Some of the finest walleye fishing of the year takes place during the fall. The trick is to find the best action, and to match your presentation to the mood of the fish.
Fall walleye fishing can be extremely unpredictable but most sources will say that usually the poorest weather conditions will produce the largest fish. Most large fish caught in the fall are females. To nourish their developing eggs, the female walleye needs to consume large quantities of food.
Now let’s narrow down some areas we can start to concentrate on. First of all, these big females have to eat, right? They will move shallow in a lake or river to feed because that is where the prey fish have moved.
Lakes have a tendency to layer out, or “stratify.” In the fall, this would mean the depths of a lake are warmer than the shallows. The fall cycle of a lake allows the stratified layers to turn over and therefore the cooler water is on the shoreline.
Big walleyes will swim into the shallow waters to go on a feeding spree. If you are in the shallows when this takes place, hang onto the rod as you are about to catch some of the largest walleyes of your life.
As they get full, they may slide down to deeper parts of the lake, but again remember they have to eat and one place to start looking for big walleyes is shallow. How shallow? Sometimes in maybe six inches of water–just enough to cover them.
On Lake of the Woods, late summer and early fall patterns find big walleyes moving shallow enough for some fishermen to actually see them. The shallow water stays cool enough for big walleyes through the summer. If the walleyes can find boulders or other shallow water cover to provide shade, they may spend the summer at depths of 10 feet or less.
If this is the case, most anglers fish too deep.
In the fall, big fish like big baits. In fact, that is never truer than prior to ice-up. The water is cooling down rapidly and those fish won’t expend a great deal of energy on a snack. They want something substantial.
If the water is cooling off, the fish also are slowing down. They become sluggish and don’t want to chase all over the lake for food. They want something easy and a lot of it. So anglers must slow down their presentation to match the mood of the fish.
Walleyes can’t resist the slow wobble of a Rattlin’ Fat Rap, or the wide sweep of the thick Risto Rap. These large fat baits pulled slowly on long-line trolling techniques or cast into the shallows produce fish.
But don’t overlook a plump nightcrawler or a jumbo leech pulled behind a Rainbow Spinner. And just because the bait is big and plump doesn’t mean your hooks have to be gigantic. A small hook allows a walleye to swallow the bait without feeling anything unusual.
And a small hook will not break or pull out.
Most big walleyes are hooked under snag-free conditions so if you take your time and do not attempt to horse the fish, light line will do the job. Many times I will scale down my line from six-pound test XL to a four-pound test XT just to get a better feel, and allow the big walleyes as little resistance as possible.
Think about what time of day you would like to be on the water. Most of us would like to be there when the weather is sunny and bright. But the big walleyes don’t want to be around during high sunny skies. They would prefer the low-light conditions, or even the darkest night conditions to make their feeding run.
Monster walleyes are on most large bodies of water in this area. As the fall winds start to blow and you feel you would rather be back at home sitting by the fire, that is the time when monster walleyes are on the prowl.
Try these simple techniques and you will see the monsters that swim in your lake or river.
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