Sam Anderson
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One of the best cures for late summer’s rising heat and humidity is night fishing. In fact, some of the best anglers have taken their biggest walleye at night. But success requires you to understand the subtleties of fishing under the cover of darkness.
Seek shallow waters
By late summer/early fall, water temperatures start dropping, and fish start migrating to shore. In big, shallow lakes, walleye traditionally begin leaving the flats and their deeper environs. By mid-September through mid-October, they’re prowling in less than 10 feet of water much of the time.
Walleye can cruise in amazingly shallow waters after dark. I’ve taken them in no more than a foot of water at night. In fact, wading is sometimes easier than boat fishing. However, summer walleye are easily spooked and must be fished from a distance. Long-line trolling can be quite effective because it allows time for the boat to pass overhead and for the spooked walleye to regroup. When the bait finally passes fish, they hit it with a subtle, gentle tug.
Do your homework
Study your lake map in daylight and look for three types of water obstructions to locate walleye.
First, find the typical walleye structure composed of dropoffs, rock formations, points or inside turns. Then locate shallow structures usually found in the middle of the lake – mid-lake humps, rock piles, reefs, sunken islands, etc.
The third walleye-friendly structure is made up of weeds and wood, areas that might be classified as more bass or northern pike habitat but which see a host of walleye hanging out throughout the year. If you understand the predator-prey relationship, the reason fish hang out in weeds becomes obvious. If a walleye is placed in the lake as a fry, it becomes prey and naturally will find a place to hide. When the walleye grows up, it becomes a predator and instinctively knows to search weeds for prey.
