I here you on that Mike. When I'm doing these baits I like a softer rod tip and just give the rod a flick of the wrist. The tip loads but about all I am moving that bait is a foot maybe and I like dropping the bait back down on a tight line. Most of my hits come when the bait stops moving up or stops at the bottom of the drop.
Another interesting observation for me here where sauger can be found alongside the waldos is that the sauger can be hooked more at the top of the lift and the walleyes at the bottom. It almost seems like the sauger either will come up to and use water a foot or two off the bottom or they are chasing the bait up and hitting it. Walleyes are generally hitting right on or off the bottom.
Another approach the anglers up here use is to long-line them after a cast and move them just fast enough to allow them to swim just off bottom. Casting to shallow sand or over clam beds using this technique puts a lot of fish in boats here in the fall and spring.
