Walleye Fishing

Here are my walleye pictures from last fall. I am expecting the fishing on Boysen to be great for these big brutes again. Last year I had never caught a 27" or better walleye. In a two week period I was able to land 4 that surpassed that mark. All four of the fish are listed in this article.

So, you may be wondering how in the world I was able to catch these brutes? Well, the answer is simple, I learned from someone who knew the pattern and then I adjusted to select for bigger fish. One of the keys to fishing is to pay attention to what people share with you and then refine it. I don't want this to sound like you shouldn't experiment on your own, because you should. But you would be missing a lot of key information if you don't pay attention to what experienced anglers tell you.


Walleye are like any other fish, they need food. If you can find the food, you will find the walleye. In my case, I was able to learn where the emerald shiners go to spawn in the fall on my home body of water. By learning that I was able to select what type of lure to use. I used both #8 X-Raps and Suspending Rattlin Rogues. I found that the Rogues produced the largest of the fish but I am sure that a #10 or #12 X-Rap would do just as well. I will be testing and refining more this fall.



I catch my biggest fish at night. Lots of people wonder why I would go at night or why it would make any difference. I don't know how many long days I have put on the water burning my flesh in the UV rays without much fishing success. The fish like it just about as well as I do, not very much. So, the only alternative is to fish at night or in low light conditions. I know that this year I am going to take advantage of the night bite. Night fishing provides the advantage of stealth. Big fish often come into the shallows at night to stalk minnows, perch and other small fish. When they do this, they put themselves in easy reach of fisherman that throw crankbaits and other minnow style presentations. The key is to know where the bait fish will be and cast similar imitating baits until you put it in front of a big fish.

So, if you are going to target walleyes make sure you take the smart approach. Don't burn yourself up in the sun and catch a bunch of small fish. Instead, head out at night and catch the big ones. But remember, release those big fish. If you don't, you will hurt the fishery forever. All four of my big fish are still in the reservoir and hopefully had a good spawn this year.


Be safe out there and good fishing.