would it be a good choice to try trolling for fall walleye in a river
I usually troll lake erie in the spring and summer
but what about trolling in the river during fall and winter ?
do you guys think it would be productive and what would you use as far as lures ?
depth would probably be around 25 to 40 feet, I assume or would the walleye be in deeper parts during the cold weather ?
rebs

Handlining/Polelining, 3 Ways and Leadcore come to mind.Those are about the best methods to get those bottom huggers.

Rebs.
A few years ago, I would have told you that trolling in cold water, say lower than 50 degrees, would have been a waste of time. And to a degree, I still think the odds of success are a lot less in cold water. But after seeing Mr. Linder catching post spawn monsters with a 3 way dropper rig and rapalas, on a lake still iced over except for the middle, my strong opinion weakens. Lets face it though, walleyes being cold blooded, are both not as aggressive, or need as much food in cold water. They prefer something easy and in their face when the water temps dip into the 30's and 40's.

On the opposite page though, heres something that worked for me on one occassion. We fished an area point hard one day, on my favorite river. Water temp was in the 30's. We caught about half a dozen decent fish, but seemed to be educating a lot more with missed short hits. Just for kicks, I picked up a rod that had a small Silver/Blue Crocadile on it and gave it a toss in the hole. Bang, hung a fish right away. Another cast another fish. That was it. Funny thing, I haven't tried that again since.

River trolling can be a very effective way to contact active fish within a given area of a river even if the water temps are in the 30's. Many anglers here in West Michigan were surprised to learn trolling was that effective in cold weather last year when Muskegon Lake thawed in January. We were trolling Reef Runners for suspended fish right at the river mouth and had a fantastic time doing it. Unfortunately a photographer from the local newspaper snapped a few picks and the story made quite a splash.
Depending on where you will be fishing, look for the sandy "dunes" areas with deeper holes nearby as a likely place to start. This washboard bottom give walleye a break from the current and will allow you to run a bait right along the bottom without hanging up too often.

Trolling in rivers is also a very effective way to fish when strong winds make normal boat control procedures difficult.

Tight lines

Keith Segar
NPAA #260

Reb,I fish pool#13 on the Miss.Most winters 3-5 weeks is all I miss due to ice.Some winters not even that much.Although I usually jig,there is a large group of locals that troll almost exclusively.They have a "milk run" set up.If they bite,great.If not,try again tomorrow.They wouldn't choice trolling if it didn't produce.They pull 3-ways with stickbaits or "Bellevue rigs".On a Bellevue rig,the dropper is a pencil weight.The business end has a stickbait,usually of the bargain bit variety as an atractor,with a leader behind it with another stickbait attached.Of course,weights and leader lengths will vary.They usually fish the ends of wingdams and the main river channel but I say don't overlook shallow water.Good luck.The cold doesn't slow up river fish as much as it slows up lake fish.They can be very aggressive!

Thanx for all the info
I appreciate it

rebs