How to Catch Walleye Trolling Spoons

To catch walleye trolling spoons, run a small or medium spoon on a ball-bearing snap swivel, get it down to the fish with planer boards, dipsy divers, downriggers or lead core, and troll around 1.8 to 3.0 mph. Use bright colours in sun and clear water, darker colours when it's overcast, and keep adjusting until they bite.

Here's the whole process, step by step, the way we run it out of Port Dover on Lake Erie.

Why troll spoons for walleye?

A spoon wobbles and flashes like a wounded baitfish, and that flash calls walleye in from a distance. You can also troll spoons faster than most walleye presentations, which makes them one of the best ways to cover open water and find suspended, active fish.

Spoons aren't the only option, of course. If you want to see how they stack up against crawler harnesses and crankbaits, read our guide to the best walleye lures for trolling Lake Erie.

What do you need to troll spoons for walleye?

• Walleye-size spoons: our Small (8 cm) or Medium (9.5 cm).

• Ball-bearing snap swivels: one for every spoon you run.

• A way to get down: planer boards, dipsy divers, downriggers or lead core line.

• A speed reading: so you can hold the spoon in its sweet spot.

• Your licence: most anglers need an Outdoors Card and a valid fishing licence.

How do you catch walleye trolling spoons? Step by step

1. Check the rules for your water

Before you set a line, make sure walleye are open where you're fishing. On Lake Erie, which is in Fisheries Management Zone 19, walleye and sauger are open all year, and the Zone 19 regulations say two lines may be used when angling from a boat in open water. Other zones close in spring, so check the Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary for your zone every season. Our post on walleye season in Ontario walks through the details.

2. Find the fish

On big water, a lot of walleye suspend off the bottom and follow schools of baitfish, and they can move from one day to the next. Start where your electronics show bait and marks, and be ready to keep moving until you find them. That's exactly what trolling is good at.

3. Pick the right spoon size

For walleye, run our Small (8 cm) or Medium (9.5 cm) spoons. They catch trout too. The MAG (11.5 cm) is our salmon spoon, so leave it for the kings. If you're not sure which size the fish want, run both in your spread and let the rods tell you.

4. Choose your colour and finish

Our rule of thumb is simple: bright colours on sunny days and in clear water, darker colours when it's overcast. Glow colours, like Blue Frog (Glow Tape) and Bimini Glow, help at depth, at dawn, on cloudy days and in dirty water.

The finish matters too. We offer hex, nickel and copper. Hex scatters light in every direction, nickel gives the brightest flash in clear water and sun, and copper gives a warmer flash for stained water and low light.

Conditions	Colour to start with	Finish to try
Sunny, clear water	Bright colours	Nickel
Overcast	Darker colours	Copper
Stained or dirty water	Glow colours	Copper
Dawn, cloudy days or fishing deep	Glow colours	Hex or copper

5. Rig it with a ball-bearing snap swivel

Always clip your spoon on with a quality ball-bearing snap swivel. Never tie a spoon directly to your line. A spoon rolls and wobbles as it's pulled, and without a good swivel it'll twist your line.

6. Get the spoon down to the fish

Pick the tool that fits your boat and the depth the fish are holding at:

• Planer boards pull lines out to the side, away from the boat.

• Dipsy divers take a spoon down and can run it off to the side.

• Downriggers put a spoon at a set depth.

• Lead core line sinks your spoon deeper the more you let out.

Spread your lines across different depths and both sides of the boat until you find where the fish are holding, then tighten up around that depth.

7. Set your trolling speed

Troll walleye spoons around 1.8 to 3.0 mph. Before you let a spoon back, watch it beside the boat. You want a steady, erratic wobble without the spoon spinning. If it spins, slow down. If it looks lazy, speed up until the action looks right. Wind and current change your true speed through the water, so check the action again whenever conditions or your heading change.

8. Adjust until they bite

When a rod goes, note the depth, the colour, the speed and which side of the boat it came on, then put more lines on what's working. If the bite is slow, keep changing colours until one starts producing.

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Tying the spoon direct to your line instead of using a ball-bearing snap swivel.

• Trolling so fast the spoon spins instead of wobbling.

• Running every line at the same depth before you've found the fish.

• Sticking with one colour when nothing's happening.

• Reaching for a salmon-size MAG when a small or medium is the walleye spoon.

Choosing a King Crusher walleye spoon

Every King Crusher spoon is hand-painted, finished with a durable clear coat and rigged with razor-sharp hooks. Each colour is designed and tested on the Great Lakes by our team and pro staff. Our walleye spoons run C$9.99 to C$10.99, including glow options like Blue Frog (Glow Tape) and Bimini Glow. Got questions about sizes, finishes or rigging? Our FAQ covers the basics.

Quick answers

What speed should you troll spoons for walleye?

Around 1.8 to 3.0 mph. Check the spoon beside the boat: it should wobble steadily without spinning. Slow down if it spins and speed up if it looks lazy.

What size spoon is best for walleye?

Our Small (8 cm) and Medium (9.5 cm) spoons are built for walleye and trout. The MAG (11.5 cm) is our salmon spoon.

What colour spoon works best for walleye?

Bright colours on sunny days and in clear water, darker colours when it's overcast. Glow colours help at depth, at dawn, on cloudy days and in dirty water.

Can you troll for walleye all year on Lake Erie?

In Ontario's Zone 19, which includes Lake Erie, walleye and sauger are open all year, with a limit of 6 on a sport licence or 2 on a conservation licence. Always check the current regulations before you go.

Ready to set your spread? Shop King Crusher walleye spoons and get them in the water this fall.