Bob Jensen reveals three tips on how to catch fall walleye

Tip 1:
The key to catching fish in the fall on rivers is the same as always—you’ve got to find ’em. You’ll need to do some looking. Different areas will produce with varied results. Sand flats, wing dams, mid-river holes, current breaks, etc., they’ll all hold fish. You need to keep moving around until you find the areas that have the most biters.

Tip 2:
Slurp Jigs tipped with a 3- or 4-inch Impulse Smelt Minnow or a 3-inch Swim’N Grub will be productive much of the time. Plastics such as Impulse are usually a very good choice, but there will be days when the fish show a preference to minnows. This is when you want to tie on a Fire-Ball Jig and team it with a minnow. If the fish won’t eat this offering, find another area to fish.

Tip 3:
When they are in the deeper areas, it works well to hover directly over them and hold the bait right in their face. These fish don’t want to chase a bait, but if it is wiggling right there in front of their nose, they’re going to eat it. There are times when you’ll see a flurry of activity early or late in the day, but much of the time the best bite will be from midmorning to midafternoon.

For more in-depth tips on how to effectively target big fall walleyes, be sure to check out the November issue of MidWest Outdoors magazine, available the first full week of November at a newsstand near you.