Fishing Shallow From Shore - What would you throw?

I'm trying to get into some walleyes from the rocks in my back yard. I know they are there as I have caught them at this time of year before. What should I throw?[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/rFvI6bDj6mg[/YOUTUBE]

How deep ?
If 8 feet or less I would try a cork with a worm.

Sophisticated. No.
Successful.. Yes.

I'd put on the lead split shot on the knot above the snapper and drop it to the bottom.
Attached would be a snelled number 2 hook with a worm on it and I'd inject the worm with a bit of air in its arse end in order for the bait to float up off the bottom.

Pull the line every now and again to show action.

Pour the adult social beveridge of choice (coffe, tea, rum etc).... and wait while you take in the sun and scenery sitting in the best lawnchair 5 bucks can get you at the Spring Canadian Tire Clearance sale.

At this point we are all fishing vicariously ... so let me know if you tried this and it worked or I will have to assume it was simply operator error if it doesn't

Fish a shiner below a float and you'll catch anything that's there, koke (minus maybe sunfish). We fish a spot from shore this time of year we call "the point". Cought some monster 'eyes like that.
If casting, twister tail and a jig. You might get a few on a rap, but the water's still cold. Odds might be better with the jig/soft plastic bumped along bottom.

Rapala shadow rap shad, the shallow running version, or a bucktail jig and thumper plastic. With the jig, try swimming it above the rocks instead of hopping it on bottom to avoid snags. I’d definitely also try a spinner (mepps, blue fox, panther martin) tipped with one of those compost crawlers you mentioned

Good luck

How deep ?
If 8 feet or less I would try a cork with a worm.

Sophisticated. No.
Successful.. Yes.

I'd put on the lead split shot on the knot above the snapper and drop it to the bottom.
Attached would be a snelled number 2 hook with a worm on it and I'd inject the worm with a bit of air in its arse end in order for the bait to float up off the bottom.

Pull the line every now and again to show action.

Pour the adult social beveridge of choice (coffe, tea, rum etc).... and wait while you take in the sun and scenery sitting in the best lawnchair 5 bucks can get you at the Spring Canadian Tire Clearance sale.

At this point we are all fishing vicariously ... so let me know if you tried this and it worked or I will have to assume it was simply operator error if it doesn't

I like the sound of this method. I got my hands on some worms now I just need to dig up the worm blower. My dad used to use the blown up worm method quite a bit.

How well do the shiners hold up to casting? I got out in my canoe the other day and the water was 49-50 F - pretty chilly.

Last year I caught a few on a leech under a bobber.

How well do the shiners hold up to casting? I got out in my canoe the other day and the water was 49-50 F - pretty chilly.

Last year I caught a few on a leech under a bobber.

They should hold up just fine..

just don't do super long casts and splat them in the water


my preferred way in shore fishing

I have seen first hand the worm tipped Mepps just slay a school of 1 to 1.5 lb smallies ..

Working it carefully from shore in and around the rock piles would be worth it... I'd try that one for sure.

A bunch of years back on a Kawartha lake, we’d fish from shore using a Rapala minnow lure. Always did well.
Lure was similar to the one in this photo

I grew up shore fishing Sunset Park, First Rocky and Lavase. I swear by the pickerel rig. Hook up a minnow on one and a leech of the other. A good bell sinker on the bottom. Cast out and tip your rod straight up and take all the slack out of the line (harder to do when there's waves).

You'll see every nibble. The trick will be when to set the hook.

How well do the shiners hold up to casting? I got out in my canoe the other day and the water was 49-50 F - pretty chilly.

Last year I caught a few on a leech under a bobber.

They hold up pretty good, but we don't use emeralds. You need an open spot to swing the rod free of obstruction. A soft tip and line that comes off the spool easy helps.. if you try to snap or whip it out there you'll start losing minnows off the hook. Baiting through the head puts less stress on the minnow on retrieves but I prefer through the tail (just bring them in slow if redeploying).
If you have to throw it out there pretty good to be on fish, a slip float or no float at all might be best. A balsa float attached to fishing line does not have good ballistics lol

I find this time of year minnows work best, but with the temps we are getting this week who knows. They might switch to worms quick.

Good rule of thumb we've used over the years...is once you see clouds of insects particularly clouds of midges (some of which are the small annoying insects that seem to cluster around your head and face)...its usually time to switch to or at least start using worms regularly in your arsenal of live bait.

Many insects including many types of midges, caddisflies, dragonflies, mayflies etc have an aquatic larval stage. Once the water warms to a certain temperature and enough hours of sunlight penetrate, various aquatic insect larvae leave for the surface to transform into their adult flying and breeding phase. As insect larvae start moving through and appearing in greater numbers in the water column, fish are conditioned to switch and start feeding regularly on these larvae...and other wiggling invertebrates they're finding and seeing more often now.
Slow moving, crawling, wiggling prey, that can't easily escape, is exactly what many fish species are looking for at this point in the season. Invertebrates hatching out of the sediment and aquatic larvae are an easy meal for fish...very little energy needs to be expended to catch and consume them. The low hanging fruit on the tree, so to speak.
The may fly hatch later in the summer is a hyper drive example of this type of conditioned fish feeding behaviour. Millions of may fly larvae wiggle for the surface, simultaneously, hopefull that some will escape and emerge as terrestrial adults, avoiding predation from fish gorging on them at and below the surface.
So as a angler, I keep a watchful eye on the surface of the water for the first spring signs of hatching insects, discarded larval cases, clouds of insects visible in the air and even insect eating birds feasting in the air or along the shoreline...all these provide an indication I could start relying on worms, even leeches, as a possible live bait option. Unfortunately, windy conditions can make this insect detection a bit more difficult at times.
Minnows, as bait, will still catch lots of fish...all summer in fact...but many fish species sense the easiest meal is that wiggling creature, worm or leech they're seeing more often now moving in and through the water column.
Rising or dropping lake water temps can be a good general indicator when to start and stop using worms as bait...but water temps can sometimes vary across the same lake body...depending on wind movement, location and the depth of the water you're fishing.
The initial presence of insects appearing in and around the water can be a good indicator when to start using worms regularly, as a 'go to' live bait option.

We traditionally use large shiners from opener through the dragonfly hatch, which preceeds the may fly hatch here by about a week. Some years we don't catch many (shiners) or unseasonably warm weather makes them hard to manage and we have to break out the worms early. Sometimes they work, somerimes they don't.
I've always read about trying to "match the hatch" when the mayflies are on. I've tried small soft plastics, worms, even micro crankbaits that wiggle through the water. I always go back to a small minnow on a go-getter. It's all I seem to catch them on. Once the mayflies are done and the cabbage becomes a little more prevalent we find there's a switch. The larger breeding females vacate the shallows and we go from fishing the shorelines to weedlines along deeper water. Often we lose the 'eyes for about a week. By the time we are back on them worms are the go-to.

I caught some nice golden shiners on the weekend. I had contemplated putting them in the fridge, but at the time the forecast was for highs in the low 20's all week. Sadly wih this heat, I don't think they'll last.

I've been nailing them this spring from shore around 9-10pm just casting black and silver Rapala shad raps. The model I use has a swim depth of 5-11 ft.

I usually use a pickerel rig with minnows from 8-9pm but after sunset the fish seem to come in very close to shore so the crank bait is nice for covering more area.

In the last week I've caught 2 keepers (19", 19.5") and released probably a dozen or more in the 15"-17". Most of them between 9:30pm - 10:00pm.

The shad rap has been catching more fish than minnows and worms on a rig.

If you can find a spot that transitions from a sandy bottom to the rock, that transition is where you'll find the fish. The shore fishing is at it's best right now, another week +/- and it'll be over once the water warms a bit more.

Once you cast out the crank bait, rip it a few times to get it down deep and then a slow retrieval mixed with quick jerks has been the ticket.

Goodluck!

Good rule of thumb we've used over the years...is once you see clouds of insects particularly clouds of midges (some of which are the small annoying insects that seem to cluster around your head and face)...its usually time to switch to or at least start using worms regularly in your arsenal of live bait.

Many insects including many types of midges, caddisflies, dragonflies, mayflies etc have an aquatic larval stage. Once the water warms to a certain temperature and enough hours of sunlight penetrate, various aquatic insect larvae leave for the surface to transform into their adult flying and breeding phase. As insect larvae start moving through and appearing in greater numbers in the water column, fish are conditioned to switch and start feeding regularly on these larvae...and other wiggling invertebrates they're finding and seeing more often now.
Slow moving, crawling, wiggling prey, that can't easily escape, is exactly what many fish species are looking for at this point in the season. Invertebrates hatching out of the sediment and aquatic larvae are an easy meal for fish...very little energy needs to be expended to catch and consume them. The low hanging fruit on the tree, so to speak.
The may fly hatch later in the summer is a hyper drive example of this type of conditioned fish feeding behaviour. Millions of may fly larvae wiggle for the surface, simultaneously, hopefull that some will escape and emerge as terrestrial adults, avoiding predation from fish gorging on them at and below the surface.
So as a angler, I keep a watchful eye on the surface of the water for the first spring signs of hatching insects, discarded larval cases, clouds of insects visible in the air and even insect eating birds feasting in the air or along the shoreline...all these provide an indication I could start relying on worms, even leeches, as a possible live bait option. Unfortunately, windy conditions can make this insect detection a bit more difficult at times.
Minnows, as bait, will still catch lots of fish...all summer in fact...but many fish species sense the easiest meal is that wiggling creature, worm or leech they're seeing more often now moving in and through the water column.
Rising or dropping lake water temps can be a good general indicator when to start and stop using worms as bait...but water temps can sometimes vary across the same lake body...depending on wind movement, location and the depth of the water you're fishing.
The initial presence of insects appearing in and around the water can be a good indicator when to start using worms regularly, as a 'go to' live bait option.

That is some solid worm wisdom, Grumpa. I managed to get my hands on both leeches and worms so hopefully I can get out and put this wisdom to work.