Fishing during the fall can be very good for all species. We often find fish in that transition. They are relating to large pieces of structure. That might be, shallow or deep rock reefs, shallow weeds, or even current areas such as bridges. Bait fish are being pushed either up or down a break line or moving into a bay or out of it. This being said, there is movement of all types of fish during the fall time. Follow the bait!! Trolling can be one of the best ways to target large numbers of fish. Using sonar to your advantage and finding/following the bait. Trolling allows you to adjust where fish are and cover a lot of water. 
Every one has heard the phrase, "bigger baits = bigger fish." During the fall and into the early part of winter, this certainly holds true. By this time of the year, the young bait fish are larger than they were in the spring allowing you use large baits to mimic the bait. Often times, myself included, fisherman think that fish are bulking and looking for a big meal. That plays true all year round, but during the fall, fish are going to be bulking for the winter months.
As I talked about in my most recent post, trolling leadcore can be on of the most versatile ways to target walleyes while trolling. Allowing to get those crankbaits down deep without letting your whole spool of line out. Not all crank baits are created equal. Each has their own shape, action, and size that is critical to pay attention to during the fall months.
There are three types of crankbaits: minnow-shaped, shad-shaped, and fat body lures. Slim stickbaits or lures in the shape of minnows are available in both shallow- and deep-diving varieties. The action produced by this kind of crankbait is best described as a top-to-bottom roll or wobble. Stickbaits are the best lures for fall fishing because of their delicate motion, which tends to function particularly well in chilly to cold water temperatures. These lures come alive at a modest retrieve or trolling speed, making them utterly lethal for fall walleye.
Lures that fall into this category are: Storm Deep Jr. ThunderStick, which is my favorite, Rapala's Deep Husky Jerk, Bomber 25A, and Reef Runner Deep Diver.
Crankbaits with shad bodies are made to closely resemble the gizzard or thread fin shad species. Shad-style lures feature a wider wobbling movement and a somewhat wider body than minnow baits. The finest action with shad baits is at somewhat quicker trolling and retrieve speeds. Shad baits, such as the Reef Runner Ripshad, Rapala Shad Rap, Cotton Cordell CC Shad, and Berkley Flicker Shads, are excellent walleye baits in the early fall. The efficiency of shad baits decreases as the water cools.
A kind of lures known as "fat body crankbaits" has a tendency to have a wide body and action. These lures incorporate a more forceful wobbling movement due to their broader diving lip. In warm water situations, fat body lures perform remarkably well, but they are rarely the crankbaits of choice while walleye fishing in the fall. These lures are just unsuitable for cold water walleye fishing because they need to be retrieved or trolled at quicker rates to elicit the aggressive behavior.
Knowing how each lure is going act in the water is very crucial but knowing the dive curve for each lure is key. I use an app on my phone called, (www.precisiontrollingdata.com). It is an app that gives you dive curves of over 750 different crank baits. Within the app, it allows you to look how much line to let our behind the boat for your lure to run a particular depth.
Another way to target walleyes is wader/bank fishing. This can be done but not limited to, rocky areas, sand flats, bridges, current areas. Casting soft plastics has been my go to presentation during this method of fishing. Using an 1/8 ounce or 1/4 ounce jig head or swim bait jig head paired with a grub/minnow style plastic. I love using the B-Fish-N Authentic X Pulse-R plastic. White, gold, and blue and white are my go to colors for this plastic. One other plastic I tend to use a lot is the Walleye Assassin Turbo Shad in the 4 inch model. These are a little bit bigger profile than the Pulse-R so you get the "bigger bait" affect with these.
Fall walleyes are very fun to target when knowing what lure or presentation to use. As the water starts to cool from the summer months into the fall, be sure to increase your bait size a little for those bigger fish. It's true, size does matter when trying to target fall walleyes!
Do you think this is true? Let me know your favorite trolling lure or casting setup. #FishinWorldWide
Comments
Post a Comment