Where to Go for Late-Season Hog Walleye

After the leaves have dropped from the trees, the number of boats on many lakes often dwindles to nearly nothing. I’ve never understood this, as it’s truly one of the best times to not only catch walleye, but big ones. A few years ago, I did just that with In-Fisherman’s own Thomas Allen on a flat calm December day on Lake Erie. We never saw another boat and just flat-out smashed walleyes darn near in sight of the boat launch.

Here are five things to consider if you ditch hunting or your to do list for late season walleyes.

Go Fast

On that aforementioned December day, we set out of a small river connected to Lake Erie for a very specific reason. The river was much warmer than the lake itself and was just full of baitfish. One of my favorite lines that I have spewed many times in the pages of In-Fisherman, “fish don’t go far from the grocery store.” For that reason, I stared intently at my Humminbird graph as we drove out into Erie at around 25 mph. When setup properly today’s modern graphs can mark both baitfish and fish at these high speeds, which allows you to quickly eliminate water. When the water is cold, fish tend to be congregated in tight schools or pods and once you find them it is nirvana, but without a tactic like high-speed marking it can feel more like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Go Slow

Once you do locate fish make sure to slow down, way down. When the water is forty degrees or less you need to remember you may only be a few days from the lake starting to ice up and that slower is often better. Lures that have a softer rattle, action and suspend can be the best option. For these reasons the Rapala Husky Jerk is my go-to when temps dip. These can be both slow trolled or casted depending on the conditions.

Even little things can be big at this time of year. The trend with spinning reels to have extreme retrieve ratios may work great in the summer months, but when people are wearing Santa hats look to use reels with the slowest ratio possible. We all get excited and it can be very hard to slow down enough with our retrieve for what the walleyes want at this time of year.

Go Quiet

Most anglers forget how much sound travels in water and never fully understand how spooky walleyes really are. I have witnessed it so many times in my fishing career I get paranoid even when someone drops a thermos in the boat, and for good reason. Simple things like not slamming compartment lids, turning off unnecessary electronics and using a trolling motor at the lowest speeds possible all will help you get extra bites at this time of year. Modern technology such as live sonar or underwater cameras have shown me in real time just how temperamental walleyes are, enough to prove it really isn’t paranoia.

Go High

In order to have success in the cold-water periods, you typically must put multiple pieces of the puzzle together to have success. That previously mentioned day we caught walleyes in the top 10 feet of the water column that were not marked while fishing, but only seen while traveling at high speed. These high riders often are not only some of the biggest fish, but the most aggressive fish. Trolling them with planer boards well away from the boat is one option.

The other is to utilize modern technology such as Humminbird’s Mega Live. Forward-facing sonar has created both a buzz and a stir because of its effectiveness. The ability to see fish only a few feet below the surface or right on the bottom anywhere from directly below the boat to more than a hundred feet away is a game changer. Regardless if you have or plan on using either one of these technologies, know that walleyes can be found much higher in the water column than most anglers will fish them at this time of year.

Go Low

While fish can be high in the water column, they often spend more time on or near the bottom. These fish can be very temperamental, much in the same way they are in a month when you try to ice fish for them. For that reason, ice tactics can be the go-to, the difference being it is much easier to move around and target more and different fish than when you are drilling a separate hole each time in the winter.

Go to ice fishing lures such as the Rapala Jigging Rap, Rippin Rap, VMC Rattle Spoon, Silver Streak Rattle Streak and even occasionally a blade bait like the Rapala Rippin Blade can be all stars. When you aren’t getting bit or are short-striked, slow down and don’t overlook using a live or dead minnow to help seal the deal. With that said I have also had some really good days using a heavy sized VMC mooneye jig and soft plastic minnow like the Z-Man Diezel Minnowz or Jerk Shadz fished more aggressively to trigger a reaction strike.

Boat control is often as important as the lure itself. The only saying of, “go low, go slow”, has stood the test of time for a reason. A trolling motor like Minn Kota with Spot Lock allows you to hover in place without having to focus all of your energy on keeping the boat in place and is much quieter and more efficient than lugging a heavy anchor up and down too.

If you can bring yourself to get out of the treestand or duck blind in the late fall or early winter, these tips may just help you experience some of the best walleye fishing of your life.

Capt. Ross Robertson

Bigwater Fishing

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