Night Trolling For Walleyes

The green, red and white navigation lights from other boats slowly glided through the darkness, setting the ambiance for another night fishing adventure. Within a few minutes of starting a trolling run, I connected with a fierce and feisty walleye that hammered my shallow-running minnow bait. Through the flashlight beam the fish became visible. Once boatside it was netted and quickly released. I returned my bait to the water, gazed up at the stars and breathed the cool, evening air - ah, the joys of night trolling for walleye!

If you have yet to get hooked on night fishing for walleyes, you're missing out. Walleye anglers can have all the latest bells and whistles in tackle or know the latest techniques, but the basic fact remains that walleyes are low-light feeders. They become active at dark and fishing for them when the sun's down puts the odds in your favor.

Trolling Locations

Areas to cover when trolling during the night for walleyes include breaklines, points, sandbars, and shoals next to deep water where walleyes can easily move into shallow water to feed. Cover is also critical to your search. Walleyes will often favor areas with weeds or rocks because cover attracts prey, but also aids these predators when ambushing forage. It's best to fish a variety of structures until you locate them, keeping in mind that fish will roam various depths from 2 feet to 20 feet of water.

Trolling Techniques

It's tough to beat the silent hum of an electric trolling motor or a paddled canoe to avoid spooking walleyes, but long lining with gas motors is also an effective method. S-turns are a good pattern to follow when trolling. Refrain from using rod holders. They work well in the day, but at night you won't feel (or see) a fish hit, or be able to monitor the action of your bait if you're not holding the rod. GPS units are an excellent addition to your boat when trolling as they allow you to navigate at night as well as return to productive areas by storing waypoints instead of relying on landmarks as references in the dark.

Keep It Simple

When fishing at night keep things simple and organized. Don't bring too many rods or try to fish with more than two anglers. Keep gear (such as nets, pliers, and flashlights) at the ready. If your boat has them, use the onboard lights to help you find your way around, but use orange bulbs that attract bugs less than white ones. A headlamp is another great piece of gear to have on board, allowing you to keep both hands free.

Top Tackle Choices

Crankbaits and minnowbaits are the stars of nighttime trolling. Various wobbles and wiggles appeal to the different dispositions of walleye throughout the season, so keep a variety of straight, jointed, narrow, and fat-billed trolling baits in your tackle box. Shallow-running baits, such as a Rapala J-9, work well for trolling over the top of weeds to avoid hang-ups. Deeper-running baits, such as Cotton Cordell's Wally Diver, work well for probing the edges of breaklines or around shoals. Another top trolling choice is a spinner rig tipped with a worm, leech, or minnow.

Safety

Unlike walleyes that see well in the dark, anglers lose the reliance of their No. 1 sense when night fishing - sight. To keep your night-trolling adventures safe, use your boat's running lights and wear a lifejacket. Also, exercise caution around other boats as depth perception is dramatically reduced in the dark. And, if possible, get on the water an hour or so before nightfall so your eyes can adjust to the changing light conditions.

Finally, leave an itinerary with someone on land, including your estimated time on and off the water and fishing area. Bring a cell phone or other communication device with you for emergencies. All these points should be standard whenever boating, but they are especially important when night fishing.

Give night trolling a try this season and hunt walleyes when they're feeding and active. Not only will you likely find them more aggressive than during the day, but you'll also likely experience little (if any) boat traffic, or crowded fishing spots, which is a welcome sight to any angler, even in the dark.