Fall Walleye Fishing Tips

Go big

By the time fall rolls around, all of the little fish that were born in the spring and summer have grown up a little. Because anglers should always use a lure that, at least, imitates the size of the primary forage, larger lures make sense in the fall. The other reason to use larger baits in the fall is because the walleyes are feeding heavily to get ready for winter and--female walleyes in particular--are eating so they can nourish the eggs growing in their bodies.

Imitate a minnow

When in doubt about what bait to use, it is never a bad idea to imitate their main prey. In the fall, that's minnows. And one of the best minnow imitators around is the crankbait, which is shaped like a minnow and can be painted to look like a minnow. You can cast and retrieve a crankbait, or troll it behind the boat. Whatever you do, don't move it too fast. Walleyes are feeding in the fall, but they're a little sluggish as the water cools down. Tie on a crankbait with a slow and wide wobble, which will appear to a walleye as an easy meal. If walleyes are suspended, cast or troll your crankbaits so they run at the same depth--or just above the depth--the walleyes are holding. If they are in shallow water, use a crankbait that dives a little deeper than the depth of water in which you are fishing. This will cause the crankbait to root around the bottom and act in an erratic fashion as you retrieve it.

Jigs are always good

A jig and piece of live bait is a fine choice anytime during the year, but especially in the fall when walleyes are congregated in specific areas. Those areas include sharp-sloping drop-offs, the edges of weeds, humps and reefs, and in any vegetation that is still green and giving off oxygen. Use a 1/4- to 3/8-ounce jig and tip it with a large minnow. Drag the jig and minnow along the bottom. Or, if you locate a school of walleyes, position the boat right over the top of them and drop the jig and minnow down into the school. Jig the lure in a vertical fashion to tempt these fish into biting.

Stay light

Given that anglers stand a good chance of catching a large walleye in the fall, and that they are using larger lures than they were using just a few weeks ago, it can be tempting for anglers to tie on heavier fishing line. But doing so is a mistake. Lures perform best on lighter line and in most instances, anglers should use 8-pound test fishing line during the fall. If they are trolling particularly large crankbaits or fishing around snags, anglers can go to 10- or 12-pound line, but the general rule is to use as light of line as you can get away with.