COLD WEATHER WALLEYE

Many anglers associate the walleye as a fish up North, when in fact the world record is a whopping 22# 11 oz. walleye from Greer’s Ferry Lake in Arkansas. And a check of big walleyes shows 20 pounders also from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. This is one reason we spent some time last month fishing Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas where we have caught nice walleye.
For us here in Illinois, the Illinois River ranks up there with the best for sauger (the cousins to the walleye) where most of our fishing for the next couple months will be done from Lacon up to Starved Rock.
Walleye and Sauger are cool-water fish and will make their winter spawn run up rivers and reservoirs to find suitable habitat to lay eggs or as they are stopped by dams. The males are 1st to arrive in spawning areas and last to leave. Much of the fishing season form May through September it is tough to keep up with the walleye, since they are simply always on the move and seem to be scattered. But during autumn and winter they school up and are more predictable as they migrate back to shallows and to put on the feedbag.
A combination of dropping water temps, a decreasing food base and lower light levels trigger this movement. The decreasing food base as winter nears makes minnow rigs the popular bait again. This includes live minnows, jig/minnow combos, 3-ways and floating jigs and artificial minnows. The fishing techniques are much the same as in the spring.
Spots we key into on lakes or reservoirs such as Bull Shoals Lake are breaks off big flats with inside turns and main-lake points near mouths on creeks or rivers where walleye migrate to as winter approaches. A major factor to consider when you find these fish is how they got there. In most cases it will be along a well-defined breakline where many transition fish can still be found and caught. We find crawler rigs work well early in the fall and later go to jigging.
For the river where sauger are more abundant, common spots are inside turns of river bends and even better if there is some sand, small gravel, a harder bottom or areas with clam shells. Sometimes we will find fish holding in holes that have been gouged out by barges. And lastly is in or along an eddy adjacent to moving water. Slender crankbaits with a slow side-to-side roll work early on as do the 3-way rigs with floaters and again later we turn to jigging a minnow.
There are a few differences between a walleye and sauger but to identifying the sauger, look for large rows of dark spots between spines of the spiny dorsal fin.
Walleye tournaments have had a lot to do with spreading the word about walleye fishing and more anglers have taken notice to these toothy critters and made them guests for dinner. One of these series is the Illinois Walleye Trail, check www.prairielandeyes.com for schedule and another is the Spring Valley Walleye Club tournament we will be fishing this month.
Many in the south still consider the walleye as “some kind of Yankee fish” and feel they should not be in the southern waters but we are more than happy to come down and help catch these Yankee fish.
There are great rewards in late fall and winter fishing with the use of a great resource many anglers overlook, not to mention the great time just being out. Dress for the conditions and enjoy the great sights our there this time of year.
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Till Next Time GOD BLESS & GOOD FISHING !