I live in missouri and I visit a smaller sized lake that has walleye. I do not have a boat so obviously I am new to walleyes. What are some strategies for catching walleyes from the bank

  

Jermo,

I live in Cleveland Ohio 5 minutes from Lake Erie so I do not know if this pertains to a smaller lake but I don’t see why not.  Walleye fishing off shore has always been dusk till dawn event for me and a lot of others I know.  We primarily us stick bait something like Rapala f11 perch or shad or Lucky Craft live pointers 110 again perch or American shad.  Some have success with a slip bobber setup I have not.  Hope someone talk about that.  Also soft swim baits seem to work well Strike King Shad-A-Licious.  Casting out for us means 10 foot of water (fow) at shore we are 4 fow this make a difference to how fast you retrieve.  Some lures will float some will stay suspended.  You need to use the lures that work in your water conditions talk to some of the people in the bait stores; hopefully they will lead you in the right direction.  These fish were caught off shore.   Good luck and don’t give up      

 

Thanks Tony NAFC Life Member

I have never spent much time night fishing walleye(I should). During the day the fish always seem to be on the bottom or near it. I have had my best luck with a jig and leech drifting, or trolling a Salmo hornet in Perch near the bottom. You should be able to cast from the bank with either of these baits. Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

Where at in Mo, i am from kc.mo area and i fish the Longview lake dam for walleyes.

Another thought on this topic. Pick a body of water to fish, buy a map of the lake and study it. Look for a flat adjacent to deeper water, hopefully near a point. Fish this spot during the day to get a feel for it and plot any snags. After you have some familiarity with the spot, go back and fish it at night. I have done this on a local bass pond with reasonable success. Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

I have always fished large water great lakes but still catch walleye off the shore in the spring and fall I don’t know much about smaller lakes and points there are no real points around here just big coast and it gets deep fast one foot in 10 feet down.  Saturday I am going out 20 miles north of Cleveland and will be fishing 70 FOW (foot of water) for miles. We will have8 to 10 poles garaging harness off dipsys and Rapala DTD 10’s (deep tail dancers) with 1oz in lines off boards looking for 24 to 30 walleye. That’s what we do in the summer to catch walleye on Lake Erie. Drifting has shut down in the central basin and you must go deep.  I would like to fish some small lakes but Lake Erie always calls my name.  

Thanks Tony NAFC Life Member

I've always had the most success still fishing with a pickerel rig with minnows.  Jig heads with twister tails with a slow retrieve have also been a good option.  But I've also caught good numbers jigging from shore in 18 inches of water.

Here is my 2 cents worth.  First off all the info above is a great place to start. all the answers posted are things i have done with reasonable success in multiple bodies of water.  Walleye are a agressive fish that hates the sun.  Their eyes are very sensitve to the light so during the bright sunny days they tend to go to the deeper parts (20+ ft if availible) during the daylight hours. Now that doesnt hold true all the time as i have caught nice eyes in 5 ft of water on a bright sunny no wind day.  I would start by find a drop off with rocky to heavy gravel bank and fish it before dusk, thru the night, and then tell just after dawn. if it gets deep enough, you can effectively fish it all day long with a long cast to deeper waters. i would use lures as jig and twister, slip bobbers with minnows, crawlers, leaches, bottom fishing with a carolina rig except with live bait on smaller #2-#6 live bait hooks. Also casting deep diving crankbaits (#5 to even #9 shad raps) work well if you can fish adjacent to the shore ( like standing on the point and casting with parralel to the bank). Another great way to enjoy eye fishing from the bank is to find a good dam with walleye in the water.  I dont know what the rivers are filled with were you are from, but a good technique here is to slip bobber them. if you know about the depth of the water, set it about a foot to 18" above the bottom and cast just short of the dam so the bobber carries the bait down and into some slack water. walleye tend to hang out in those areas to get an easy meal. jigs work good too. casting past the slack water and working it thru it is another good way for eyes. Colors i like are chartruse, green, gold, red, or white(glow). Crankbaits depend on the forage in the lake or something that they can pick out. I hope that this helps out some. Good luck out there and bring home a good fry full.

 

Luke

 

 

 

 

 

 

I live in the Dayton, Ohio area. I fish Ceasars Creek, Cowen lake and CJ Brown for walleyes (and saugeyes} from the bank all the time. The best method I have found in these lakes are a slip bobber with a bass minnow. The areas I tend to do well in have a shallow area that drops off to a minimum of 15 feet, however 20 foot areas seem to be better. I set my line starting at about 10 feet and put it out just past the drop off. I then adjust my depth until I find them. They seem to like to run the edges of these drop offs. They also seem to travel around a bit. You may catch 1 or 2 then nothing for awhile then they return and you may get 1 or 2 more. During the heat of the summer this method seems to be worthless during the day but works really well at night but spring and fall it's very effective at any time. This also seems to work fairley well on crappies too, only use a smaller minnow.

Sounds like god advice for the water being fished! Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

Wow some things I need to try from above. In summer if you can't get out at dawn/dusk, try finding some shallow sand or gravel bars/shelves and the surrounding drops and weed edges. These areas are most productive during midday when heading into a full moon. Any shiner or shad imitator usually works best, for fun try a soft plastic swimbait in pearl, shad or fire tiger. Of course water clarity being a factor in your retrieve speed.

I've had a great deal of success using a worm harness (chartreuse or competition orange) wade fishing along the edges of underwater gravel road beds, especially if the road is lined with trees.  Cast out and make a very slow retrieve.  Typically, my retrieve is a twitch and wait 4-8 seconds, then twitch again.

 

Good luck,

Ed

Ed Kealer Remember: Catch and release everything NOT intended for grease!

Here's a hot location for river 'eyes right through winter. Below dams in the pool area and seam and eddy area below it. Drift jigs tipped with a minnow and keep your rod tip high all you get is a subtle tap. To start getting out in the water more pick up a pair of neoprene waders.

1/4 oz jig depending on current speeds with a 3'' mister twister color depending on what is the largest forage base on your body of water, Find a nice firm jigging rod medium actions work great and in spinning models more sensitivity there, use 4-8lb test superlines preferably powerpro in my case i have found that it does not twist as much as the flat braids like fireline although berkley does offer a round braid now at a higher price, and your retrieve speed should most generally be slow and popping it off the bottom with either light pops or firm snaps keeping the tension on your line as soon as you feel bottom snap it or pop it off the bottom immediately and do not forget if your not losing jigs when fishing from the bank for eyes you are not fishing it right.

I am watching your 6 you watching mine? Its easier to Judge then be Judged, Its better to be Judged and Learn from it. Holdrege, Nebraska

i have also fished off the shore for walleyes. on way is if you can find a rock ledge out on a angle from the shore (so your not snagging ever 2 seconds) a jig and minnow work perfect. and i cast it out let it hit the bottom then reel it in a little bit. stop reel it in a little bit stop and just keep doing that. or a cast and reterive with a rapal white perch shad rap or a firetiger thunderstick has always worked great for me. if theres a damn near by with a bridge and cat walk long lineing a rap works great or as in my case the white fish moved in so i'm jigging a one eye (kinda like a buckshot) and in the last 2 nights i've picked up 4 walleyes one was 30 inches just standing on the walking platform of the bridge. but for your area i would expermint with diffrent raps and techniques. and try to pick a rap that resembles the bait fish in there. if you have alewife in there or around you i suggest a silve and blue little cleo. looks just like the alewife swimming around.

Well last night the rain started, so by tomorrow when the water is flowing good below the dams, I'll be fishing. Rapalas, drifting jigs with meat or plastic maybe even some in-line spinners. The bite will be on.

I use my spinners and spoons mid summer for eyes thats when i have my best luck with them.

I am watching your 6 you watching mine? Its easier to Judge then be Judged, Its better to be Judged and Learn from it. Holdrege, Nebraska

lindy rigs and floatin jig are bread and butter for lake oahe shore fishin but then again we got it good here