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Of the Outdoors: Tips To Help You Catch Late Season Walleyes
By Gary Howey
Hartington, Neb.
Today, as I look out my office window, it’s hard to believe that it’s the first part of November as it’s a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the 70’s.
This time of the year, I know the nice weather won’t be around long, but for now, I along with many other late season anglers are enjoying it and out taking advantage of every day of it.
Because weather has been exceptionally warm, the lakes and the rivers in Southeastern South Dakota and Northeast Nebraska have been busy as have many of the other lakes and reservoirs throughout both states.
If there are any downfalls to late season fishing it’s the wind and that the weather can change drastically from one day to the next, so we best enjoy every nice day that we can.
Late fall and the early winter season is the time of the year where walleyes, sauger and other game fish start to bulk up for the long hard winter that lies ahead.
Soon they’ll make the move into the deeper water searching for warmer temperatures where they’ll spend the winter.
This is the time of the year when you’ll want to bulk up your baits as the fish are feeding heavily, looking at building up fat before hard water season.
As you probably know, a fish metabolism will be slow since they are cold blooded species, so you’ll need to work your bait slowly.
Tip 1
For baits, I’d recommend either a live bait rig, such as the Lindy or Roach Rig, a jig or jigging spoon tipped with a Creek chub, a large Gulp bait or a couple of minnows.
If you’re going to use a couple of minnows, it’s not a bad idea to hook the first one through the top of the head and then hook the second through the tail. This adds a little more movement to your bait as the tail hooked minnow will do a lot of thrashing around.
Since you are bulking up your bait, it’s a good reason to go to a larger jig; spoon or sinker on your live bait rig as the larger bait will cause your rig to sink slower, so more weight will get your help to get your rig into the fish more quickly.
I’d recommend using a little heavier, a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce jig, spoon or weight this time of the year.
Look for the fish in the transition area along the edge of the drop offs and deeper water as they’ll hang in these areas because it gives them the security of the deeper water and they still don’t need to go far if the water warms and the bait fish move shallow.
I mentioned jigging spoons, and I’m sure that some of you have never used them as they aren’t very common in our area.
Down south, bass fishermen use them a lot this time of the year as they work just like a jig does, but will fall or flutter down, resembling a wounded shad or minnow.
Tip 2
As with any type of jigging bait, the real key to using them properly is to keep a tight line as the baits descends. This is when the fish will inhale your bait when you have to keep a tight line and in constant contact with your spoon, if you don’t, the fish will inhale it and spit it out before you realize it.
As the water temperatures start to cool, the fish will make the move deeper, into their wintering holes, where they’ll take up residence until water temps start to warm.
Once water temps drop and things start to freeze up, you’ll need to down size your baits since fish are moving around less during the winter months, they’ll require less food, not needing to eat as much to survive.
Depending on the temperature and what they’re feeding on, the fish could be located in just about any depth; I look for the fish this time of the year to spend the majority of their time in the deeper water.
Even after the water turns hard, don’t be fooled by thinking that all fish are down deep as they’ll move up to feed from time to time.
Keep an eye on your locator and if you spot what looks to be a fish farther up, bring your bait up to that depth, jig it a few times as you might be surprised at what’s roaming 10 feet or so off the bottom.
Tip 3
Another item that will help you to detect more bites and ultimately catch more fish during the cold water periods is lighter line.
You might feel that a heavier line may be a plus if you hook into a big fish, a lighter line will work just as well as long as you have your drag set properly and don’t try to horse the fish.
Your chances of attracting and hooking a fish will increase big time if you use a lighter more limp line, one that has less memory.
What exactly is memory? Well it’s the coils that appear in your line after your line has been on the reel for awhile.
Lighter, limper line has less memory, thus less coils, so when you set the hook with light line as compared to heavier line, your line will be straighter, allowing you to set the hook without having all that slack line from the coils or memory.
These coils or memory will also cause what ever bait you’re using to look goofy as it sinks, appearing less than natural.
Give these three points a try; they could be the key to a few more fish in the boat before winter sets in.
Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb.. is the Producer/Host of the Outdoorsmen Adventures Television series and can be seen on KCAU-TV Saturday @ 6:30 a.m.
This time of the year, I know the nice weather won’t be around long, but for now, I along with many other late season anglers are enjoying it and out taking advantage of every day of it.
Because weather has been exceptionally warm, the lakes and the rivers in Southeastern South Dakota and Northeast Nebraska have been busy as have many of the other lakes and reservoirs throughout both states.
If there are any downfalls to late season fishing it’s the wind and that the weather can change drastically from one day to the next, so we best enjoy every nice day that we can.
Late fall and the early winter season is the time of the year where walleyes, sauger and other game fish start to bulk up for the long hard winter that lies ahead.
Soon they’ll make the move into the deeper water searching for warmer temperatures where they’ll spend the winter.
This is the time of the year when you’ll want to bulk up your baits as the fish are feeding heavily, looking at building up fat before hard water season.
As you probably know, a fish metabolism will be slow since they are cold blooded species, so you’ll need to work your bait slowly.
Tip 1
For baits, I’d recommend either a live bait rig, such as the Lindy or Roach Rig, a jig or jigging spoon tipped with a Creek chub, a large Gulp bait or a couple of minnows.
If you’re going to use a couple of minnows, it’s not a bad idea to hook the first one through the top of the head and then hook the second through the tail. This adds a little more movement to your bait as the tail hooked minnow will do a lot of thrashing around.
Since you are bulking up your bait, it’s a good reason to go to a larger jig; spoon or sinker on your live bait rig as the larger bait will cause your rig to sink slower, so more weight will get your help to get your rig into the fish more quickly.
I’d recommend using a little heavier, a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce jig, spoon or weight this time of the year.
Look for the fish in the transition area along the edge of the drop offs and deeper water as they’ll hang in these areas because it gives them the security of the deeper water and they still don’t need to go far if the water warms and the bait fish move shallow.
I mentioned jigging spoons, and I’m sure that some of you have never used them as they aren’t very common in our area.
Down south, bass fishermen use them a lot this time of the year as they work just like a jig does, but will fall or flutter down, resembling a wounded shad or minnow.
Tip 2
As with any type of jigging bait, the real key to using them properly is to keep a tight line as the baits descends. This is when the fish will inhale your bait when you have to keep a tight line and in constant contact with your spoon, if you don’t, the fish will inhale it and spit it out before you realize it.
As the water temperatures start to cool, the fish will make the move deeper, into their wintering holes, where they’ll take up residence until water temps start to warm.
Once water temps drop and things start to freeze up, you’ll need to down size your baits since fish are moving around less during the winter months, they’ll require less food, not needing to eat as much to survive.
Depending on the temperature and what they’re feeding on, the fish could be located in just about any depth; I look for the fish this time of the year to spend the majority of their time in the deeper water.
Even after the water turns hard, don’t be fooled by thinking that all fish are down deep as they’ll move up to feed from time to time.
Keep an eye on your locator and if you spot what looks to be a fish farther up, bring your bait up to that depth, jig it a few times as you might be surprised at what’s roaming 10 feet or so off the bottom.
Tip 3
Another item that will help you to detect more bites and ultimately catch more fish during the cold water periods is lighter line.
You might feel that a heavier line may be a plus if you hook into a big fish, a lighter line will work just as well as long as you have your drag set properly and don’t try to horse the fish.
Your chances of attracting and hooking a fish will increase big time if you use a lighter more limp line, one that has less memory.
What exactly is memory? Well it’s the coils that appear in your line after your line has been on the reel for awhile.
Lighter, limper line has less memory, thus less coils, so when you set the hook with light line as compared to heavier line, your line will be straighter, allowing you to set the hook without having all that slack line from the coils or memory.
These coils or memory will also cause what ever bait you’re using to look goofy as it sinks, appearing less than natural.
Give these three points a try; they could be the key to a few more fish in the boat before winter sets in.
Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb.. is the Producer/Host of the Outdoorsmen Adventures Television series and can be seen on KCAU-TV Saturday @ 6:30 a.m.
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