how to catch a walleye?

[greg]

I wrote once so i'll be a little more specific. I'll be fishing a lake in NJ called swartswood lake. large amount of walleye in lake(some very large) but have no idea how to catch them. the only time their caught is while people are drifting herring for trout but that isn't often. Very little pressure due to fact that not many people in area goes fishing for them and if they do, they get discouraged fast and go after trout. If these fish are like bass, i should have no problem catching then. BUT i need some type of direction to follow. this spring, their were probally hundreds seen by a friend getting ready to spawn in the creek that flows out of the lake. that's about as close as anybody gets. the state catches alot from here for their stocking efforts but i can't use their boat with the electrodes on it. I guess i first need the basic's of where they would be at this time of the year after spawning. What to use and so on. this lake offers me a chance of catching a fish that i thought i would have to travel out of state to catch one. Plus i really would like to see one up close. thanks

[gilly8000]

I am by no means as good as a lot of the others on the board, but I'll give it a shot. I would start by pitching a jig tipped with a fathead around the area where they spawn. Look for new weeds, rockpiles, flooded timber, well, you get the idea. If that doesn't work I'd go to some deeper water, again, look for structure. Don't be afraid to cast some cranks in the shallow water closer to the shoreline either. Hopefully this will give you a place to start, maybe some of the other folks here can help you a little better. Good Luck.

[River_eye]

First I'll reccomend the book called Walleye wisdom, it's published by in-fisherman I think, it has everything you'll ever want to know, and then some.

Two important things to start thinking about, location and baits. Up here where I'm at, a plain 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig tied directly to the line, tipped with a frozen shiner. These are better if you have a good idea where the fish are, not great for covering a lot of water. It allows you to get down to the bottom where the walleyes are.

The depth depends on a lot of things, but mostly water temp. In spring, you can look for them as shallow as a few feet of water, but I'd work between 5 and 12 ft.

Crankbaits are great too. Generally walleyes like the longer slimmer baits, and of course it needs to dive to the depth that you're fishing. Do a search for some posts on crankbaits.

You may also try some bottom bouncers with a spinner rig with a minnow. They will allow you to make sure you're on the bottom, and cover a variety of depths and areas.

Try to read the wind. Walleye will feel more comfortable getting up shallower if there is a decent chop blowing into the shoreline. In fact, your success that day may depend solely on whether there is a good wind or not.

Like the previous post stated, look for potential spawning grounds, an ideal spot would be sandy/rocky shoreline, with some weeds, not too many, and some deep waters nearby for them to escape any danger. Often you'll experience these conditions off of a point of land.

Good luck and don't get discouraged. If it was easy, it wouldn't be walleye fishing.

[Jayman]

First of all, to catch a walleye ya need to hook 'em in the lip! ha ha ha.

Actually a little more info on the lake might help. Ie. is it a flowage, natural lake? 2 it sounds like a very deep lake if it holds trout. Which means the water is probably colder.

Anyways, for this time of year I'm assuming that the walleyes are done spawning. which means they got the feed bag on.

If you can troll, I would look for shallow flats adjacent to deep water. Drag cranks and crawler harnesses and let the fish tell ya what to do.

Good Luck

[AquaMan]

An old fly fisherman's law: "Match the hatch"

If you can figure out what the Eyes are feeding on, you will catch more of them. Since Walleye and trout feed on each other but are not really cannibalistic, try pulling some trout colored cranks around the points and humps in the lake. Cover ground till you find the fish. Then try jigging with rainbow minnows?

Good luck and enjoy the challange.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just add water

[Ozzy Ozborne]

"Don't ask me, I don't know."

[The Big Guy]

Greg,
Sounds as though the walleyes in your lake are stocked and many fish of this ilk are weed oriented fish which makes it a little tougher to pull live bait rigs around. I would suggest you try the ever more popular technique of slip bobbering them. Simpley, this is a small jig tipped most frequently with a leech, but some use crawlers or minnows. Fish it near the bottom (within 6") and support it with a bobber. Since the bottom may be 10' or more down a typical bobber setup is tough to use, so find a bobber that will slip up the line to a knot tied off with thread at the prescribed depth. To prevent the bobber from striking the bait place a small split shot a foot or so above the jig. Its a common rig here in Minnesota, but I'm sure your local bait shop has them in stock and can give you more help with setting it up. Good luck!

[Digger]

Hi Greg

I tell you what, try it at night tipped with a legal live bait fish. Fish off the shore in shallow water close to the creek. Make sure you use lively bait and try to place bait off bottom about 6 to 12 inches. Use either a floating jighead tipped with this live bait or use a bobber that is thin to limit the resistance. They will get spooked if they feel a lot of restistance, especially if the water is cold. When you get a bite, feed the line for about 3 to 5 feet before setting hook. Fishing at night might be the trick if these fish have to compete with another species that is more dominant.

Good Luck!!!!!!

[DUDE]

Greg, you might have said the key to the whole problem without knowing it. You said that people do catch them by dragging herring on the bottom for trout. If the herring there get as big as they do up in michigan then the size of the bait you use might be the most important thing. The herring I have seen are usually aroound 9 to 12 inches, that might be the size of bait you need to use. That might be what the big walleyes are feeding on. I know there has been times when I had to change to 6 to 8 inch baits while trolling, just beecause the walleyes were feeding on perch that size and nothing else would work. Give it a try, I know of guys who catch walleyes in lakes while trolling for muskies. And they were trolling those big muskie baits that are a foot long, but you couldnt get those same walleyes to hit a 4 or 6 inch bait.

[GR8WTHUNTER]

Greg, A lot of good advice here so far. If your tourney is in 2 weeks you need to be hunting the eyes as much as possible and hopefully have a few good spots and techniques that worked. Another Technique that works this time of year is casting t-sticks across the mouth of feeder streams in the evenings and after dark. If you can find a stream they like heading into to feed at night, then start working out to find where they are in the light. Good luck, let us know how you do, Rich

[B. Reel]

Just get 'em to bite and set the hook i find it quite simple.