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In fall, I follow a pattern that mirrors the predictability of the walleyes. It goes like this: jig moderate depths most of the day; cast or troll minnowbaits in the last hour or two before dark and on into the night.

Sound straight forward enough? You bet it is. Although other patterns exist say, plumbing the depths with lead-core line‹I like to keep it simple everywhere from the natural lakes of the North Country to the big water of Lake Erie and the rest of the Great Lakes. This is the time of year when walleyes are primed to feed before winter, focusing on minnow-related prey.
That's precisely why I do the same, working live bait or plastic minnows on
jigs during the light of day, then casting jerkbaits and trolling slim-minnow imitations once the witching hour arrives. The way I look at it, it's a recipe for destruction.

Bigger Bait, Live or Fake
 

Northland Fire-Ball. Jig

Grab a handful of Northland Fire-Ball. Jigs and a bucket of shiners and chubs and you¹re partway there. To complement a live-bait approach, I¹ll stock up on Berkley Power Minnows and long-shank Northland jigs‹an option for when walleyes are really popping or when they¹re really not.

Berkley Power Minnow

By that I mean that plastic minnows jigged a little faster work great when fish are highly aggressive or rather neutral. Sometimes the neutral ones respond to a little more speed than to standard jigging with bait. Try some of each to find what's working. One new offering from Berkley is an assortment of bulked-up four-inch minnows‹new additions beyond the standard three-inchers‹that mimic the bigger baitfish of fall.

Lowrance’s new X-15

Quality electronics, such as the Lowrance liquid-crystal units, will pinpoint both bait and fish‹pretty fine starting points by me. Another asset for such areas is a fairly steep break, which gives the fish the ability to hang out on mud or rock bottom for most of the day and climb into the shallows to chow down as evening approaches.

Minnkota 101

Typically I'll control my drift with a bowmount Minn Kota trolling motor, jigging vertically with sizable minnows (just what walleyes are looking for in fall). I pay attention to when I feel the minnow struggling‹a tip-off predators are in the area. With plastics such as Power Minnows, I'll pitch out and snap them back with a lift-and-drop retrieve or work them right below the boat, hopping them six to 10 inches off bottom. If the wind's an issue, consider investing in Trojan deep-cycle batteries, which have the staying power in the gusts of fall, teamed with an easy-to-open, easy-to-retrieve drift sock from JNB Originals.

Prime depths depend mostly on water clarity. If the lake has a little stain, I can catch fish jigging with bait or plastic between about 12 and 18 feet. If it's pretty clear, I'll go deeper, as deep as 30 feet. Here it's important to watch for fish on electronics. Remember, the deeper you get, the easier it is to see bthem‹particularly in depths in excess of 15 feet. One solid strategy for finding fish is to check out a Fishing Hot Spots map and to look for the most prominent structure on the lake. Then I take a closer look to find where the contour lines are closest, an indication of steeper drops. That¹s the key area to key in on, and it¹s the fastest way to find fall walleyes.

The Boatside Bash
For all the excellent fall fishing in the depths during the daytime, I know when to say when‹that is, when to slide shallower when the sun nears the top of the trees. Like clockwork, walleyes move in farther and are even more aggressive. That makes them perfect targets for minnowbaits.

My favorites are Rapala Husky Jerks, suspending baits that dive when retrieved and stay put, hovering at the same depth, when stopped. In fall, I seldom use anything smaller than a No. 10, usually going larger with a No. 12 or No. 14, even if the fish aren¹t all that large. The reason is that autumn walleyes key in on large baits. It¹s that simple. A trick, though, is to add a strip of tape of reflective tape from WTP Inc. to the bait¹s side. I was sold when I watched minnows flash in a fish tank in low light; I was sold even more so when I tried the tape long ago and caught more walleyes than other anglers in my boat without it.

To work the five- to 12-foot depth profile, I whip out a Husky Jerk, crank
to get it down and stop. If you¹re around walleyes, you sometimes can let it
sit until you get bit. If you don¹t get one to hit the bait, twitch it once, twice or three times and stop. Repeat all the way back to the boat. Warning: Big walleyes will often smack a jerkbait when it¹s a foot from the boat. That's a riot. 

In this instance, keep a loose drag so walleyes don't come unbuttoned on a short line. I put Berkley 6-pound FireLine, a thin-diameter superline, on my Mitchell reels. The reels cast great, eliminating twists and snarls from the line, and offer a smooth drag to help offset the boatside bash.

Original Rapala

My other favorite technique, although it¹s not as up close and personal, is to troll Original Rapala Floaters with an electric motor. When I'm 10 feet or less during the evening or after dark, I seldom add weight to a No. 13 Rap, the perfect size in fall.

With all the techniques out there and all the options that exist when fish are scattered from shallow to deep in summertime, jigging and working minnowbaits are refreshing returns to simplicity. After all, when the walleye's patterns are downright predictable, it makes the most sense to mirror their patterns with minnow imitations out deeper during daylight and in shallower when the light wanes. Well, what are you waiting for?

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