For local walleye tips, we turn to a national champion.
Walleye, always a mysterious fish here in our area, and very much sought after, not only for amazing table fare but as a prized gamefish. In my 50 years of fishing, I have only known a handful of anglers that consistently target walleye. They’re a wary prey, quite elusive and often caught accidentally while hunting other species. In my years I have only managed to boat a few of these prized fish, mostly when drifting for smallmouth in deeper drop-offs.
But how to target these evasive predators? That was the question I had for Dylan Nussbaum, a top pro in the National Walleye Tour who has finished in the money 49 times since 2015, earning angler of the year honors in 2023, with two first place finishes and five times finishing in the top five overall. In terms of picking the brain of a successful walleye hunter, Nussbaum clearly has the track record of catching walleye, and big ones at that!
Marble-Eye Structure
Fall into winter can be a tricky season for walleye. Nussbaum told me that starting in October we begin to get those cool nights and cold snaps that really bring down the water temps; cold patterns of course are much different that fishing warm water patterns. Whether fishing reservoirs, rivers, or natural lakes, the key is to look for bait moving up into shallow waters. Fish tend to follow, going from deeper areas up to shallow water to feed. Walleye will hold in these deeper edges close to shallow flats, points, and edged, places they can run up and feed quickly, then back to the safety of deeper water.
Targeting hungry fish is the key to Nussbaum’s success. Keeping his sights on the shallow water feeding grounds has paid off over the years, focusing on waters 10 feet or less. The fish moving up in this area are actively seeking out food and are much more likely to grab a lure than those resting in the comfort off a deep ledge. Shallow fish are aggressive, this is where you want to spend your time and effort.
As with many anglers today, electronics are key in the walleye fishery. Down facing sonar, 2D sonar, side scan, structure scan, and forward facing sonar are our eyes to the structure and contours below the water. Nussbaum recommends a chartplotter that can show contour lines in 1-foot increments as a critical tool in order to define the subtle break-lines and river channels walleye inhabit. Look for those break lines that indicate a possible migration trail, an underwater highway that feeding fish use for chasing bait up into much shallower waters.
Conditions this time of year change quickly, and an incoming cold front can kill a bite. Adapt to these changes; most importantly, slow down your presentation, as even the hungry walleye will not be as aggressive. Nussbaum often look for a gravel shoreline, as walleye will be right at the edge in inches of water.
Tools & Tactics
Plastics are one of Nussbaum’s “go-to” baits, and he told me he prefers a 4-inch jerk shad with VMC hooks, allowing that lure to free fall to the bottom. Patience is key this time of year, and you need to be sure the lure get all the way down. Starting your retrieve midway in the water column will often carry your offering over the fish where they may just watch it go by. Get that lure down, and with a light hand simply pop the lure gently off bottom in 6- to 12-inch hops. Then, pop, pop, pause and repeat, keeping it slower in cooler water. If fishing is really slow, you can even slowly drag the lure along the bottom and give it very small pops. Just remember to give the bait as much time in the strike zone as possible for this finicky bite.
Another technique which may seem contrary to the slow presentation with soft plastics is to use a Rapala Jigging Rap or Jigging Rap Magnum. Surprisingly, Nussbaum casts this lure up the shoreline and rips the bait out to the break-line or drop-off, often producing more of a reaction bite when the action is a bit hotter. Yet when the bite is really on, Nussbaum will use a Z-Man Scented Curly TailZ with a 3/8- to half-ounce jighead, or a Z-man Diesel Minnow swimbait. Present this bait as you would the Jigging Rap, casting right up to shore, retrieving quickly or ripping the bait out to the deep water edges. Keep the action erratic; pause, jerk, and pop the bait during the retrieve.
If the bite is too slow flor artificials, you can always go the live bait route, slow drifting shiners or alewives on walleye rigs. Be sure to keep your drift slow, and your bait right at the bottom. The old standby of nightcrawlers on worm harnesses in another favorite time-tested method. Again, keep your presentation low and slow, and always keep one eye on the rod tip and the other on your electronics looking for those edge breaks.
Nussbaum said his best tip was to be sure to do your homework first. He does much of his scouting on a new lake right in his living room using contour mapping services like Navionics which can show lake contours in 1-foot increments. Even paper charts if necessary, just don’t wait until you are on the water to figure out where to fish; have a gameplan established first. Find those shallow flats with deep drop-offs ledges, those break lines, and any feeder creeks well before you even launch the boat.
| WALLEYE WORLD |
| According to the New Jersey Division Fish & Wildlife (Division), walleye fishing is becoming more and more popular, with many Garden State producing good catches. “Walleye from 3 to 7 pounds are not uncommon in the Delaware River, Greenwood Lake, Monksville Reservoir, Swartswood Lake and Lake Hopatcong,” the Division notes in their online description of this species, adding that Canistear Reservoir’s walleye fishery is not far behind the other top spots.
Named for their distinctive eyes, walleye are very sensitive to light and are most active in low light conditions. Overcast days, choppy water, dawn, dusk and at night are prime fishing times. Walleye usually relate to the bottom and some type of structure, however, they will suspend even in the middle of the lake to follow schools of herring. Walleye are noted for their excellent eating quality. |
Tournament fishermen live and die by their electronics. Not every angler can afford to equip their boat with several large screen sonars. Down imaging, forward looking, structure scan can get pretty expensive. But use what you have available, and get good at understanding what the onscreen information is telling you. Have the confidence to keep moving if sonar isn’t showing the structure or conditions that you are looking for.
Getting to competition level for walleye such as Nussbaum takes many, many years on the water keeping your focus on one species. You too can be a good walleye fisherman, if you take time to understand the habits of the fish, how they react to weather conditions, time of day, time of year, boat traffic and fishing pressure. Knowing how and where to anticipate the most favorable conditions will let you spend more time focusing on the prime target zones, and less time searching for fish.
Big thank you to Dylan Nussbaum for taking time out of his busy tournament schedule to pass along a few tips for us. Let’s see if we can use them to get us that new PB walleye this coming season. Go get on ‘em!
