Walleye Fishing

Winter walleye and sauger fishing is not for the faint of heart. Ramps are icy. Temperatures brutal. And if the wind is blowing, the cold will gnaw, layer by layer, through the warmest of clothes until your icy flesh begs for mercy.

A walleye is a walleye regardless of where it swims. Fishermen know the rules for catching these fish in what are considered traditional walleye waters in the North, but in “nontraditional” waters the rules change.

I don’t need to tell you that multi-lure rigs are effective—trollers have long used them to juice their spreads.

Judging from Maslow’s pyramid, our most basic drives aren’t so different from those of other creatures. And just as his theory can help us understand other people, envisioning a walleye’s pyramid of needs can help us understand what motivates walleyes.

 In big rivers, look for walleyes off the tips of current - brushed points. These spots make good feeding areas because they attract huge schools of shiners and other minnows.

A postman would have fits delivering mail to a walleye; it never stays in one place long, and leaves no forwarding address when it moves. Yet, that’s exactly what we have to do each time we launch our boats...

Walleye fishing can sometimes feel like just as much of a gamble as a high-stakes poker game. Fish inhabit only about one-tenth of the water body, and factors like weather and water color, fish behavior and seasonal movements, make finding them a tremendous challenge.

The jig head determines how fast the lure sinks, how well it will hook fish and the lure's action.

Wingdams are often common in big rivers to funnel the current towards the river channel to keep it deep for barge traffic.

Fall can be an intimidating time for walleye fans, many of whom throw up their hands at the challenges of transitional fish locations and feeding behavior. But it doesn’t have to be.