Fishing Tips Walleye: What Is The Best Seasons To Go Fishing
Native to most parts of Canada and selected areas of the Northern United States, Walleye are a golden-olive looking fish in color, with a sharp set of teeth. They usually measure up to about 31-inches in length and have been known to weigh in excess of 20lbs with the largest known record being reported as 42-inches and 25lbs.
Depending on the season you are in, will change the way you fish for walleye, and more in-particularly where you can actually find these type of fish. In today’s article we wanted to look at the different types of season and where you are best looking for Walleye in these seasons.
Nocturnal Habits
It’s important to know that walleye have nocturnal feeding habits so during the evenings and late night they are usually at their most vulnerable and easiest to catch. Using bait such as live minnows, or lures are the best way to getting your catch. They have also been known to be present in late afternoon and during windy weather conditions.
Again, depending on the season, depends on the type of live bait you will need to use. For example, minnows are ideal for Spring and Summer seasons, but you might want to use leeches and night crawlers for the heat of the summer months, and small suckers for the fall.
Generally, females will venture to deeper waters but a night time (especially in the Fall), you can expect female Walleye to come within 10 foot of the shoreline, and we are talking about large females as well here.
What are the Usual Times to Catch Walleye?
Anything between sunset and the mid-early morning is your best time to fish (9:30PM – 2AM)
How to Fish for Walleye in the Spring
During the Spring season you will find that Walleye tend to come closer to the shoreline, this is usually because they look after their spawn at the beginning of the season, so you will find plenty of Walleye hanging around to protect them from predators.
As they are in defensive mode they are going to be quite aggressive during this season, so when you cast your line across the shore you will need to be prepared to retrieve it quickly.
How to Fish for Walleye in the Summer
During the Summer months you are going to have to work a little harder to get your walleye catch as they tend to deeper, so don’t expect them to be 5 foot from the shore during this season. Instead you will need to look closer at river mouths, or for flatter lakes you will need to look for dense weeds where or other types of shelter where they take refuge from the Summer sun.
The benefit with the Summer sun is that it will zap them of energy, so you know that they will be in protective weeds and they won’t be as aggressive as they were back in the Spring time.
How to Fish for Walleye in the Fall
Finally we come to the most difficult season in the year when you are going to need a lot of patience and a lot of time to get your catch.
During the fall the water temperature becomes much cooler, and the protective weeds that Walleye used back in the Summer will be slowly starting to die off, taking oxygen from the river while they do.
Therefore many Walleye will look for more open waters where you can expect there to be a good 20 foot of water to live in.
If they don’t go for the open waters then they may just swim upstream and look for deep rock pools or back-moving currents. This makes it particularly frustrating for most fishermen because you will experience a lot of snagging.
Walleye can be a hard fish to catch and you have to remember that fishing techniques for Canada differ to those from down South, so you must be prepared to change your fishing habits in order to become a successful Walleye fisher.
Taking our seasonal advice will help you locate and catch them, so good luck next time you head off to catch Walleye.