Mastering the basics is the first step towards consistent success in any persuit. When the subject is walleye fishing, live bait rigging is as basic as bread and water. Designed to catch structure orientated walleyes, the common forms of bottom rigging are the ideal methods for the early season angler.

As simple to use as they are deadly, bottom rigs and walleye fishing have seen a few new wrinkles in recent years. Like everything else in this modern world, rigging methods have been refined, improved and developed into better fish traps.

Split Shotting:

Simple and unsophisticated, an ordinary split shot pinched on the line a couple feet in front of a single hook constitutes a live bait rig. Crude by many standards, let there be no doubt split shot rigs have a time and place.

Tournament walleye professional Mike Theyerl, of Two Rivers Wisconsin uses split shot and other bottom rigs frequently. An ardent live bait fisherman, Theyerl spends most of his walleye fishing time working the bottom. Attitude is one of the keys to this tournament pros success.

"Having confidence in your presentation is important," states Theyerl matter-of-factly. "I fish for walleyes many ways, but my roots are deeply entrenched in the rigging movement. When things get tough, I go back to the basics and concentrate on the various bottom fishing methods I learned decades ago."

Theyerl uses a split shot rig with the kind of confidence a butcher uses a sharpening steel. A respected competitor on the professional tournament trail, Theyerl earned the nickname "Mr. Consistency" by playing the odds and using live bait rigs to his advantage.

"A split shot rig is one of my favorite methods for fishing live bait," explains Theyerl. "For one, they're easy to rig and effective. Secondly, a split shot rig doesn't need a lot of my attention to catch fish."

Theyerl routinely uses a split shot rig as his second line while fishing a different lure, bait or presentation with a primary rod. Known as dead rod fishing, the split shot rig is baited, casted out, placed in a rod holder and forgotten until a bucking rod tip signals that another walleye is ready to do battle.

"Fishing with a dead rod may seem like the lazy man's method, but actually it allows me the opportunity to experiment with two different presentations at the same time," explains Theyerl. "Zeroing in on walleyes is like sighting in a rifle. The hunter test fires his rifle at a target, adjusts his sights accordingly and fires again. The process of shooting test shots and making necessary adjustments continues until the bullet strikes the bulls eye. Trying different baits, lures, and presentations makes up the process of tempting walleyes into biting."

The split shot rig is a versatile fishing tool that fills an important niche in the bottom rigging scene. Many different bait and rigging options are available to the angler who fishes with split shots. Split shotting works when using leeches, crawlers and minnows as bait. At the business end, a single hook, two hook crawler harness or floating jighead are popular options.

"It's hard to fish a split shot rig wrong," adds Theyerl. "Ideally, the angler should use enough shot to keep the bait on bottom, but not so much that the rig snags up frequently."

Split shot rigs combined with dead rods work best when walleye are actively feeding. Because the rod is unattended much of the time, the fish must be aggressive enough to gobble down the bait and hook themselves. If the fish are in a finicky mood, they may pick up the bait, feel the weight of the split shot and drop the bait without the angler ever knowing he had a bite.

Longer steelhead style rods make the best split shotting tool. "The Quantum XL 8'-6" steelhead spinning rod is my choice for a dead rod," says Theyerl. "These long rods help me present my bait a little further from the boat. They also have a soft tip action that bends and twitches when a walleye picks up the bait.

Slip Sinker Rigs:

Finicky walleyes call for a rigging system that allows the fish to take the bait without feeling the weight. Enter slip sinker rigging stage left. This common rigging method has been a major part of walleye fishing for over three decades.

The common slip sinker rig consists of a walking style sinker, a small swivel or snap, short monofilament leader and a hook of some sort. Together this combination is deadly on walleye and other fish that frequent bottom structure.

Over the years the basic concept of slip sinker rigging hasn't changed much. The slip sinker weight keeps the bait on bottom while the bait gets pulled along. Meanwhile, the angler can feel strikes and feed line to the fish as necessary. The fish gets the bait, but doesn't feel the sinker weight until the angler reels in the slack and sets the hook.

Slip sinker rigging is a simple technique that's tough to improve upon. In some respects the original Lindy Rig is as successful today as it was 30 years ago. As with so many other aspects of fishing, this classic bottom rigging technique has been made more user friendly.

Northland Tackle provided one of the most important advancements in rigging when they introduced the Roach Rig. Designed and endorsed by Gary Roach (Mr. Walleye himself), the Roach Rig enables an angler to quickly adjust leader length without the time consuming process of cutting and tying.

A moveable sinker stop slides up and down the line with a little thumb pressure, allowing the angler to adjust leader length in seconds. In stained or off color waters, a short 18-24 inch leader is adequate. However, in clear water where walleyes are often spooky, a 36 to 60-inch snell is best. Use six or eight pound test line when rigging for best results.

The ability to easily adjust leader length is more incentive for anglers to experiment with this overlooked variable. An important aspect of rigging, leader length determines in part how far off bottom the bait rides, the action of live baits and in many cases the success or failure of this common fishing presentation.

When changing leader lengths, the rule of thumb is to start with a fairly short leader and go longer as conditions warrant. For all practical purposes, leader length should not exceed rod length.

The next logical step in the evolution of bottom rigs was to develop a convenient means of changing weights while fishing. When Quick Change Systems, a small company based in Pierre, South Dakota introduced their Sinker Clevice another break through in bottom rigging began.

A plastic device that threads on the line and accepts walking style sinkers via a small clip, the Quick Change Sinker Clevice enables anglers to change sinker weights without a second thought. Depending on fishing conditions, anglers can choose from 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 or one ounce rigging sinkers.

Changing weights enables the angler to effectively move from shallow to deep water and speed up his presentation while maintaining contact with bottom. A few of the Quick Change Sinker Clevices and some walking style sinkers in the common sizes are all the angler needs to get started using the Quick Change bottom rigging system.

The same Quick Change Sinker Clevice can be used to fish single arm bottom bouncers in snag filled waters. Rigging this way combines the virtues of a slip sinker and bottom bouncer into one walleye rig.

In place of a walking sinker, attach a single arm bottom bouncer to the sinker clevice. The bottom bouncer keeps the bait up off bottom and makes the rig more snag resistant. The ideal rigging method when fishing spinners, spin-n-glows and or other fast paced attractors, this simple set up enables the angler to feel the bite and feed the fish line if desired.

Slinky Drifters:

Another advancement in bottom rigging has been popular with steelhead and stream trout fishermen for years. Only recently have walleye anglers discovered the Slinky Drifter bottom rigging system.

More snag resistant than split shots, walking style sinkers and other bottom weights, the Slinky Drifter consists of a flexible length of nylon parachute cord filled with various sizes of lead shot. A special tool is used to hold open the parachute cord while lead balls are inserted. Once the correct amount of shot is stuffed into the hollow cord, a match or cigarette lighter is used to melt and seal the ends of the cord.

Once the ends of the weight are heat sealed, the wire end of a small snap swivel is pushed through one end of the woven parachute cord material and pinched shut. Now this unique bottom weight is ready to be rigged like a traditional slip sinker rig.

Simply thread the line from the rod through the swivel and add a small plastic bead. Next, tie on a small barrel swivel. Various length leaders can be attached to the opposite end of the barrel swivel and a wide variety of baits and attractors used to fool walleye.

This effective bottom rig can be backtrolled, drifted or casted to walleyes found in snag filled real estate. The flexible nature of the Slinky allows the weight to slide along the bottom and over obstructions that would eat up walking sinkers and split shots.

The Slinky Drifter shines best in rocky environments, but this rigging system is equally at home in weeds or flooded timber. When fishing heavy cover, it's a good idea to use a weed-less style single hook such as the Eagle Claw 249W. This wide shank hook features a thin wire weed-guard that helps prevent the hook from fouling on weeds, wood and other debris.

Slinky Drifters can be purchased pre-made and ready to fish in popular weights or the components purchased separately and custom sinkers built for specific needs. Three different sizes of lead balls (.180, .250 & .330) are available to build Slinky weights from 1/8 ounce to 1 3/4 ounces.

Custom Tied Leaders:

Many anglers enjoy tying their own leaders to be used as rigging snells. When tying walleye snells, stick with six or eight pound test line. I've found Stren Magna Thin the ideal line for rigging up walleyes. Thin in diameter yet strong, this new product was designed with walleye fishermen in mind.

The bait to be used determines the proper hook size. Crawlers, leeches and small minnows are best fished on a No. 4 or 2 baitholder style or other short shank hook. Although compact hooks are easier to hide in the bait, resist the temptation to use tiny No. 6 or 8 size hooks. These small hooks provide a poor hooking ratio and easily pull free when the fish thrashes at boat-side.

For fishing larger chub or sucker minnows, a No. 2 or 1 wire style Aberdeen hook provides more hook gap and a better hooking ratio. The thin wire these hooks are made from penetrates tissue and bone better than most hooks and can be bent out and retrieved if they snag bottom. Bent hooks can be quickly reshaped with a pair of pliers, touched up with a file, rebaited and put back into action.

All of these hooks can be easily snelled onto any length of monofilament. Begin by passing approximately one inch of monofilament through the eye of the hook. Pinch the line against the shank of the hook and use the loose end to wind 6-10 wraps of monofilament around the shank of the hook and the line passed through the hook eye. Once the wraps are in place, pinch them securely in place and pass the end of the leader through the hook shank from the opposite direction. Pull the snell up tight and add floats, beads, spinners or other attractors as needed before tying off the leader with a double loop knot.

Making your own leaders allows the angler to custom tie rigs built with top quality line, hooks, beads, floats, spinners and other attractors. Extra leaders can be made and stored on a small chunk of foam or cardboard.

Bottom rigging may not be a totally new and improved way to tempt walleyes, but a few new twists on some old tactics have made rigging a better way than ever to catch walleyes during spring. When in doubt, start with the basics and walleye fishing will seem like less of a mystery.