Andrew's Adventures

A river walleye fall primer

Thu, October 20, 2011

Now that I am back in the Chicago area until further notice (pending this job thing and a desired full-time move to the north), my main focus from now until first ice will be fishing the Northern Illinois river systems for walleyes.

My personal fishing records and logs indicate that the months of October and November are my most productive for catching river walleyes.

Ever since fall of 2005, I have made it a ritual every year to diligently pursue these elusive and puzzling fish species during the fall months. Of course, these fish can be caught year round. But when it comes to catching numbers of them as well as fish of magnitude, absolutely NOTHING beats the quality of success that can be enjoyed during the months of October and November.

Why you may ask? I will outline for you.

The days grow shorter and water temperatures cool to a more acclimating level for fish. The best walleye fishing of the fall occurs in water temperatures ranging from 40 to 55 degrees. The effects of weather, resulting in cooling temperatures, and the changing of seasons stimulates feeding migrations for all species of fish, including baitfish and prey fish. With these changes, walleyes like most other fish species will take notice, peek feeding windows emerge and fish become as active as they ever will be.

As water temperatures are falling, walleyes embark on feeding migrations that propel them towards dams and their wintering holes and other likely areas elsewhere in between. Likely areas that will concentrate walleyes are deep rock bottomed pools downstream of dams, drop-offs and holes adjacent to mid-river gravel and rock flats, and wing dams.

The Northern Illinois region is littered with small to medium size rivers such as the Fox, Kankakee, Des Plaines, and several of their tributaries. Each river system contains stocked walleyes to some degree. In addition, although it is best suited for boat access, we may even include the Illinois River into the mix as each are in its drainage system.

Unless I have boat access, I wade fish the rivers 100% of the time. The rivers I fish are mostly shallow and best fished by wading anyways. Majority of my fishing takes place during the afternoon and nighttime hours. Fishing during the coldest hours of autumn results in having to wear neoprene waders and warm clothing. The after dark hours of casting will surely get cold, but when you consistently latch on to fish larger than 20 inches, the time invested becomes well spent.

It doesn’t take much in the way of gear and tackle to catch walleyes during fall. Oftentimes I’ve hit the river with just a rod and reel (at minimum a 6.5ft medium action rod with reel spooled with 6lb line) with a few select minnowbaits. Most of the time, however, I bring a variety from soft plastics to hard baits such as minnows.

My most important pieces of fall walleye tackle is a healthy selection of properly-tuned minnowbaits. Despite its price, the Rapala brand has proven to be my favorite due to the wide variety of styles and color patterns, enabling me to properly match the hatch according to any forage species present where walleyes are.

Favorites are an assortment of Countdowns, Husky Jerks, Original Floaters, suspending Husky Jerks, Shad Raps for deep holes, and Shallow Shad Raps for quick coverage of shallower rocky flats. Besides the Rapala brand, others that are prevalent in my small box is the Rebel Minnow, and Matzuo family of minnows. Each style and color ultimately has its time and place at various points throughout my fall river fishing adventures. It’s not what I want, but as I’ve learned it’s what the fish want. A properly presented lure is everything, and I cannot stress that enough.

At this writing, my fall fishing for river walleyes has gotten off to a very late start. During a normal season I’d begin catching fish with consistency by October 1st. Due to my up north trips which concluded this past weekend, I was only able to start this past week - almost three weeks later than usual. Once I find fish though, I have around two weeks of catching to make up for the late start I’ve had in 2011.

To read more about how I successfully wade for river walleyes in the fall, and to learn how certain conditions dictate the ways I fish and where I fish, be sure to pick up the October copy of Heartland Outdoors Magazine - available at several locations throughout the state and surrounding regions.

As the open water season dwindles down to the beginning of winter, there’s no better way for me to enjoy fall. When the odds significantly increase for catching fish of this magnitude, braving the fall cold and nighttime elements is worth it.

Here are some of the nicer fall walleyes I’ve pulled out from our area rivers over the years:

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