Shallow Walleyes, October Bugs and more!

[Toad]

Hey-hey-hey!

This Toad played hooky Monday and Tuesday, two incredible fall days to spend on the water. And fishing was absolutely fantastic-- Monday on Pelican Lake and yesterday on Whitefish. The warm weather has spurred new hatches of insects like midges or "lake flies" in the evenings. I believe they’ve been drawing perch and sunfish back into shallow weed areas. As a result, we've been seeing walleyes, bass and pike moving back into shallower areas to find food. Walleyes in shallow weeds in fall signal good fast fishing.

On Pelican this week for example, while many anglers have continued fishing in 35 to 50 feet of water (normal fall walleye depths), I found many active walleyes in 15 to 23 feet—right along the edges of remnant weedlines. At night, these fish are moving into 3 to 5 feet. Same deal on Whitefish, where during the day, we're seeing big schools of shiners and bluegills dimpling the surface over shallow weed flats. I’ve spoken to a few fellas lately who’ve been catching walleyes on spinnerbaits (while fishing for bass) right up in the old coontail beds. That’s what I call active walleyes.

Mostly, though, I’ve done best with a simple split shot / circle hook rig and a 4 to 6-inch redtail chub. Big shiners have started to produce lately also. Other anglers, like Marv Koep, who Monday guided a group of Nuns to 18 walleyes, has been doing the traditional livebait rig thing.

As a side note, I've been "Aqua Vuing" a ton this month. After close to 80 hours of underwater camera work this fall, I can honestly say my knowledge of area lakes and their fish has dramatically improved based on what I've observed. It’s opened up a whole new plane of possibilities. Not to mention the new spots-- areas I would have never known existed had I not seen them with the camera. Great ice fishing spots, too.

I want to talk more on all this soon. So check an article I'll be doing for fishingminnesota.com. For right now my mind is alive with ideas and excitement over what I've been observing. Sure would like to hear about your experiences with underwater cameras. Let me know what you’ve learned. Hope to see you fine folks on the water real soon.

-a friend called Toad