“Catching Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Crappie and Muskie with Greg Haut”

Part 3: The Syclops Catches Walleye and Northern Pike

Editor’s Note: Greg Haut of Waukesha, Wisconsin, tournament bass fisherman, also guides in central Wisconsin for bass, walleye, northern pike, crappie and the occasional muskie. “I guide for any species my clients want to catch,” Haut says.

Question: Greg, you said you fish for walleye. What baits do you use to catch walleye?

Haut: I use the Mepps Syclops because it mimics a large perch. I use a No. 2 and a No. 3 Syclops, generally switching bait sizes throughout the day. The Syclops moves through the weeds really well, and it has a different action than any other bait I’ve ever seen. I prefer the Syclops because it has a red indicator on the back of the bait, which causes the walleye to react. On many of my other baits, I have to change my hooks to red hooks. But with the Syclops, I don’t have to change the hooks because it has the red indicator on it. The Syclops is ready to fish when you first take it out of the package.

Question: How do you catch the walleye on the Syclops?

Haut: I cast it out, count it down and retrieve it back to the boat slowly. By counting the bait down, I can determine at what depth the walleye are holding. Once I start catching walleye, I’ll fish the Syclops at that depth for the rest of the day. Most of the time I like to fish the Syclops near the bottom. I’ll let it fall to the bottom, jig it up once or twice, allow it to fall back to the bottom, let it lie on the bottom for 2 to 3 seconds and hop it up off the bottom again. I fish it much like you’ll fish a jigging minnow or a chatter bait on the bottom. I’ve found that the walleye take the Syclops on the fall.

Question: How big are the walleyes you catch?

Haut: The last weekend in August, my clients and I kept six walleyes. Three of the walleye were 24 inches, two were 20 inches and one was 19 inches. That 24-inch walleye weighed from 5- to 5-1/2-pounds.

Question: When you’re fishing the Syclops for northern pike, do you vary your retrieve?

Haut: Yes, I do. I only let the Syclops sink down about 2 or 3 feet and then reel it in on a steady retrieve. When I fish for northern pikes, I fish the Syclops close to the surface. When I’m fishing for walleye, I fish closer to the bottom. When I’m hunting northern pikes, I’m looking for weed edges or fishing above the edge of a 10-foot drop about 2 to 3 feet down from the surface. When I’m fishing for walleyes, especially on Beaver Dam Lake, I fish really deep and try to keep the Syclops right on the mud line.

Question: What pound-test line do you use when fishing for walleye or northern pike?

Haut: I’m still fishing with the 15-pound-test Berkley Big Game line. I’ll usually be fishing a Shimano Curado CU200 reel on 7-foot, 6-inch medium-heavy action Bass Pro Shops XPS rod with a fast tip.

Question: What’s the percentage of people you take fishing who want to fish for walleye instead of bass?

Haut: Most people want to fish for bass. I do quite a bit of muskie guiding, and occasionally I’ll have a walleye fishing trip. But most people just want to catch fish and prefer to catch bass. Usually in a day of fishing, we’ll catch bass, walleye, northern pike and an occasional muskie. When I’m fishing for walleyes, I want to fish the kind of day no one wants to fish – windy, rainy and cold days – the best weather for walleye fishing. The heavier the wind, the better my odds for catching walleye. If I have a calm, sunny day, I prefer to fish for bass using a flipping tactic. You can catch northern pikes at any time. I don’t think the weather bothers them as much as it does other species of fish.

To fish with Greg Haut, call (262) 385-2245, email greg@thehautdoors.com, or visit www.thehautdoors.com.