Jiggin’ The Dream on Hauser for Walleye and Big Trout: Kit’s Tackle
By Matt Schauer

Posted: September 12, 2012

It is still hotter than two foxes flirting in a forest fire during the day, but the evenings are starting to cool down quite nicely. Last Friday, the master (dad) took a break from chasing elk and spent an afternoon on Hauser (shown in the photo above) pursuing walleyes. If the beautiful afternoon, he was granted, wasn’t spectacular enough, the walleyes cooperated very well. Dad and a few fish heads were pitching Kit’s Tackle Glass Minnows in the “Yellow Perch” and “Supercraw” (shown in photo on left) flavors. They were tipping the jigs with half a live night crawler for added scent appeal. The person in the front of the boat was pitching “GULP” on a jig head and the “Glass Minnows” out fished the “Gulp” by 100%. When the guy in the back of the boat is whooping your butt, you know he has the secret weapon…Kit’s Glass Minnow Series! It wasn’t long before the front man changed up his presentation.

Dad was fishing around Spokane Creek and up under Canyon Ferry Dam across from the gravel piles. They were targeting the fish very shallow, pitching jigs just inches from shore and working them aggressively back to the boat. Dad said the fish were super aggressive and a blast when they would smack the jig. They had a great afternoon landing over 20 walleyes and a couple nice fish over 19 inches. All fish were released except for a couple 17 inchers for the skillet (I actually just had them for supper tonight…DELICIOUS!)

Just to throw it out there…fried walleye, brown sugar squash and stuffing make a heck of a satisfying meal in my tackle box. In fact, my gut feels like I swallowed a state record walleye whole…backwards!!! Please tell me I am not the only one who gorges themselves at a fish fry? I always eat so much that I can’t move a muscle, then I have a couple more fillets because they are so freakin’ delicious!

If your in the Helena area and would like to have a fun filled afternoon catching walleyes on jigs, Hauser is a great recommendation from Kit’s Tackle for this time of year. It is more of a numbers game right now, but hey, catching fish is fun! Plus on Hauser you have great shot at a HUGE brown trout all duded up in their fall spawning colors. In my opinion, Hauser has the state’s largest browns swimming in its waters…not to mention big rainbows and walleye.

Like I stated before, the best place to target your presentation for the trout and walleye is in 2 to 8 feet of water. Create a buffer zone between your boat and the shore so you don’t spook the weary fish. Don’t be afraid to jig aggressively popping the jig back to the boat (make sure the jig hits the bottom between every “pop”) and set the hook at any resistance. Dad said most of the walleye were hitting like trout, but the larger fish they caught were sluggish.

Good Luck “Jiggin’ the Dream”

Here is a link to Kit’s Tackle’s website for the jigs dad was using to slay the walleye on Hauser (and everywhere we go).

http://www.kitstackle.com/Glass-Minnow-Jigs.html

Cheers,

Trevor Johnson

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