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Before you can head down the road of choosing the best walleye lures to fill your tackle box, you have to understand that walleye lure selection differs substantially from other species. For most bass anglers using anything but artificial lures is not acceptable. Whereas walleye anglers routinely use crawlers, minnows, and leeches as well as crankbaits, jerkbaits, and glide baits. This mix of artificial lures and live bait creates a ton of tackle options. You get even more lure options when you add in that walleye anglers often split their time between trolling, casting, and drifting.
Over my 20-year professional angling career, I’ve tested and caught fish on nearly every walleye lure option, and from that crop, I’ve picked six of the best walleye lures. These lures are all versatile baits that I’ve personally tested to cover the most common walleye fishing conditions.
- Best Walleye Jig: Northland Fire-Ball Jig
- Best Spinner: Northland Baitfish Float’n Spin
- Best Glide Bait: Clam Tikka Mino
- Best Cold-Water Crankbait: Rapala Husky Jerk
- Best All-Around Crankbait: Reef Runner
- Best Lipless Crankbait: Rapala Rippin Rap
Best Walleye Lures: Reviews & Recommendations
Best Walleye Jig: Northland Fire-Ball Jig
Key Features
- Compact
- Great color selection
- Oval head to cut current
- Weight: 1/16 to 1 ounce
- 1/0 and 2/0 hooks available
Pros
- Sizes to fit every situation
- Great color selection
- Very versatile
Cons
- A quality, but not premium hook
If I had a nickel for each professional walleye tournament top 10 finish the Fire-Ball Jig has accounted for, I could easily retire. Due to the success and popularity of the original Fireball, Northland has since added standup and long shank models to accommodate nearly any jigging situation. However, if you are looking for versatility, the original is still the best all-around jig.
The Northland Fire-Ball Jig’s wide range of sizes makes it a versatile jig, and with smart features like a short shank wide gap hook for rigging large live bait and good hooksets, it’s a go-to walleye lure for pros. Fire-Ball’s original design allows you to fish it effectively with few issues. The head cuts current but does not snag easily, while featuring a very wide gap hook to more easily rig large live bait and increase hookups. If fish are short striking, there’s an eye behind the head that allows for a stinger hook to be attached.
Best Spinner: Northland Baitfish Float’n Spin
Key Features
- Holographic finishes for flash
- Foam float
- Two needlepoint hooks for short strikes
- 60-inch leader
- 14-pound test leader
Pros
- Extremely versatile
- Really good color selection
- Good components
Cons
- No quick-change clevis for quick blade swaps
The Northland baitfish blades have been legendary for years for their fish catching combination of flash and vibration. The addition of a float is not so common and provides a lot of color, but most importantly, flotation. The buoyancy helps keep the hooks from dragging the bottom and damaging the hooks and bait.
Walleye anglers are very particular about their spinner rigs. The Northland Baitfish Float’n Spin is one of the best walleye lures because it’s extremely versatile and allows anglers to carry less tackle but still be covered in a variety of situations.
Best Glide Bait: Clam Tikka Mino
Key Features
- Sizes available from 1/16 to ⅞ ounce
- Holographic and super glow colors
- Hook Size: #10, #12, and #14
- Constructed from zinc
- Built-in fin
Pros
- Can be fished year around
- One-piece design nearly eliminates breakage
- High-end finishes at a reasonable price point
Cons
- Most models could use one size larger treble hook
Glide baits have taken the market by storm over the last few years. These lures were only known as ice fishing lures in the past, but we have since learned they work for walleye, bass, and any gamefish year around. With many models on the market, the Tikka Mino seems to have a slightly different action thanks to the all-zinc body.
The effectiveness of glide baits is widely known, as is their tendency to have the rear plastic fin to break off. The Tikka Mino solved this by molding the fin out of zinc and making it part of the main body. No tuning or breakage means better performance and less money spent. You can jig the Tikka vertically ice fishing style or cast it out and work it back. The latter method has been very successful for picking off fish in open water with forward-facing live sonar.
Best Cold-Water Crankbait: Rapala Husky Jerk
Key Features
- Lengths: 2 ½, 3 ⅛, 4, 4 ¾, and 5 ½ inches
- Running depths from 4 to 8 feet
- Weight: ⅛ to ⅝ ounce
- Suspends in cold water
- High quality VMC terminal and hooks
- Good color selection
Pros
- Suspends perfectly
- Reasonably priced
- Available in shallow and deep models in several sizes
- Runs true out of the box
Cons
- Quality construction, but basic finishes are not as eye-catching as many of the minnow baits on the market
Ask ten serious walleye anglers what their go-to crank is for cold water, and at least nine will say the Husky Jerk. Adding to its cred is that while many walleye lures only work well regionally, the Husky Jerk just seems to work everywhere and is in the tackle boxes of every walleye angler I know. Available in sizes from 2 ½ inches all the way to 5 ½ inches to cover nearly all situations. Additionally, there are three deep-diving sizes for trolling.
While the Husky Jerks action has caught plenty of fish in warm water, it excels in water less than 50 degrees because it perfectly suspends. Most suspending lures just slowly rise, but the Husky Jerk trully suspends and will not rise. The shallow divers cast well, and run true enough to slow troll or can be fished deeper compliments of a snap weight. Deep divers run true for trolling and just seem to work when other lures will not.
Best All-Around Crankbait: Reef Runner
Key Features
- Length: 4 ¾ inches
- Weight: ⅝ ounce
- Max diving depth: 28 ft
- Unique hunting action
- Curved banana style profile
- Works on almost all walleye waters
Pros
- Hundreds of colors available
- High landing percentage
- Bare naked color patterns work in gin-clear waters where other cranks will not
Cons
- They need to be tuned frequently due to their hunting action
The Reef Runner has to be one of the most imitated and copied lures of the last twenty years because of its ability to catch fish under a variety of conditions across the walleye belt. Many walleye anglers are surprised that the Reef Runner can be slow trolled at .8 mph during the cool water periods or effectively fished at speeds nearing 3 mph in the summer. It is one of the few lures that just always seems to work.
The curved body and lip design cause the bait to hunt, creating a built in bite triggering action that catches fish. However, this does come at a price, and the Reef Runner tune needs to be checked frequently. While the original 800 is the most popular, you can also buy a smaller 3 ½ inch version. Both sizes also are offered in a shallow model for casting or when less depth is needed.
Best Lipless Crankbait: Rapala Rippin Rap
Key Features
- Length: 2 ½, 2 ¾, and 3 inches
- Weight: 5 1/16, ½, and ⅞ ounce
- Large selection of colors
Pros
- Draws fish from a distance
- Fishes a variety of depths
- Can be cast out and worked or vertically jigged
- Large variety of sizes and colors
Cons
- Can be a hot or cold presentation
In order to make it to a list of best walleye lures it needs to work under a variety of conditions. Lipless cranks can be burned over a shallow flat or weed bed or slowly reeled and bounced over a deeper rocky bottom. The Rippin Rap is versatile enough to even be ice fished or fished vertically in open water. Additionally, the load rattles do wonders for calling fish in and getting bites in off-colored or dirty water. The huge selection of colors and variety of sizes allows you to find just the right one for almost any circumstance.
Things to Consider When Choosing One of the Best Walleye Lures
Some of the best walleye waters can be found in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs—primarily across the upper Midwest and the Dakotas. These greatly different bodies of water create the need for a variety of lures to be used. Current, water depth and temperature are all factors that cause our tackle bags to grow when walleye fishing.
While it is important to make sure you have an ample selection of colors in your jig selection it is maybe more important to have a variety of sizes. Having a weight heavy enough to be able to fish vertically in a river is extremely important, as is having one light enough to pitch along rip rap or a weed line. This philosophy is the same when compared to crankbaits or crawler harness sizes. Many days downsizing a crankbait or blade size just a touch is the difference between a fish fry and an empty cooler.
While most will admit it is fun to have all of the fancy colors and finishes, the right size and weight is what really makes the difference at the end of most days.
FAQs
Preferred colors for walleyes can greatly differ as you travel to different regions of the country. In lakes with dark water, colors such as gold or glow colors can excel, whereas colors such as purple and pink are considered the go-to in the cleaner waters of the great lakes. However, if I had to choose one combo, it would likely be chartreuse and orange as it works as consistently as anything. When the water color and forage change make sure you change your lure color with it.
Color preferences definitely change from lake to lake as does if you have a full moon or dark, cloudy night. One of the best things you can do to increase your night fishing odds is to have a lure that has good contrast. A dark back with light sides helps provide more contrast and make the target easier to pick up. Doctoring up the eyes with a little glow paint and maybe even a couple of small prism tape strips down the side never hurts either.
Bass anglers will definitely tell you that walleyes will hit spinnerbaits, but you can’t catch them on what you don’t throw. A spinnerbait looks like a dying baitfish and can easily be fished around heavy cover. For decades, anglers in Nebraska and the Dakotas have been quietly using spinnerbaits for walleyes. The difference is that they troll them on leadcore or braided line and fish them deeper than what a spinnerbait is traditionally fished.
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Final Thoughts
It is very easy to get locked into just one lure or presentation, but when you look at the most successful walleye guides and tournament anglers, they tend to have one thing in common, they don’t play favorites and are very good at a variety of tactics. Make sure to have a good selection of lures in a variety of categories to avoid finicky walleyes.
Some walleye anglers primarily only fish live bait, while others will only use artificial. In order to consistently catch fish through the seasons and with changes in weather, it is wise to make sure you have a good selection. In many cases the best walleye lures can be a delivery system for both. Jigs and crawler harnesses can be used effectively with either live bait or artificials and in some cases, both.
- Best Walleye Jig: Northland Fire-Ball Jig
- Best Spinner: Northland Baitfish Float’n Spin
- Best Glide Bait: Clam Tikka Mino
- Best Cold-Water Crankbait: Rapala Husky Jerk
- Best All-Around Crankbait: Reef Runner
- Best Lipless Crankbait: Rapala Rippin Rap