Minnows.
What is the best time of day to catch walleye?
Generally, the best time to fish for Walleye is early morning and late evening. When the sun is high at midday, Walleye move deeper and hold tightly to shade providing Cover. During periods of low light however, Walleye will move in shallow to feed on baitfish holding close to shore.
What attracts walleye fish?
From spring to fall, the mouth of a tributary and the surrounding water attracts walleye. Rocky points and sand bars often hold fish. They act as highways for walleye moving from deep resting areas to shallow, feeding spots. Humps are classic walleye structure.
What is a walleyes favorite food?
They prefer small fish and will eat crustaceans, worms and insects. Try fishing from sundown to midnight, particularly during the heat of summer. Use bait, spinnerbaits, spoons, crankbaits, jerkbaits, ice jigs as well as plastic worms and grubs. Trolling is often a very effective way to fish for these tasty fish.
What colors do walleye see best?
Walleyes also possess color vision, based on analysis of the structure of the light-sensitive cones. Scientists tell us walleyes should see red, orange, and yellow the best, followed by green. Theory also suggests walleyes see blue and violet less well, and these colors may even appear black.
What size hooks for walleye?
The best all around hook size for walleye fishing is a size 2 to 6 single hook, or a size 8 to 10 treble hook. In some cases it’s better to use smaller hook sizes, since walleye can be shy biters in lakes with a lot of fishing pressure, and often respond better to smaller finesse presentations.
What is the best depth to fish for walleye?
On clear lakes, the best depths are usually in the 10-foot to 20-foot range. However, fish movement does vary and depths as shallow as 2 feet and deeper than 20 feet can often be very productive as well. Live bait is most often used on tip-ups.
What depth do walleye feed at?
The depth at which to ice fish for walleye depends on the time of day, and whether it’s early, late, or mid winter. At midwinter they are often found in 30-40 ft. deep water around noon, while towards evening they move into more shallow water of about 10-25 feet to feed on schooling bait fish during the night.
What do walleye eat in rivers?
DIET: Juvenile walleye feed on invertebrates and small fish. Adult walleye feed mostly on fish such as yellow perch and minnows, but dozens of fish species have been found in walleye stomachs. Adults will also feed on crayfish, snails, frogs, mudpuppies and small mammals when fish and insects are scarce.
Does lure size matter?
Decreasing lure size usually has a minor effect on catch rates. In contrast, even minor increases above the size optimum can yield major decreases in catch rates. If your catch rate falls off after upsizing, you are beyond the preferred size.
Do walleye like glow lures?
The benefits are not as apparent for freshwater species. Fishing in deep water during the day with glow in the dark lures did produce more strikes from kokanee and walleye. However, I found at night that glowing lures may actually scare finicky bass or trout.
Can you drop shot for walleye?
Simply put, a drop-shot is a technique used to keep your bait a pre-determined distance off the bottom, ideally right in the strike zone of the fish you’re targeting. For walleye, more often than not, that means within the first few feet of bottom.
Can you use circle hooks for walleye?
When swallowed by walleyes, circle hooks don’t cause as much damage — and likely kill fewer fish — as traditional J-style hooks, in part because anglers don’t set the hook with a circle hook. The second reason circle hooks kill fewer walleyes: They catch fewer walleyes.
What pound test line should I use for walleye?
Line – this might be just as important a factor when targeting walleye as your choice of rod. For casting to walleye, you can either choose 100 percent fluorocarbon or braid with a fluorocarbon leader. 10-20 lb braid with an 8-12 lb leader for casting lures. If you choose fluorocarbon, 8-12 lbs will suffice.
Why are walleyes so hard to catch?
You’re cranking weed edges too slowly.
Walleyes relating to weedbeds often school tightly. To find them, quickly work a crankbait along the edges until you get a strike. You can pick that area apart slowly after you find the fish with a fast-moving lure.
What color lures are best for walleye?
The most basic and most productive colors for targeting walleye are purple and green. These colors come in a variety of shades and can be used in a large range of depths. For sunny days, select bright or flashy purple or green, and for cloudy days try a solid, darker green or purple.
What is the best water temperature for walleye fishing?
So is there a “real” best temperature to catch walleye at? The best water temperature to catch walleye at is between 65-70° but any temperature above 35° will yield walleye willing to bite.
Do walleye like steep breaks?
In fall, steeper structures on the west half of the lake are more attractive to walleyes than the sloping structures on the east half. Expect walleyes to concentrate along portions of the western points or humps that plunge into deep water.
How do you catch a spring walleye?
Treat early season walleyes much the same as if you were still ice fishing. Fish vertically by either using the trolling motor or anchoring up and present ice style spoons or jigs at a snail’s pace. If it helps, bring your ice fishing electronics in the boat and approach your day as though you’re actually ice fishing.
How do you catch walleye in 50 degree water?
For big walleyes, in the fall when water temps drop just below 50 – Fall Time is Hog Time. The key to success is to use subtle presentations. Crankbaits trolled at slow speeds can often initiate strikes. The key is to get baits that have a good action at slow speeds (less than 1.8 mph).
Do you need a bobber stopper?
For starters you need a stopper. Thill Slip Bobber Rigs come with stoppers and beads (along with split shots and hooks), but most slip floats don’t because regular slip float users generally have a stock of stoppers of some sort, (sometimes homemade).
Contents