walleye?

[rodrick williams]

never went walleye or sauger fishing before? can someone give me a vivid detailed point of view?

[buckwheat]

i dont know much about walleye but im prutty shure they like it slower than bass like it

[Chode2235]

I do a fair bit of walleye fishing, what do you want to know besides the stuff that can be found on google?  They are a funny fish, thats probably why I like them.  Sometimes they just jump in the boat, other times theyre near impossible to catch.  

I like to use live bait on a jig head or lindy rig.  Water temp, and drop offs are key.  Surely you have pulled up one or two on a texas rigged worm before or when youre crankin the wall?  Those are good places to fish for a walleye.  Trolling is pretty efficient, and my preferred method.  Drift and troll, slow.  Keep the bait in front of the fish

Oh, theyre delicious too.

[rocknfish9001]

Okay, everybody will tell you to use livebait. Minnows, leeches, crawlers, and so on. Im not saying that this isnt effective, im just saying its not always the best way. For starters, look up walleye articles on in-fisherman. They have some great articles on using artificials, which is what i encourage. Now if your fishing a river, i suggest starting with artificials. Use 4-5 inch grubs, with a jighead matching the current. 1/4 oz should be fine, because the walleyes usually hang out in reduced current. Also, try huskey jerks, and smithwick rouges. Key areas include any area of reduced current, wether caused by bridges (where i caught my pb @ 10 lbs.) dams, wings, humps, etc. But a good place to catch lots of fish is around corners, where the water is calmer. Use everything with a steady retrieve. Do fancy jigging, jerking, snapping, etc, and you wont be catching walleyes. Use the current to work your lures as well. Cast upstream and let them drift, then steadily retrieve them back to the boat/shore. Slower isnt always better, but its a good place to start.

Now lets talk about lakes. They key to finding walleye is structure, and baitfish. Both are equally important. Early and through the summer, walleyes will be around  mid depth humps, drops, and points, usually 10-15 feet deep, and with a gradual incline. Always start fishing the windy side first. By the end of summer, through fall and winter, target deeper around 20-25 feet and steeper drops and ledges. Start your approach by locating fish. This is where live bait comes into play. Get a bottom bouncer that matches your depth, and use a leader between 6-7 feet. Use a spinner and harness with about 1/2 a crawler. Troll as slow as you can go. 2 mph is more than fast enough. You can even use the wind to push you instead of your motor. Now you WILL catch fish this way, and once you locate some, anchor down or use your trolling motor to cover the area with grubs, swimbaits, and ringworms. And remember to keep rod action to a minimum. Now walleyes live in rocks and sand, so keep away from the weedy flats, thats bass territory. You will find these fish in lots of snags too, usually rock piles. Just a sidenote, my 4 biggest walleyes have come on artificials. 3 on hardbaits, 1 on a swimbait. (6.5, 7, 7.5, and 10 lbs) Walleyes dont usually hit livebait too hard, and feels like a snag that you can move on the fight. They tire quick and fight deep. But dont be surprised if you hook into a fighter. Hope this is what you were looking for.

[boondocks]

Good post Rocknfish. Although I'm gonna have to disagree with one point. Thats the one about walleyes not being in weeds. Weeds are actually an excellent place to find walleyes under the right circumstances. If the baitfish are in the weeds, and they usually are, the walleyes won't be far behind. I do probably 50% of my walleye fishing in the weeds and flooded timber. Not so much in rivers, but in natural lakes you WILL find walleyes in the weeds. If you are fishing natural lakes or impoundments, never overlook the weeds.

[mjhutch1116]

I will have to agree with boondocks, I fish for walleyes quite a bit and the majority of my fishing is done in and around weed beds.  I usually use rat-l-traps, or erie-dearies with nightcrawlers, baits like that various crankbaits and just about anything that you would fish the weeds for bass with will also catch walleyes, in most of my experiences the walleyes that are in the grass are actively feeding and will hit the baits very hard and fight very well.  There has been many occasions where a fish hit my bait and just by the force and power of the strike I was convinced that I had a pike or a nice bass and it turned out to be a walleye.  Never overlook the weeds there is almost always walleyes in or around the weeds.

Matt

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Okay, everybody will tell you to use livebait. Minnows, leeches, crawlers, and so on. Im not saying that this isnt effective, im just saying its not always the best way. For starters, look up walleye articles on in-fisherman. They have some great articles on using artificials, which is what i encourage. Now if your fishing a river, i suggest starting with artificials. Use 4-5 inch grubs, with a jighead matching the current. 1/4 oz should be fine, because the walleyes usually hang out in reduced current. Also, try huskey jerks, and smithwick rouges. Key areas include any area of reduced current, wether caused by bridges (where i caught my pb @ 10 lbs.) dams, wings, humps, etc. But a good place to catch lots of fish is around corners, where the water is calmer. Use everything with a steady retrieve. Do fancy jigging, jerking, snapping, etc, and you wont be catching walleyes. Use the current to work your lures as well. Cast upstream and let them drift, then steadily retrieve them back to the boat/shore. Slower isnt always better, but its a good place to start.

Now lets talk about lakes. They key to finding walleye is structure, and baitfish. Both are equally important. Early and through the summer, walleyes will be around mid depth humps, drops, and points, usually 10-15 feet deep, and with a gradual incline. Always start fishing the windy side first. By the end of summer, through fall and winter, target deeper around 20-25 feet and steeper drops and ledges. Start your approach by locating fish. This is where live bait comes into play. Get a bottom bouncer that matches your depth, and use a leader between 6-7 feet. Use a spinner and harness with about 1/2 a crawler. Troll as slow as you can go. 2 mph is more than fast enough. You can even use the wind to push you instead of your motor. Now you WILL catch fish this way, and once you locate some, anchor down or use your trolling motor to cover the area with grubs, swimbaits, and ringworms. And remember to keep rod action to a minimum. Now walleyes live in rocks and sand, so keep away from the weedy flats, thats bass territory. You will find these fish in lots of snags too, usually rock piles. Just a sidenote, my 4 biggest walleyes have come on artificials. 3 on hardbaits, 1 on a swimbait. (6.5, 7, 7.5, and 10 lbs) Walleyes dont usually hit livebait too hard, and feels like a snag that you can move on the fight. They tire quick and fight deep. But dont be surprised if you hook into a fighter. Hope this is what you were looking for.

Look up some of this kid's pics....Seems to know what he is talking about.

Wayne

[martijw]

Jigs are the way to go.  If you fish in current launch it about 45 degrees up stream and let it flow naturally down.  Once it passes your position about 30 degrees or so bounce (jig) it back in (if you dont have rocky and snaggy bottoms).  Otherwise reel it in quicklike and hope for no snags.  

To add on about weeds, dont over look tree stumps and rootseither.  Get myself a nice eye up in the stumps every now and then too.  The stumps and roots retain heat... Pretty darn sure that helps with most fish though.

[56 crestliner]

I will have to agree with boondocks, I fish for walleyes quite a bit and the majority of my fishing is done in and around weed beds. I usually use rat-l-traps, or erie-dearies with nightcrawlers, baits like that various crankbaits and just about anything that you would fish the weeds for bass with will also catch walleyes, in most of my experiences the walleyes that are in the grass are actively feeding and will hit the baits very hard and fight very well. There has been many occasions where a fish hit my bait and just by the force and power of the strike I was convinced that I had a pike or a nice bass and it turned out to be a walleye. Never overlook the weeds there is almost always walleyes in or around the weeds.

Matt

Wow, you use erie deries, i live near thefactory that makes them, i always thought they were just local to mother erie;

Anyway, trolling spoons is popular around here and also tipping an erie derie with a night crawler and drifting it.

[T-rig]

Here's a zander, the european cousin of the walleye, that i caught while bass fishing on a t-rigged craw.

[bass109]

amazing fish, not everyday you see a zander. 8-)

[future pro]

i would have to say jigs are very efficient, you can use them tipped with minnows too, fish around weed beds in early mornings and evenings, caught my pb on a crawler slip bobbering around weed beds one evening before a storm, also an area of flood timber in a canyon i fish seems to have a lot of hawgs pulled out of it too

[Bronze12]

Just saw this thread and had to chime in.  All the suggestions on here are great and should give you a great idea on where to start.  A couple points I picked up on and wanted to elaborate on: livebait vs artificial and the cover/stucture to find.

Rocknfish had some very good points.  Most walleye anglers are going to suggest live bait and in my experience, live bait will out-fish artificials a majority of the time.  But, there are plenty of fish to be had on both live bait and artificials.  I like to use the artificials more often because, for me, it is much more fun.  For someone just getting into walleye fishing, I would recommend one of many livebait rigs.  In most instances, I feel this has a better chance of bringing in fish.  I have had seen more quality fish come on artificials though.  I would have to put my top 10 walleye on artificials (this could be because I use artificials about 10 times more than I use live bait).  Grubs and swimbaits are definately a great place to start and don't be afraid to go big.  

Structure and cover is a whole other ball game and depends largely on the water you are fishing.  On big lakes and reservoirs, walleye relate more to baitfish and changes in contour in my experience.  On smaller bodies of water, finding a pair of encouraging structure has been my best bet.  My favorite is rock or sand directly adjacent to a large patch of vegetation.  I will always start fishing the wind-beaten side of the lake or structure too if I know the wind has been blowing for a solid day or two.  And on rivers, well, I have very little experience with walleye on rivers and will leave that to the more experienced anglers.  

Just my (quick) 2 cents; right or wrong