Table of Contents
How do you catch walleye in a river in the winter?
At night, river walleyes may move into the extreme shallows, often right up against shore. Casting a minnow-imitating crankbait or shad bait can produce big time on bigger fish. Key on prime spots — obvious eddies, an inflowing creek, a wing dam. You don’t have to work deep; 3 to 5 feet should be adequate.
Is walleye fishing good in the winter?
The truth is walleye are a cold water fish and remain active through the winter. By late February they are heading to the spawning grounds, and the warmer water temps put them on the feed. This often produces some of the best walleye fishing and some of the biggest marbleyes of the year.
Where are the walleye in winter?
As for shallow, structure-free, bowl-shaped lakes where walleye seek out deeper pockets and holes, they’re at their best in mid-winter. At first ice, not all of the fish have moved into the depressions—it’s more of a gradual filtering-in process.
What depth of water do walleye like in winter?
As winter progresses and the water gets colder, walleye move into deeper water. In mid-winter, they are often found in basins that are 30-40 feet deep, and like to hold in areas that are close to more shallow structures, such as underwater hills or mud flats rising to a depth of 10-25 feet.
What do walleye bite on in the winter?
You may have to fish 25-50 foot deep water to get a bite these months. Live fathead minnows are a productive bait to fish now too. Be sure you can use live bait in the state where you’re fishing for walleyes. If you can’t fish live minnows, plastic tails for your jigs like Berkley GULP!
How do you catch walleye in February?
How do you jig for walleye in the winter?
Are walleye active in cold water?
From ice out to the low 40’s F is a great time to target walleye. This is the pre-spawn period where the fish are aggressive, and a great time to catch many of the big fish before they enter the spawning period.
What is the best weather for walleye fishing?
weather. The best times to fish walleye are when choppy conditions create current, diminish light penetration, and stir up shallow water causing baits to be more active. Windswept shorelines also will be especially good. A great time for big walleye is the three days before and after a new or full moon.
How do you target a walleye through the ice?
We recommend drilling 10-15 holes spaced in a grid pattern or in a zig-zag line at each location. Using the point structure as an example, drill 5 holes along the shallow area, 5 along the transition, and 5 along the deeper section. Jig your walleye ice fishing rod for 5-10 minutes in each hole until you find fish.
What’s 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.
How far should walleye be from the bottom?
On clear lakes, bait placement can be 6 inches to 20 inches off the bottom, as the fish can better see the bait above them and come up to get it. Monofilament or fluorocarbon leaders are both good (though I’ve found that you have to re-tie more often with fluorocarbon as the knots fatigue more quickly than mono).
What temperature do walleye bite?
The best water temperature to catch walleye at is between 65-70° but any temperature above 35° will yield walleye willing to bite. Water temperature is an important factor that drives walleye feeding and can dictate how easy they are to catch.
What is the best bait for ice fishing walleye?
- Leech flutter spoon.
- Northland whistler jig.
- Clam drop jig.
- Spoon baited with minnow head.
- Jig baited with live or dead minnow.
What do walleyes eat in the winter?
So you can catch them at just about any time in the winter. The kicker is that winter is a time when forage such as minnows and aquatic insects are at a low level. That means walleye have to be less choosy when they see a minnow or sucker.
What size lures for ice fishing walleye?
A small minnow head or a few small maggots are still enough to draw perch and walleye in and not impair the flutter action. Personally, I have had better results with the smaller 1/16 and 1/8 ounce sizes, but when you’re fishing in a current, or fishing especially deep, the 5/16-ounce model produces better.
What size lures for walleye?
Size. Walleyes can grow up to 30 inches long and weigh more than 10 pounds, so select a lure that can handle the big guys. For jig heads, the optimal size range from 0.06 ounces to 1 ounce. For jib body lures, go with ones between 3 and 5 inches long.
Where do walleyes go late ice?
Shallow Flats And Bays It’s very common for late ice walleyes to move into 10 feet of water or less, particularly if there is a hard bottom. The same presentations, like Rapala jigging raps, tip-ups, and bigger spoons will pick off willing biters getting ready to spawn.
How do you catch finicky walleye ice fishing?
How do you jig a river walleye?
How do you fish a dam for walleye?
What do walleye eat?
Feeding. Walleyes are nocturnal, feeding in shallow waters at night. Adult walleyes mainly eat other fish. Young walleyes eat small crustaceans and insects, primarily mayflies.
How do you catch walleye in 40 degree water?
What temp are walleye most active?
this is a big fish killer tactic! Summer can also be dynamite, when water temps are above 70 degrees and walleyes are very active.