Just a few of my Weapon Rigs
Lake Erie has gone through a lot of changes in the past 20 years. It has gone from a lake you could barely see a few inches into the water, to a lake that you can see 25ft down during the winter months and sight fish for walleye during the ice season. With these changes, fisherman have had to learn and adjust to the changing conditions and changing fish behavior.
One of these new approaches has been with what is locally called a “Weapon Rig” on Lake Erie. The weapon rig was made popular by charter boats and their captains that specialized in drift fishing, like the late Captain Steve Droulliard, who fished out of Bolles Harbor. The weapon rig is designed after the Mayfly , commonly called “Fish fly” or Hex for you fly guys, population began to boom on the lake with the cleaner water thanks to the zebra mussels.
The mayfly’s begin to rise from the lake bed during the first part of June every year. At this time the walleye, as well as other species on Lake Erie begin to key in and feed on them as they make their way to the surface for there short adult life to mate and start the next generation of these tasty fish morsels. It used to be said by the older generations that the walleye would quit biting during the hatch because they were too busy feeding on the bugs. The weapon rig blew that theory up, and anglers have been noticing big numbers coming back to the launches during the lake’s hatch.
Rod choices can be a personal one for the angler to make to get the best “feel” while detecting bites. St. Croix Rods Pro Staffer Chuck Mason of Ida, Michigan, who calls Lake Erie his home waters, uses different rods to match the type of bite taking place during the mayfly hatch. While fishing the top third of the water column for feeding walleyes, he prefers a medium light power 6 foot, 6 inch Avid spinning rod and 3/8ths ounce egg sinkers When Mason sees that the fish are spread out from the bottom to the surface feeding, he switches over to ¾ oz sinkers used in conjunction with a 7ft medium power Avid casting rod. Now he might be the only angler using the casting rod with the weapon rig approach, but there is a reason for it.“When fish are all over the depth spectrum, my casting rod will give me greater distance on the cast, allowing me to reach out and get to the bottom, but covering all depths over that area on the retrieve.”, explained the 30 year Erie veteran. His last rod of choice is specialized for the bottom bite, when dragging the rig in the mud where the mayflies live. To accomplish this, he deploys a 6 foot, 8 inch rod with medium power and an extra fast action is employed when using ½ oz sinkers.
This article was 1st publish in Michigan Outdoor News. So there is some info that could not make the article. I do plan on covering this rig in greater depth in the near future here on my blog.
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