Should walleyes move farther upcurrent, either into a fairly large and deep river or traverse a smaller river to reach a connected lake, they at least temporarily display classic river patterns. They hold in deep holes at river bends or along current breaks formed by natural or manmade structures. Vertically jig a jig and minnow combo, slowly slipping downstream as you bounce the jig on and off bottom.

Connected Waters -- Small lakes connected to the Great Lakes via a river often host seasonal migrations of walleyes, with peak fishing opportunities in spring and fall. Fish them as you'd fish an inland body of water, with a few key subtleties in mind: (1) Walleyes can be much larger and more numerous than in inland waters, so gear up with bigger lures and livebaits. (2) Expect a variety of patterns to occur simultaneously, due to the numbers of fish present. (3) If the water is clear, which many such areas are, expect significant suspension in the basin during the day, favoring open-water trolling as a primary pattern, plus secondary structural-edge and weedline patterns. These are big fish accustomed to suspending in clear water. They're reluctant to move shallow unless conditions are opportune. (4) At night, when walleyes penetrate the shallows, try longline trolling or fancasting with large minnow-imitating crankbaits like #13 or #18 Rapalas, Storm ThunderSticks, and Super Rogues. (5) If the water is dingy or discolored by river runoff or natural stain, expect shallower patterns to predominate during the day.

THEY'RE HERE!
Early fall trips to Great Lakes bays often produce good mixed species fishing for walleyes, pike, and smallmouth bass, with the accent on catching summer resident fish, which generally are of good size but not necessarily monsters. Somewhere around midfall to late fall, however, suspended fish begin appearing in the adjacent basin, larger-than-usual walleyes begin appearing along shoreline drop-offs and weedbeds, and bleary-eyed nighttime shorecasters begin telling tall tales at the office water cooler of the previous night's activities. Bingo -- trophy time -- the leading edge of waves of huge fish making seasonal inshore migrations.

Snow flies. Temperatures dip below freezing at night. Frost-slickened boat launches greet you at sunrise. By the latter stages, skim ice may extend a short distance offshore, easily crunchable with your boat hull to create a path through shoreline rim ice that melts by midmorning. Prime time for monster walleyes.

When autumn fishing on smaller inland waters is winding down, perhaps even moving into ice season, fall big-water patterns on the Great Lakes are just kicking in. Best of all, instead of fishing way out there for fish in expansive open water, it's fishing way in here for big fish migrating to you, with more arriving every day. It's trolling confined sections of open water, plus traditional structure, weed, river, and shorefishing patterns most walleye anglers already apply on inland waters. And perhaps as simple as a short cast off a long pier at midnight. Walleyes ripe for the catching, day and night.