What is a meat rig?

A meat rig is another name for the crawler harness which many anglers believe is one of the most effective baits to use when catching Walleye.  This is an excellent rig to use when the Walleye’s are lazy and an extremely slowly trolled presentation of live bait is required.  Crawler harnesses can be purchased already assembled at any bait and tackle shop but a lot of fishermen prefer to make their own.  The harness consists of fishing line, spinning blades, small beads, and your hooks.  The harnesses are popular for trolling primarily in the late summer when the Walleye have gone deep.  When choosing or making your crawler harness, it’s important to know that there are different types of blades and they give off different vibrations.  Using a larger blade will result in a slower spin and a noisier vibration which is the perfect choice if the water is murky or muddy.  A narrow blade will spin easier and will vibrate at a higher frequency than blades that are more rounded.  The spinning blades emulate the flash that tricks the Walleye into thinking it’s a running baitfish.  Your beads can be either plastic or glass and in some cases, color choice can be important.