Night time walleye question

[sneak_e_pete]

So its well documented that at night, many walleye move shallow (like 3ft). Just wondering what is the technique to target them at night. At 3ft they must be in thick weed and such....what is a good presentation?

[bow slayer]

I have had good luck casting shallow running rapala j-9 in black in about 4-6 fow over top of cabbage

[mike rousseau]

From what I've seen... A piece of structure...It will have walleye all around the area during the day.... And at night Some move up and down on the structure at different times... But most will move up at dark...

 

I've found the edges produce very well at these times... During the day the walleye seem to hold deep and spread out.... But at dark they seem to concentrate on weed edges and tops of rock piles...

 

I've been to spots where you can actually see walleye at night in 1-5 feet of water... But there were WAY more fish at the edge of the weeds/drop off... 15-18 feet of water... And they seam to be more willing to bite....

 

I spend a lot of time in the dark hunting walleyes... And I'm almost always in 15-20 feet of water...

 

If your set on trying for shallow walleye... I love x-raps for this.... Perch... Blue... Pink....

Black/gold... Clown..... All great colors

 

FYI... I'm fishing a river not a lake.... So what I said might not strike true for a lake....

[Big Cliff]

There are so many variables; time of the year, how thick are the weeds, even the time of the evening......... We have observed that the walleye move through here just about dusk and that they seem to move through as a school, the bite might last 10 minutes or it might last an hour but the pattern is always the same, they come in from the South and move North.

 

Things that seem to work well in the spring don't work in the summer or fall, I have had evenings where we got 14 walleye in just over an hour but they were mostly small (under 16") mostly in the spring. We have had lots of evenings where every fish we caught was 3+ lbs but the bite only lasted 15 minutes then shut down and you couldn't catch another walleye if you stayed up all night.

 

Sorry I can't be more specific but you really have to adapt to whatever the conditions are at the time.

[manitoubass2]

MM has it dead on. But I'm also mainly fishing a river as well

[BillM]

Love trolling big stickbaits for walleyes at night. Find the edges, find the fish!

[sneak_e_pete]

I will be on the french as of Friday and want to stay out late and give it a go. Thanks for the replies

[OhioFisherman]

You can't catch them at night if you aren't out there trying to? A lot may have to do with the body of water and area of it you are fishing?

 

I have caught them on Lake Erie at night trolling deep diving crank baits the same way you would during the day.

 

I have caught them on weedy inland lakes flipping docks and other shore line areas at night on a jig and pig.

 

I have caught them trolling floating rapalas along a rocky shoreline up north at night.

 

I never got one though sitting in the cabin waiting for daylight.

[JoshS]

If you can see them at 3 ft, I'd throw a jerkbait with a nice wobble. I've seen them follow in a lure 10 times then smack it when you get more aggressive with speed or twitches or vice versa so vary your retrieve. If they are pressured such as fish in popular spots like dams, downsizing usually gets more bites. Depending on the structure and current, I use: jigs, jerk/crankbaits, swimbaits, dropshot minnow. When they're hungry they'll eat anything!

[kickingfrog]

Big, slow, dark jitter bug.

[highdrifter]

Like Big C mentioned.... lots of variables.

 

One particular outting comes to mind though.. I was at Lakair a few years ago with BC and we were just having a go at it in front of the camp... It was the middle of night, we had had a few wobbly pops and BC was peggin em on Hula Poppers!!

 

Mind you, that was in the fall.. the time of the year when the eyes may have been dialed in to frogs moving out to deeper water in order to bed down for the winter..

 

Either way, we were giggling like school girls!!

[mike rousseau]

Have you fished there before???

 

Because knowing how to fish specific spots is important....

 

It super tough learning a new spot at night...

 

I'd suggest locating good looking structure during the day... And try to find large easily fish able structures with plenty of fish marks on the sonar... Drop some waypoints on key spots on that large structure... And fish it a bit when you can see... Then when you return after dark... You'll have a better idea of what's going on...

 

My favorite after dark spots are large slow tapering points.... Saddles... And rock piles... In that order...

[Big Cliff]

I will be on the french as of Friday and want to stay out late and give it a go. Thanks for the replies

Where specifically on the French? I might be able to help you out a little better. I use to guide up there (many years ago) I am most familiar with the lower French, Recollect Falls down to G Bay.

[sneak_e_pete]

Staying at Totem Point Lodge on Wolsey

[coolwater]

So its well documented that at night, many walleye move shallow (like 3ft). Just wondering what is the technique to target them at night. At 3ft they must be in thick weed and such....what is a good presentation?

Long line a 13S floating rapala with 1/4 rubber core 3 ft ahead. Doesn't hurt if you bump the bottom once in a while either.