzz pretty aggressively,” Shurson said. “When you snap your rod, it really gets their attention.”

The other choice is a Dave’s Kaboom shiner. Meant to imitate a minnow, they can be deadly when walleyes are keying in on baitfish attracted to the dams.

Len Warland, a river fisherman from Eastman, said, “Use a Kaboom in silver, chartreuse, metallic yellow with a black stripe or firetiger colors. These only come in one size and can be used with a dropper line with a 10-ounce sinker and a 4- to 6-foot leader.

“Another choice is a 1/2-ounce jig tipped with a plastic twister or a ringworm tail,” he continued. “The trick to this style of fishing is to keep contact with the bottom, and keep your line at about a 45-degree angle to the water.”

The owners of Hubbard’s Fishing Float offer another choice, a jig called the “One Eye.” It is hand-painted with hooks coming out of both ends. Tipped with a plastic worm, it can be deadly.