Indiana Walleye Fishing
| 8th Annual Brookville Spring Outing, May 19th, 2012. Fun filled weekend for the entire family. Details coming soon. |
The Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), is the largest member of the perch
family. I guess we should also put in here the Sauger (Stizostedion
canadense). There is also a cross between the Walleye and the
Sauger, known as the Saugeye. The sauger grows more slowly than
the walleye, and is shorter lived. Both make for excellent table fare.
Where to begin? Why do so many Hoosier anglers pursue this
creature of the dark? Could it be because it makes for such nice table
fare? Or is it because this creature is so elusive at times? Sure in the
spring when the fish is making it's spawning runs they are easier to
catch, and again in the fall when they are feeding up for winter. What
about in the other months? How is it that you can catch them in one
spot using a certain technique, and then the next day they are gone?
Is this why we Hoosier anglers pursue these fish. Perhaps it is
because they are not as readily available as fish like bass? Any waters
with a boat ramp will have bass, but not all, nor even the majority
have walleye. It couldn't be for the battle that they put up. They are
not an exciting fighting fish, staying deep and shaking their heads. No
tail dancing water walking aerobatics or any sizzling 100 yard runs
when they see the boat. The smaller ones just surf in to the boat on
the surface of the water with their mouths open.
So why do these fish have such a loyal following? All I know is that I
would rather catch a 5 pound walleye than a 5 pound bass. Would
there be as much catch and release of bass if they tasted like walleye?
After all, bass have no trouble reproducing in lakes, where walleye do.
One would tend to think people would eat more bass and release more
walleye, but that is not the case. The DNR doesn't stock a lot of bass,
but does thousands of walleye a year. Makes you wonder who the
champ is when it comes to favorite fish to go after. Pretty clear cut
choice to me.
When and how do you catch these fish. Let's start in the spring. The
pre-spawn. Early in the year, when the water temps reach the upper
thirties to low forties, the females start to move towards their
spawning areas. These fish like to spawn anywhere from a foot to six
feet of water with a bottom of pea sized gravel to orange sized rocks.
The walleyes need this in order for their eggs to receive the correct
amount of aeration. The males are the first to hit the spawning
grounds when the water gets just about freezing. Just before the
spawn the fish will move shallow and feed heavily. The spawn will only
last for a couple of weeks, but the good news is not all the walleye will
spawn at the same time.
This puts a lot of hungry and aggressive fish into a small area. If you
time it right, you can catch a lot of fish during these few weeks. One
of our favorite places to hit is Oakdale dam and Norway dam on Lake
Shafer in White county. Our primary weapon at this time is the
bucktail jig tipped with a minnow, preferably a river minnow. The gray
ghost 1/16 ounce bucktail is a favorite.
In the summer, switch to crankbaits, crawler harnesses, and jigs
tipped with leeches or minnows. Drift fishing Bass lake in Starke
county with a jig tipped with a minnow after the spawn is deadly. Say
from April through May. Well, until the bluegill start to spawn, then
there are other things to do! June, July, and August we focus on Lake
Maxinkuckee in Marshall county.
In the fall, we like to hit Lake of the Woods in Marshall county. We
troll crawler harnesses as well as larger crankbaits. We go where the
fish are. Different lakes are very different. Things to take into
consideration are how deep is the lake? The shallower the lake, the
faster it cools. Does it have a fall turnover? Not all lakes will do that.
You may find the right temperature for the walleye, but no walleye.
Perhaps the oxygen level there isn't correct. The fish will have to go
to the next best temperature range.
In winter, we tend to use tip ups with golden roaches fished on the
bottom. We also like to jig with jigging Rapala lures.
One thing is to never give up. When you first hit a lake, you may think
there isn't any walleye there. You may get conflicting reports from
different people who may have their own motives for telling you what
they are telling you. Walleye fishing can be fickle. When trolling, the
fish will hook themselves, when jigging, you have to make the rod,
line, and jig an extension of your own body or you will miss more
strikes than you will catch.
Keep trying. Once you catch some fish on a certain breakline, or
hump, or a saddle, you know the fish are there. You will be more apt
to keep at it when they are not biting. Don't be afraid to try different
things. I have had days where I was outfishing everyone because I
was trolling crawler harnesses. Then there has been times when I am
moving all over the lake picking up one here and there and this one
boat is anchored in one spot, casting out and jigging a leech back to
his boat and just killing the fish. One thing is for certain. Once you
know what you are doing, the fish will teach you that you don't know
everything yet. But once you have an idea how to catch these fish,
and have had some success, you will fish a little longer than you might
have before you had the success.
I have one lake I fish that the best times I have had was from 10 AM
to 2 PM. And this is with a cloudless sunny day. The sweat just
pouring off of me. I am catching these fish off a break in 15 feet of
water with the surface temperature over 80 degrees. I was also
catching them in the weeds on a ten foot hump.
Just keep at it and you will have some nice walleye fillets for your table.
Plus, you never know what else you might catch while trolling or
jigging for the elusive walleye!
family. I guess we should also put in here the Sauger (Stizostedion
canadense). There is also a cross between the Walleye and the
Sauger, known as the Saugeye. The sauger grows more slowly than
the walleye, and is shorter lived. Both make for excellent table fare.
Where to begin? Why do so many Hoosier anglers pursue this
creature of the dark? Could it be because it makes for such nice table
fare? Or is it because this creature is so elusive at times? Sure in the
spring when the fish is making it's spawning runs they are easier to
catch, and again in the fall when they are feeding up for winter. What
about in the other months? How is it that you can catch them in one
spot using a certain technique, and then the next day they are gone?
Is this why we Hoosier anglers pursue these fish. Perhaps it is
because they are not as readily available as fish like bass? Any waters
with a boat ramp will have bass, but not all, nor even the majority
have walleye. It couldn't be for the battle that they put up. They are
not an exciting fighting fish, staying deep and shaking their heads. No
tail dancing water walking aerobatics or any sizzling 100 yard runs
when they see the boat. The smaller ones just surf in to the boat on
the surface of the water with their mouths open.
So why do these fish have such a loyal following? All I know is that I
would rather catch a 5 pound walleye than a 5 pound bass. Would
there be as much catch and release of bass if they tasted like walleye?
After all, bass have no trouble reproducing in lakes, where walleye do.
One would tend to think people would eat more bass and release more
walleye, but that is not the case. The DNR doesn't stock a lot of bass,
but does thousands of walleye a year. Makes you wonder who the
champ is when it comes to favorite fish to go after. Pretty clear cut
choice to me.
When and how do you catch these fish. Let's start in the spring. The
pre-spawn. Early in the year, when the water temps reach the upper
thirties to low forties, the females start to move towards their
spawning areas. These fish like to spawn anywhere from a foot to six
feet of water with a bottom of pea sized gravel to orange sized rocks.
The walleyes need this in order for their eggs to receive the correct
amount of aeration. The males are the first to hit the spawning
grounds when the water gets just about freezing. Just before the
spawn the fish will move shallow and feed heavily. The spawn will only
last for a couple of weeks, but the good news is not all the walleye will
spawn at the same time.
This puts a lot of hungry and aggressive fish into a small area. If you
time it right, you can catch a lot of fish during these few weeks. One
of our favorite places to hit is Oakdale dam and Norway dam on Lake
Shafer in White county. Our primary weapon at this time is the
bucktail jig tipped with a minnow, preferably a river minnow. The gray
ghost 1/16 ounce bucktail is a favorite.
In the summer, switch to crankbaits, crawler harnesses, and jigs
tipped with leeches or minnows. Drift fishing Bass lake in Starke
county with a jig tipped with a minnow after the spawn is deadly. Say
from April through May. Well, until the bluegill start to spawn, then
there are other things to do! June, July, and August we focus on Lake
Maxinkuckee in Marshall county.
In the fall, we like to hit Lake of the Woods in Marshall county. We
troll crawler harnesses as well as larger crankbaits. We go where the
fish are. Different lakes are very different. Things to take into
consideration are how deep is the lake? The shallower the lake, the
faster it cools. Does it have a fall turnover? Not all lakes will do that.
You may find the right temperature for the walleye, but no walleye.
Perhaps the oxygen level there isn't correct. The fish will have to go
to the next best temperature range.
In winter, we tend to use tip ups with golden roaches fished on the
bottom. We also like to jig with jigging Rapala lures.
One thing is to never give up. When you first hit a lake, you may think
there isn't any walleye there. You may get conflicting reports from
different people who may have their own motives for telling you what
they are telling you. Walleye fishing can be fickle. When trolling, the
fish will hook themselves, when jigging, you have to make the rod,
line, and jig an extension of your own body or you will miss more
strikes than you will catch.
Keep trying. Once you catch some fish on a certain breakline, or
hump, or a saddle, you know the fish are there. You will be more apt
to keep at it when they are not biting. Don't be afraid to try different
things. I have had days where I was outfishing everyone because I
was trolling crawler harnesses. Then there has been times when I am
moving all over the lake picking up one here and there and this one
boat is anchored in one spot, casting out and jigging a leech back to
his boat and just killing the fish. One thing is for certain. Once you
know what you are doing, the fish will teach you that you don't know
everything yet. But once you have an idea how to catch these fish,
and have had some success, you will fish a little longer than you might
have before you had the success.
I have one lake I fish that the best times I have had was from 10 AM
to 2 PM. And this is with a cloudless sunny day. The sweat just
pouring off of me. I am catching these fish off a break in 15 feet of
water with the surface temperature over 80 degrees. I was also
catching them in the weeds on a ten foot hump.
Just keep at it and you will have some nice walleye fillets for your table.
Plus, you never know what else you might catch while trolling or
jigging for the elusive walleye!
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