Walleye on the fly
- Thread starter Billy
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Phil Rowley has a few good videos on this topic. Worth checking out.
Rob Allen
Life of the Party
I haven't caught any on flies and I am not much of a walleye fishermen but I have caught quite a few of them now and catch them consistently on gear...
Walleye come up shallow to feed on baitfish at night. My guess in central Washington the bait fish would bewould be perch maybe small trout where they coexist with walleye.
Here we get them on suspending jerkbaits at night, especially in the fall.
I think what I would try is to find a large flat near deep water you know to hold walleye then fish them at dusk with baitfish patterns, maybe a gamechanger on a sink tip or intermediate line.
Stormy days will also draw them up shallow and feed.
That are a predator species so the old adage applies, find the bait, find the fish
Probably not too helpful but that's all I got..
They aren't hard to catch once you find them.
Walleye come up shallow to feed on baitfish at night. My guess in central Washington the bait fish would bewould be perch maybe small trout where they coexist with walleye.
Here we get them on suspending jerkbaits at night, especially in the fall.
I think what I would try is to find a large flat near deep water you know to hold walleye then fish them at dusk with baitfish patterns, maybe a gamechanger on a sink tip or intermediate line.
Stormy days will also draw them up shallow and feed.
That are a predator species so the old adage applies, find the bait, find the fish
Probably not too helpful but that's all I got..
They aren't hard to catch once you find them.
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Ryan Smart
Steelhead
Most of the walleyes that I've ever caught fly fishing have been on Clousers, but occasionally have caught them on other pike or smallmouth flies.
I have zero experience fishing for them in the PNW, but would imagine they behave similarly to the walleyes in their native range and stick pretty close to the bottom. Like one of the other replies said, they will often move into shallow water to feed in low light conditions, so that would likely be the most likely time to find them in fly-accessible parts of lakes.
I caught several on flies last week... but it's cheating because I was in northern Minnesota and Ontario. These both ate Clousers, but think I got one on a Murdich Minnow at some point during the week too.
ryan
I have zero experience fishing for them in the PNW, but would imagine they behave similarly to the walleyes in their native range and stick pretty close to the bottom. Like one of the other replies said, they will often move into shallow water to feed in low light conditions, so that would likely be the most likely time to find them in fly-accessible parts of lakes.
I caught several on flies last week... but it's cheating because I was in northern Minnesota and Ontario. These both ate Clousers, but think I got one on a Murdich Minnow at some point during the week too.
ryan
Me too. Most of the ones that I have caught on the Columbia were 20 to 40 ft deep using garden hackle or jigs. Found a couple shallower last week but havenāt had a chance to try for them since.
I used to catch them regularly in MN . The right conditions are key. There, the difference in Walleye behavior in dark colored and clear lakes is dramatic. I have caught lots of them in <5 feet of water mid day- in dark tanin stained lakes when the wind blows hard. In clear lakes they are typically deeper and as others have said come shallower and get more aggressive in the evening. Wind is bad for fly casting but tends to move walleye shallower. For example I would expect different depths and habits in Potholes and Roosevelt due to differences in clarity. They are typically near the bottom but both in the Midwest and here there is a tendency to suspend around schools of baitfish in the fall. This is a great time to catch them on flies if you can find this. I have got walleye in Roosevelt suspended in the fall.
When they are deep closure and similar are good. Floating flies like tightly spin muddlers fished near bottom work too. A spun deer hair hex nymph was killer in northern MN lakes at times.
When they are deep closure and similar are good. Floating flies like tightly spin muddlers fished near bottom work too. A spun deer hair hex nymph was killer in northern MN lakes at times.
I live in Minnesota and do fish lakes that have em but I almost never catch them when I'm going after musky, bass, and pike. Most of the lakes I fish aren't known as walleye lakes, they just have a few in there. Nonetheless, I've always found it weird that I don't hook into more of them by accident. There is one river I fish occasionally where I catch them regularly. They are mixed right in with the smallies.
The gear guys here seem to like to fish for em at night. The walleye is the salmon of Minnesota. Everyone and their mother likes to eat them and they get priority in terms of stocking and management from the DNR.
The gear guys here seem to like to fish for em at night. The walleye is the salmon of Minnesota. Everyone and their mother likes to eat them and they get priority in terms of stocking and management from the DNR.
I have loosely ātargetedā them just from a standpoint that I recall when Iāve caught some as bycatch (either smallie fishing or Muskie fishing, all in rivers) and then tried to replicate that. Very different experience but similar to what @RichS said - condition dependent. The rivers I fish I would catch them on clousers and other Muskie flies (single hooked flies and articulated) and usually in the fall/winter in that 3-6ā deep rolling flat type water or in eddyās in big pools. Usually fishing full sinking lines and in the fall, better when water is cloudy or up higher and certainly with overcast and cloudy or rainy conditions.
All of that to say minnow patterns where youād expect with the right conditions and they were there to be had and active enough
All of that to say minnow patterns where youād expect with the right conditions and they were there to be had and active enough
Ryan Smart
Steelhead
Agree 100% with this!
I was thinking about this after reading your post, and it occurred to me that I have never seen a walleye bite my fly, or even a jig and minnow, etc. With smallmouth, pike, muskies, etc it's not uncommon to see the fish during the strike or before, but walleyes are either deep enough, or in broken water, or water with enough color that I've never seen them until they're hooked and fighting. This includes catching them in 2-4 of water, but it's either tannin stained or below rapids, etc. There are probably cases where this wouldn't be true, but hasn't been my experience.
Side question - anyone have any experience catching them on spey gear with sink tips below the dams on the Snake or Columbia? That seems like it could be productive.
ryan
Jim F.
Still a Genuine Montana Fossil
I've caught them while chasing bass and always while using minnow patterns. Most catches were the rare single fish, but on a couple occasions I have caught multiples when I encountered Walleye feeding on smaller fish in shallow water, and both events occurred just before dark.
Long ago when we were able to fish the Columbia immediately below the Grande Coulee dam (years ago before 9/11) we'd fish jigs and worms for the Walleye and would get the occasional big Rainbow or Kokanee as bycatch. One day a couple of us fished bead head wooley buggers (black buggers with orange hot beads) on the swing a little further downriver where a consistent flow resumed using our 8wts and sinktips and caught a few nice Walleye (more than our main target of big Rainbows). Would be a perfect place for a switch rod and a weighted sculpin imitation.
Fwiw, I fish them with gear a lot in the lower Columbia and in Roosevelt, and it pays to mark spots and fish slow with a bottom walker/worm harness of some type. Iāve tried targeting them with sinking lines and booby style leeches, not a whole lot of luck, but Iāve only given it a half hearted effort. I really love trolling and chilling out with whoever climbs into my boat, beers, occasional dip, and walleye tacos.
Bass-O-Matic
Life of the Party
For you Billy probing Moses Lake might be the simplest given how murky the algae makes the water blocking light from penetrating very deep. If you could do that on a darker day or early or late it would be even better. I think Paul Williams gave it a try and did get one on the fly not too many years ago. Not sure I'd eat anything out of that water though.
I recall a news article years ago where Fish and Game was checking a native cleaning station (salmon) and they came across a walleye head where they estimated the fish could have been 40 lbs. This was down on the OR/WA border stretch of the Columbia.
I recall a news article years ago where Fish and Game was checking a native cleaning station (salmon) and they came across a walleye head where they estimated the fish could have been 40 lbs. This was down on the OR/WA border stretch of the Columbia.
So weāve been out three times for eye since I posted and I have a question to run by OPā¦.one I asked myself when I was first trying to get these bottom huggers(no disparagement, as I also love to hug a good bottomā¦.see what I did there??)
Whatās your why for using fly gear to catch these eye???
For me, it was a combo of my mentality to do my best to exact revenge for all the smolt that I perceive that they eat (no idea how much predation there is on salmonids, but I can confidently assume itās not zero) and they way they tasteā¦.if itās either of those, grab a cheap levelwind combo, some of the worm harnesses @skyriver posted (I prefer smileblades over colorados or any metal bc of the speed needed to spin a metal blade), bottom walkers between 3/4 and 3 oz, some garden hackle, and go to town.
We just got back from Roosevelt and god damn thereās not much more fun to be had than trolling bottom walkers and worm harnesses with a buddy and your kids.
Whatās your why for using fly gear to catch these eye???
For me, it was a combo of my mentality to do my best to exact revenge for all the smolt that I perceive that they eat (no idea how much predation there is on salmonids, but I can confidently assume itās not zero) and they way they tasteā¦.if itās either of those, grab a cheap levelwind combo, some of the worm harnesses @skyriver posted (I prefer smileblades over colorados or any metal bc of the speed needed to spin a metal blade), bottom walkers between 3/4 and 3 oz, some garden hackle, and go to town.
We just got back from Roosevelt and god damn thereās not much more fun to be had than trolling bottom walkers and worm harnesses with a buddy and your kids.
I also can not say enough about how helpful electronics areā¦we upgraded to a Garmin UHD 9ā head unit with the sonar/clearvu/sidevue/lakevu the whole damn thingā¦.what a world of difference it makes. Iām not sure we would have caught a single fish yesterday at Rossie without it. It was choppy and hard to stay on the line. Also a good trolling motor. The minnkota auto pilot is the bees freakin knees.
I've had a number of them landed in my boat when fishing the smallmouth beds around Goose Island as well as a couple areas on Lake Roosevelt. Best luck has been with black leeches on the bottom. Mostly incidental fish, but there were a few times we tried for them and had a little success.
