View Full Version : how to catch walleye on the river
I am new to walleye.I mainly drift around the dropoffs ,points.I catch them when come in for couple weeks.then thats it.How do you locate and catch em.I have couple spots i drift around.but never fished the river for them.I fished smallmouth bass till 2 years ago.but i cant catch them like i do smallies.I realy like walleye just need to lern more.last year caught 10 walleye first 3 weeks into season.But there i fished a light at the dam.Now i want to lern how to catch them more often.
TK_551
05-06-2002, 04:48 PM
Start with looking for current breaks. Bridges, wing dams, down timber, etc. Look where the current flow is deverted. Walleyes will hang in the slack water areas. If you can, pick up a Hotspots Map of the particular river you are fishing. That will help.
Tom
#551
Thanks for your help and anybody else that helps
DaveB
05-07-2002, 09:54 AM
General river rule of thumb that will put some eyes in the boat: colder water, look for slower water, as things heat up, look for faster water and cover lots of ground.
Rivers vary so much from river to river and even in each stretch of the river. What kind of water are you fishing?
Susquehanna river in pa is where i fish
DaveB
05-07-2002, 08:31 PM
Sorry, cant help you with PA. One thing I can recommend if you are beginning to chase walleye and looking to learn a river is to troll crankbaits. You learn a river fast and cover lots of ground. Then go back and try other techniques in the areas that produced fish.
The fun part about rivers is that the river is different every time out. Be flexible and keep changing, river eyes are almost always biting.
Backwater Eddy
05-08-2002, 05:29 AM
#1 way to find walleye on rivers is to find walleye food.
Figure out what food is + Find food = find walleye & catch walleye.
If they are not near their primary forage shift to a secondary forage preference to see if they have changed the menu on you.
Food moves so do the walleye. Seasonal prey preferences often signal shifts in patterns so check to see what they are feeding on by examining the contents of their stomachs. This will often point you right at the fish like a big "EAT AT JOE'S DINNER" sign.
For 90% of the year all a walleye really has on its mind is food, and not becoming somebody else’s food, play the odds, fallow the food.
Backwater Eddy.....><sUMo>