It doesn’t matter where you’re fishing for walleye, they always have one thing in common. They are easily one of the best tasting fish found in North America. With white meat that’s firm and has a mild taste, walleye is easily among America’s favorite fish. Found in cool clean Lakes across most of the United States walleye are easily one of my favorite fish. But How do you catch walleye in lakes and reservoirs?
To Catch walleye in lakes and reservoirs you’re going to want to stick to structure. Walleye hold along underwater humps, reefs, and drop-offs. If you can find underwater structure with good circulation you’ll probably find walleye. Rig up a slip bobber and a night crawler to fish right off the bottom for walleye.
Where To Find Walleye?
Walleye are traditionally deep water fish that love to hug the bottom of lakes and reservoirs. That being said they’ll frequently feed in the shallows if conditions are right. where you should fish for walleye is really going to depend on the light penetration in the Watch her. Since wall I don’t like bright sunlight they’ll only go into the shallows on overcast days or at night. The only other time you’re going to find walleye in shallow water is when there’s extremely heavy weed growth that provides shade.
How to Fish For Walleye in Lakes and Reservoirs
To fish for Lake walleye you’re going to want to stick to the structures. Keep an eye out for deep areas along underwater humps, reefs and drop-offs. Especially look out for underwater structure that includes rocks and sand. It needs to have good circulation that provides a steady current of bait fish. You’ll most likely never find walleye in bays and coves that are protected from the surf.
Walleye Rig Setups
There isn’t a lot that goes into setting up a walleye rig. All you want to use is a basic slip bobber baited with a large nightcrawler or minnow. Try to adjust the bobber so that the bait is suspended just above the bottom.You can also try casting shallow areas with jigs tipped with live minnows. If you start getting bombarded by smaller perch you might want to switch to artificial worms. You’ll probably still get the bites, but you won’t spend as much time rerigging nightcrawlers.
Other Walleye Lures
Crankbaits
When I’m not having any luck using a traditional nightcrawler or minnow setup I’ll switch to crankbaits. Most of the time I’ll either pull out my Cotton Cordell Wally Diver or Rapala Shad Rap. Walleye are a bit lure shy so keep your action controlled or slowly troll the shallows.
Spoons
Trolling spoons is an extremely effective way to catch walleyes. I’ve had a lot of luck throwing out a Strike King Sexy Flutter Spoon to attract walleye. By far the hardest part about fishing spoons is getting them down far enough. Normally I’ll rig it up using a in line sink with an increased length leader to pull it down.
Best Time To Fish For Walleye
Since walleye hate being caught out in the sunlight you’re going to want to fish for them during dawn, dusk and late at night. Unless you’re an expert fisherman you probably won’t have a lot of luck catching walleye during the day when they’re in the deeper water. There are just too many variables that can go wrong. When the Sun Goes Down look for shallow water that has a gravel or rock bottom and heavy surf. Your best bet is going to be to look for rock piles, natural reefs, Islands and steep sloping Shores. These spots are going to give you the best chance of landing a trophy walleye.
When do Walleye Spawn?
Most of the time while I will start their spawn when the water temperature reaches 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the recent weather it could be a few degrees lower or higher than 45. if you’re a beginner the spawn is going to be the best time to practice your walleye techniques. just make sure you check your local laws because some states close the season during the walleye spawn.
Summer Walleye Fishing
During the summer you’re going to want to fish for walleye long weed lines and midlake structure. Both of these options are going to require a boat to fish them effectively. Fish the weeds are going to want to cast a small jig tipped with a minnow right into the edge of the weeds then swim it out. You’re trying to entice a while I am out of cover to take your bait. make sure you pay attention to areas with thinning weeds and sharp bends.
How To Fish Deep Structure
Fishing deep structure is better left to experienced fisherman. As much as I hate to say it it really is going to be just like a needle in a haystack. Your best bet is going to be to stay on the move until you find a good piece of structure. whenever you see a large group of boats clustered in a small area it probably means that there’s productive structure below. Go there and try drifting a Nightcrawler and see whats fighting. make sure you move up one to bother boats and let out enough line to drag the night crawl across the bottom.
How To Tell if You Have a Bite
Walleye are one of the few fish that I hate teach new fisherman how to handle. For some reason inexperienced Anglers just can’t get the feel for walleye. it isn’t going to feel like you’re basic bass strike, it’ll be more like a small bluegill. You should be able to feel a slight bump in your line that indicates a nibble. whenever you feel a tap in your line you’re going to want to release the line to allow the fish to swim off. After a half minute or so you’re going to want to real up the slack and set the hook.
Try Throwing Out a Floating Marker
As you start to figure out deep structure it’s always a good idea to have a floating marker ready. Whenever you feel a bite throughout the marker and come back to the spot after you’ve landed the fish. Walleye swim in schools and there’s most likely a ton of other fish in that same area. you have to wait a little while to set your hook so you might as well toss out a marker. I probably catch three times the amount of fish that I did before I started religiously tossing out markers.
Other Beginners Tips
If your an absolute beginner you should try out these two simple approaches to walleye fishing.
Fish Rocky Shoreline: Try and find rocky shoreline that quickly slips down into deeper water. You can almost always find this type of structure around manmade islands and barriers. Fish around this type of structure from dusk until midnight.
Cast into The Waves: Whenever you start to see strong wind making giant waves at shore throw out your walleye crankbait. The waves really kick up the mud making the water dirty which brings the walleye out to feed. You never know when the waves are going to slow down so I like to cover a lot of water fast using my Rapala Shad Rap.