Best lure for 15'-20' water?

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

So here's my predicament. For the past 2 years, 3 coming up this June, I've taken a long weekend fishing trip with my uncle and brother up to Tippy Dam in the upper part of Michigan's LP. The place has great fishing and the past few years we've been slaying the pike, bass and perch....but I still have yet to land a walleye up there.

The real issue is that the lake above the dam, which we fish, is basically a flooded valley. The shoreline has an extremely steep decent, which can making picking a lure hard. In the past, we've been using Gary Yamamoto senko worms rigged up so they're weedless (as to not catch the old tree stumps that are all over the bottom). Usually rigged like this:

This works great in the 15-20 feet or so from the shoreline where it's like 10'-15' deep. The real issue is the middle. At some points the middle can be a crazy 50'+. Most of my tackle is meant for the lakes I fish here around SE Michigan. Usually 5-10' diving Rapalas or floating Rapalas, poppers and such. What I can't figure out is how to get to those deeper areas. Other than throwing the worms out there and letting them sink, I don't really have any other bait that can reach that far.

So -- tips? Suggestions?

I'm currently looking at some deep-diving crankbaits that go down to 20-30 feet like this Rapala Deep Tail Dancer:
Rapala Deep Tail Dancer | Bass Pro Shops

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Just ordered a couple of those deep tail dancer lures. Cabelas had them on sale for $8. I got one of the 20' deep and and one of the 30' deep diving; color for both is Blue Flash

But I'm still open for suggestions. I figured I'd try these out this year and see how they do. If they work, maybe order some more colors. I ordered this particular color because the white/silver lures we have seem to work the best every year in this water during spring.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Drop shot? Jigging spoons?

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Just ordered a couple of those deep tail dancer lures. Cabelas had them on sale for $8. I got one of the 20' deep and and one of the 30' deep diving; color for both is Blue Flash

But I'm still open for suggestions. I figured I'd try these out this year and see how they do. If they work, maybe order some more colors. I ordered this particular color because the white/silver lures we have seem to work the best every year in this water during spring.

As far as colors go, "match the hatch."

I love the silver with blue back in a lot of the lakes around here because they are full of blue back herring. Then I also like silver with the black back to match the shad. Both work great.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Spoons, haven't even thought of spoons. I have a few too. Never fished with them much, but maybe I'll give them a try.

I went fishing after work today, tried to catch some brown trout -- no luck. The bastards were jumping all over the river but weren't hitting anything I threw at them. The one time I've ever wanted a fly rod.

 

[DHoey]

Dropshotting or vertical jigging with a football head and grub

 

[handicappers]

Since you said the ledge drops off pretty steep and that there is cover, try rigging up a drop shot.

But instead of a drop shot weight at the end of your line, try using a "stand up jig head" that has at least a 3/0 hook and put a plastic crawdad or creature bait on said hook.

That will give you two baits, one dragging the bottom and the other about 12-18 inches from bottom.

 

[NE1tm2nv]

If you're trolling, get setup with lead core.

Tough to beat this combo.



Cabela's DepthMaster® III/DepthMaster Trolling Combo : Cabela's

 

[NE1tm2nv]

I like fishing with Berkley flicker shad. Berkley came out with a new pro series last year, the pro series has more flash and color.

If you use 10lb. fireline these lures will get down to 17'.

Caught a master angler walleye last year with this one:

 

[JuiceTheGator]

Saltwater? I'd go with a live kitten.