By Greg Bohn, Ted Takasaki and Scott Richardson
Guides often tell you to make up your mind about what kind of walleye fishing trip you want – trophy fish or large numbers of smaller ones. A day of big fish or lots of action?
But there’s no need to make up your mind in autumn. The months of October and November offer both opportunities. They often occur at the same place at the same time. Simply modify your presentation a little for a catch numbers of eating-sized fish or that 10-pound beast.
Legendary Northwoods walleye guide Greg Bohn has both options handy in the lakes and reservoirs around his home in Minocqua, Wis.
 “One of the nice things about this area is there are so many lake choices, everything from reservoirs to 5,000-acre crystal-clear lakes. When daytime makes fishing tricky, then it’s nice to have the option of night fishing,” he said.
Bohn said the factors that create fall fishing patterns begin as early as August in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. Walleyes spent much of the summer in weeds where oxygen, food and security draw bait fish and predators. But, some weed patches mature and begin to fade by mid- to late August. If weeds are brown, walleyes and almost every other living thing will move away. The trend starts in shallower lakes first and then moves to deeper ones.
At that point, some walleyes will continue to relate to the remaining green vegetation. You’ll see some anglers continue to pluck some fish from the weed edges. Others target humps. But Bohn focuses on the deep mud flats in between, and his boat is often the only one around.
“As a guide, I like the flats because most people don’t know how important they are. They know the humps, but walleyes can be in the flats by the hundreds. A bite can come on every cast. If not there in your ‘good’ areas in August and September, they’re in the flats. Try your usual spots. But, if they aren’t there, they’ve got to be somewhere else.”
Bohn targets the flats in 15- to 18-feet of water nearest bars that top out at five feet or so. The walleyes may be hard to see on a sonar because they’re holding so tight to the bottom. But there’s a reason Bohn has been known as Mr. Slip-Bobber since he published the “Slip-Bobbering; The Deadliest Walleye Method.” He’ll use a Thill bobber rig with a leech suspended a couple of feet off the bottom directly in the sonar cone. That way he can see a walleye rise to look at his bait even if it doesn’t grab it.
Minnows become his preferred bait after the water dips to 65 degrees.
Lake turnover usually happens in the third week of September. Cooler water on top becomes heavier and drops, mixing with the oxygen-poor water farther down. Deeper water is more oxygenated after that process. Walleyes are free to move deeper to find the right combination of temperature and oxygen that suits them close to sources of food. Sand bars that reach from shallow water to the deepest part of natural lakes become key along with adjacent hard-bottom areas. Ditto for humps that rise from deep water. Check for fish marks on the sonar. These walleyes should be visible.
Fishing with a quarter-ounce Max Gap jig can remain good all day by concentrating on the sharpest edges. You can fish vertically because the walleyes will be at depths of 20 feet or more where they won’t spook easily. Don’t cast. Your bait will be in unproductive water too much of the time.
Note the depth when you catch a walleye and focus on that depth for the rest of the day on that spot and others. Fish will be in the same depth range on that day no matter where you are on the lake.
On darker water, use glow jigs, especially blue and white. Add a fathead minnow. Experiment with the size of the bait to see if fish want smaller or larger.
Walleyes definitely change food preference by October. If you want a trophy, big redtail and blacktail chubs are a must. And, Bohn means big - five inches or more. You might only get one bite a day, but it could be 32 inches and weigh 11 pounds or more.
Smaller fatheads get you smaller eating fish and more action from the same exact spots. Unlike other times of year, walleyes don’t school by size in fall. You’ll find 10 pound fish among 2-pound fish. Put the bait on a Max Gap and hop it rhythmically, boom, boom, boom. Don’t even reach for a sandwich. If you break the tempo, a fish of a lifetime could lose interest and move off. For an additional weapon in the arsenal, where two rods are legal, deadstick a bait on a rod in a rod holder while you jig the other.
“That’s the important depth in October. You can eliminate the rest of the lake,” he said.
In natural lakes, walleyes key on the deepest water available. Target hard-bottom areas 30- to 40 feet down on structure attached to the shoreline. Start deeper and work shallower until you connect.
Look for structures reaching to deep water to produce in reservoirs, too.
A major exception to the deep-water theory comes five days either side of the first full moon in November. Ciscoes spawn then. Big walleyes could be in as little as 1- to 3 feet of water on hard-bottom structures associated to shore or on humps. Add features like rocks or timber and a breeze blowing in, and the location will be killer, Bohn said. Bohn casts lures like the Magnum Rapalas or Smithwick Rogues even up to size 13s. Twitch them.
Autumn fishing is best when cold fronts moving in.
“Make yourself go if there’s a little rain. They go crazy. You can stay at home and rake leaves on calm warm days,”: he said.
Contact Bohn at (715) 356-4633 or visit www.gregbohn.com.
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