Night Bite Walleyes

If you want to catch a big walleye, fall is the time to do so. There are lots of bodies of water across walleye territory that are home to true trophies. If the walleye-of-a-lifetime is your goal, center your efforts on the bodies of water that have a history of producing big walleyes.

Often the best trophy walleye producers will be large, deep lakes that are home to baitfish that make the walleyes fat. Some types of forage fish make walleyes grow big, so we want to concentrate on lakes that have those types of baitfish: Cisco, tullibee, and the like. One reason that the night bite can be good for walleyes is that these baitfish live in clear water lakes, and walleyes can often be easier to catch at night in clear water lakes.

But there's another reason why the walleyes go on a night-bite in the fall. Those baitfish that make the walleyes grow big are fall spawners. They're in the shallows laying their eggs at a time of year when the walleyes are interested in adding some fat to their bodies to get them through the winter months. Those baitfish are very susceptible to hungry walleyes when they're in those shallow areas.

To take advantage of this night-time opportunity, you need to do a couple of things. First, you need to identify a potential hot-spot. The fall-spawning baitfish will usually spawn in shallow water that is close to deep water. Shorelines or off-shore shallow sand or rock areas will be good starting points. In lakes that don't have fall spawning baitfish, a night-bite can still occur. Look for areas with current. Go out during the day to current areas and see if baitfish are present. If they are, walleyes will visit at night.

If you'll be fishing from a boat, take along only essential equipment and have it in a specific place so you know where it is.

If you'll be wading, check out the area for rocks or logs under the water that you could trip on.

Get to your spot before the sun goes down and get set up. Keep quiet. When fish are shallow, they're oftentimes spooky.

Jigs and plastic will catch walleyes at night, but night in and night out, many of the best night-time walleye catchers are throwing hard minnow-imitating baits. For deeper water go with a Lucky Shad: They run down 6 or 8 feet and that's usually deep enough. If you want to get deeper, tie on a KVD 300 Deep Jerkbait. It runs to about 11 feet. Experiment with color. Try baits that look like the local baitfish, and try baits that look like nothing the walleyes have ever seen.

When fishing shallow we'll usually be casting. Go with a KVD 300 Jerkbait. Try a straight retrieve, but also work it with sweeps of the rod. I like a Lew's Custom Speed Stick in the Walleye Special action because it casts these lighter baits well. I also like 15 pound test XTCB Braid 8 line. This line is super-sensitive and super-strong for its diameter.

I have many fond memories of catching walleyes at night from mid-fall until it was too cold to enjoy being out there. I prefer full moon nights, and I also like some wind. The best nights seem to be when the wind is blowing into the area that you're fishing. Find out for yourself in the next few weeks how productive night-fishing for walleyes can be.