GEAR GUIDE - Fall walleye

Walleye are mostly interested in eating baitfish, so your flies or lures should reflect this. Keep the colours natural, such as silver and white.

Where to look for walleye in the cooler months:

Use your fish finder to determine where the walleye are stacked up (look for transitions in structure and depth, hard/soft lake bottom; fish tend to be at those spots; - find the boundaries of drop zones, sand bars that drop down, weed edges, etc.; use side imaging to locate fish if available).

Then, using your full sink fly line or conventional gear, make your cast, let it sink, and finesse the fly / bait via jigging and retrieving/repeating.

Gear Info:

Fly rod: 7, or 8 weight, 4 piece, 9’ fly rod – medium to fast action. I use Thomas and Thomas fly rods.

Gear rod: 7’ 3 Med/Light fast action spin rod ( a versatile rod)-I use Okuma rods.

Gear reel: Smooth, consistent drag-I use the Insipra reel from Okuma.

Fly reel: Smooth drag fly reel matching the rod wt. I use Ross Reels or Abel.

Line: airflow sinking "shovelhead-sinking line in 300 - 350 grains.

Gear line: I use braid line in 10 lb., ending in 12–15 lb. Flouro-connected with a double uni knot.

Fly tippet: I recommend 1 ft of 10 lb test steel bite tippet. - It’s a supple, nylon-coated, multi-strand stainless-steel leader material that’s tie-able but is tough enough to stand up to the sharpest teeth bite.

Many times, walleye flies are eaten by pike! Prevent fly loss by using this specialized toothy pike tippet. If you do not want to use a wire leader, use 2x or 1x tippet.

Fly leader: A short 3–4 ft flouro leader (10/12 lb test)

Best knot to fly: Non-slip loop knot for maximum fly movement.

Fall flies: I use 1 to 3 inch streamer baitfish patterns in combinations such as silver and white.

Popular names for flies that mimic the classic conventional jig + minnow are:

▪ Muddler minnow & Clouser minnow.

▪ More to consider: white cone-headed Zuddler, Clouser minnow in white, white or black gurgler for suspended fly technique.

▪ UV glow in the dark flashabou streamer (use a UV light on this fly and it’ll be extra bright for low light or depth).

*Gear lure set up: The tried and true jig and minnow : 1/2 -1/8 oz for around 10 ft depth, 1/4 for 15-20 depth, and 3/8 oz jig for greater depths. slower presentation than summer time methods.

vertical jigs in heavier 28g, Lindy rig, and deep diving crank baits.