STING’N EYES

On the Michigan waters of the Great Lakes, where diehard walleye anglers will jump a four foot crack to get to their spot, the good fisherman owe much of their success to a little trick borrowed from their open water brethren. To set the narrative, imagine being on a hot bite where the fish are racing up the water column , only to swipe and miss your presentation, and leave the screen on your Vexilar as quickly as they appeared. Worse yet, you feel a tug on your spoon, bring it up, only to find your treble hook stripped of it’s bait. While you are struggling , another in your group is killing it, all due to that little trick called the Stinger Hook.

Many walleye anglers across the Midwest employ stingers as part of their open water, vertical jigging presentations. I use them religiously on the Detroit and Saginaw Rivers, as well, as Lake Erie while snapping hair jigs off the bottom. As in the warmer months, ice anglers often have days where most of their fish come on the stingers.

Stinger hooks come in many forms that can be used while ice fishing for walleye. There are slipons and clip-ons, with the most common sizes coming in two or three inch lengths. Some have a single hook, while others are made with a treble hook. I prefer the ones that clip on, and rigged with a treble hook, usually a #10 in size. That said, each style has their time and place, depending on your presentation, and you can change your spoon presentations with ease thanks to the clip style.

The length of the stinger depends on the type of lure you are using and how you decided to rig it with the minnow. When using a spoon with a smaller profile, like the Leech Flutter Spoon from Clam, I prefer the 2” length. First you attach to the spoon’s split ring, then you bait up with half a shiner. For larger presentations using a whole minnow, the 3” stinger gets deployed. This can be used with any sized spoon, but if you really want to bulk it up for larger walleye, I will match it up with one of Clam’s PEG spoons, Even with the longer, lighter profile of the PEG, the slower flutter on the drop will entice a bite on the big water.

If you have ever experienced that hit and miss, or the tug with no joy, it might be time to break out the stingers on your home body of water. No longer get into that funk from the near misses as you watch your catch rate going up. Good anglers borrow approaches like the stinger, and you don’t even have to tell those open water buddies that it is a good idea!

STAND YOUR GROUND.

APEX

The most convenient way to ensure your tailbone won’t meet that hellaciously hard ice, just strap the Apex Ice Cleat on, grab your auger and start punching holes knowing there’s no ice condition these babies can’t sink their teeth into.

20 MULTI-DIRECTIONAL, SAW-TOOTH STAINLESS CLEATS FOR THE ULTIMATE TRACTION AND QUICK MOBILITY.