When the leaves start to turn and the cold north wind starts
to blow, you know it is time to pack up a few tools for fall
walleyes. The best tools that any angler can use are location,
presentation, organization, and versatility. Walleyes are
a structure oriented fish, most of the time. You might find
large schools on some Great Lakes that don't relate to specific
structure, but by and large they seek out structure. These
walleyes will be tight to the bottom, lying in the holes between
rock and cuts in the bottom. They may be feeding, or waiting
in ambush to find an easy meal that comes their way. When
fishing structure, you have to be able to stay tight to the
structure or your lure presentation will not be in the strike
zone of the fish. Move just a boat length away and you will
be out of luck It is important to understand that subtle changes
in water temperature, oxygen, bottom structure, shadow lines,
and similar factors make a significant difference in locating
fish. Fish tend to locate along transitional zones. The bottom
may change from sand to rock or from mud to weeds; a drop-off
may occur or slope into deep water; or water in one sector
may be a slightly different color. The most important transition
zones are the weeds. The weeds or vegetation may be the key
to successful angling. Many anglers think of rocks, sand,
drop-offs, and deep water when walleye fishing. But walleye
chasers are missing some good fishing if they aren’t poking
around in the weeds when they’re after walleyes, especially
during the fall months. Walleyes will make extensive use of
weed clumps if they’re available, and often the fish that
are in the weeds are looking for a meal, making them susceptible
to any type of offering. First of all, what type of weeds
will hold walleyes? Coontail will hold a few fish, and on
some lakes will be pretty good. But my favorite vegetation,
day in and day out, will be cabbage weed. Cabbage is abundant
on many bodies of water, and will also be the feeding grounds
for bass, northerns, muskies and panfish. I’ve found the best
weed beds for walleyes will be located at the edge of a drop-off
and extend over the flats into shallower water. At times the
fish will be down the drop-off a little, but frequently they
will be up on the flat right in the middle of the weeds. Fish
are wary. This helps them survive and can also make them difficult
to catch. They utilize their excellent senses of vision and
hearing, detect motion with unerring accuracy using their
lateral line, and also use their sense of smell. Therefore,
a cautious approach is required of an angler. With either
natural bait or artificial lures, the presentation must be
realistic. It should appear that the offering is part of the
normal food chain. Hunger is certainly a major motivating
factor, but fish also respond as predators and strike something
that moves. At times, they even exhibit antagonistic behavior
when biting an intruder to drive it away. The object is to
find specific structure that seems to be holding fish. With
a good depth finder like my BottomLine Tournament NCC 6800
I can identify inside turns, rock humps, and edges of weed
beds that hold fish. Backtrolling is something that I really
enjoy. Backtrolling will allow you to present your bait right
in front of the walleye's nose. In cold front conditions this
is essential. What you're trying to do is stay on a particular
depth, or contour, where it looks like the walleyes are holding.
If it's very windy I use my 15 H.P. Mercury and back into
the wind along current breaks. This slows down the bait and
gives the walleyes plenty of opportunity to decide if it is
something they would like to eat. If I hook a fish on an inside
turn, I quickly throw out a marker buoy and as soon as I am
done landing that fish I will move right back to that spot.
The thing to remember is if you catch one active walleye in
a spot there are probably a dozen or so walleyes in that same
spot. When I am on the water in autumn I tend to look for
funneled down areas, because it is a great place to look for
walleyes as they pass through in search of food. Necked down
areas, saddles between islands and land, narrows, and even
break lines are great places to begin looking for active walleyes
in the fall. Breaklines are areas where the floor of the lake
or river drop-off from shallow water to deeper water. The
breakline is a transitional area. Walleyes have a tendency
to move up into the shallows on cloudy, windy days or in the
evening and then slide back into the depths to rest. To catch
walleyes in a funnel area there are many presentations an
angler should consider. Lindy Little Joe spinners with a crawler
harness, or a Lindy rig are two great ways to start to look
for walleyes. Minnows are at an all time high in the fall
of the year and the offering that you provide for them should
be something different. Stick to crawlers and leeches or artificial
baits that resemble big minnows. The bigger the minnow bait
the more the walleyes will be interested in it. This time
of year walleyes want to fatten up for the upcoming winter
months and they look for the largest food source they can
swallow. When the particular structure is shallow don't hesitate
to use the slip bobber method.
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Attach a 1/8 ounce Fuzz-E-Grub and a minnow to your
slip bobber rig and allow the waves and wind to do the
vertical jigging for you. If those walleyes are biting
short, attach a stinger hook to your jig. Vertical jigging
is very popular, and the key to fishing a jig vertically
in current, is boat control. Work these areas over with
a controlled drift. The control comes from positioning
your boat sideways into the current and using your trolling
motors or a "drift sock" to slow down your drift and your
presentation. My favorite approach to fishing these active
fish is drifting. I like to drift through them using my
motor to slow down the speed of the drift. Many of you
who fish rivers and streams, might refer to this approach
as slipping the current, or a controlled drift. If I think
I am drifting too fast, I simply increase the throttle
and slow down my speed. This method is very effective
when fishing live bait rigs such as a Lindy Rig, or a
Little Joe Spinner. |
Drifting and backtrolling are the most efficient ways to
find walleyes on large shallow flats. Drift a jig-and-minnow
combination at the level of fish activity, based on a combination
of water clarity, wind, and sky conditions. In windswept lakes
with dingy water, active fish will be as shallow as 4 to 8
feet, and probing jigs might be less efficient than backtrolling.
The position, where I am in the boat helps me to stay with
that school of fish. I like to run a tiller powered boat because
it gives me the mobility, control and freedom to follow the
school and the structure that they are holding on. When looking
for the fall walleyes keep these tips in mind and you will
be enjoying the golden fall walleye along with the brilliant
colors of fall. For more information contact me on the web
at www.walleye.info.
Hope to see you on the water soon!
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