Fishing: Late Fall Walleyes

by Whitewater 31 Oct 15:53 UTC

Late Fall Walleyes

Quick Q&A with seasoned walleye professional and Whitewater Fishing pro staffer Jason Przekurat

By Jay Anglin

Walleyes are still on the brain. Sure, the ponds and potholes are filling with ducks and bucks are getting frisky, but its tough mothballing the rods when the biggest walleyes of the year are on the move.

With that in mind, to scratch that itch, we reached out to Whitewater Fishing pro staffer Jason Przekurat for some quick pointers on late fall walleyes. The two time National Walleye Tour Champion and two time FLW Walleye Tour Angler of the Year shared some time-honored intel on how to maximize your time on the water.

1) Given a wide range of water and cover types available, what do your ideal spots consist of for targeting big fall walleyes?

Excluding the Great Lakes, the one thing I've learned over the years when looking for big walleyes in the fall is to focus on areas that have steeper breaklines adjacent to deep water access. This would include areas that have either weeds or rock, but if focusing on weeds, make sure they are still green. All of these areas must have one thing in common and that is bait. Without the food they will not come.

2) Lures and baitwhat are your favorite lures for late fall walleyes and what are the best applications?

Here are the two main presentations I focus on during the fall bite: First, for negative or finicky fish, I focus on live bait primarily some type of chub, be it a creek chub or redtail chub. If the water is too clear and the fish are boat shy, I will cast to them with a jig/minnow combo. If the fish don't mind the presence of your boat, it's time to go vertical use the old standby live bait rig and slowly pull it over them with your bow mount trolling motor. The second option for me is to get aggressive with any type of glide bait. Many times, I've seen fish ignore a big minnow but will react to the glide baits fishing them both vertically or by casting

3) What are the ideal conditions for fall walleyes in terms of water temp and any other climate conditions? What days jump out and you think, "I better go fishing!

I'm a big fan of waiting for your lake to "turnover" before heading out for the fall bite. In most places, turnover occurs with water temps in the upper 50's, so when the temps hit the mid to low 50s is when I consider the fall bite to begin, and that is all the way until ice up. Wind is definitely your friend this time of year, too, so don't head for the calm side. Put on your Whitewater Great Lakes Pro suit and head to the windy side, you won't be disappointed. And if its cold, the new Whitewater Great Lakes Pro Insulated suit has made fishing in the fall so much more enjoyable. It's super lightweight but keeps you toasty warm so you can stay out longer.

4) Walleyes are found with other species that are also in fall feeding mode. Do you ever fish for other species at the same time and if so, do you adjust your presentation and lures to take advantage of other species such as bass?

I've found bass quite often on my walleye spots and fall is the best time to take advantage of the situation. Always carry a dropshot in the boat as smallmouth really group up this time of year. I've seen 50 fish schools of smallies and who wouldn't want to have some fun with those when looking for walleyes?

5) Boat handling...how you approach a given spot, and how do you prefer to target them with a boat?

With the use of forward-facing sonar, we can now see how the fish are reacting to our presence. I'm a believer in getting as close as possible to the fish before casting or dropping a bait, but if the fish are spooky, boat control becomes crucial. Trying to point the bow into the wind helps with boat control, but it also makes a lot of "noise" from boat slap. If the fish are wary of your boat, always fish downwind to avoid that.