Phil Piscitello has some great presentations that will boat help you boat more walleyes this fall.

Late fall is a great time of year to catch lots of walleyes—plus some of the biggest fish of the year. Day-in and day-out, live bait is and will be one of the best ways to put walleyes in the boat—especially in late fall.

Many kinds of live bait catch walleyes: nightcrawlers, leeches and various species of minnows. In fall, minnows outproduce nightcrawlers and leeches 99 percent of the time. After August, leeches are hard to almost impossible to find, so minnows are the best option.

Various species of minnows are available depending on where you live in the Midwest. Fatheads, golden roaches, shiners, suckers, creek chubs, redtail chubs and rainbow dace are all excellent minnows for fall walleye fishing.

In the North Country, it’s hard to beat redtail chubs. Redtails are a hardy, aggressive minnow that attracts attention on a hook. They are continually moving around, and big walleyes love them. Rainbow dace are a close second and are great walleye producers.

A bit to the south and east—Iowa, Illinois and Michigan—suckers are more common. Creek chubs can also be found and are usually the best choice. They are very hardy and aggressive like redtail chubs. Sometimes, you must order them from your local bait shop, but they are well worth it

Suckers are a good second choice. They catch a lot of fish and are usually available at most bait shops. The thing about suckers is, they tire out quicker on a hook than chubs and become less attractive to the fish. You must change them out a little more often to maintain better attraction for walleyes.

Fathead minnows are very popular for a lot of different species of fish. In lakes where walleyes are stocked, and in lakes with high numbers of smaller walleyes, large and extra-large fatheads are great choices. They are excellent on jigs and live bait rigs. They are an extremely hardy minnow and stay alive a long time. While they are the smallest of the “other” minnow species, they catch numbers of walleyes, as well as some very large fish.

There are many ways to present live minnows to walleyes. One of the oldest but deadliest is on a live bait rig. A live bait rig relies on a sliding sinker, such as an egg sinker or walking sinker. The Lindy walking sinker is one of the most popular versions and came with the popular Lindy Rig. Northland Tackle has another popular walking sinker and live bait rig known as the Roach Rig, named after the Legendary Walleye Pro, Mister Walleye Gary Roach.

The next component is the snap swivel that stops the sinker sliding on the line at a certain point. Then comes your leader and hook at the business end of the rig. You can make the leader as long or short as you want. Packaged rigs are usually between 30 and 36 inches. The clearer the water, the longer you want your leader. Leader line can be monofilament or fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon line sinks, is abrasion resistant and is 99 percent invisible in the water. Monofilament line floats, has a little more stretch and is slightly more visible in the water. If you are fishing darker water with a snaggier bottom, monofilament is the way to go.

The hook is the last, but most important part of the rig. Use a premium quality hook that is sharp and large enough to hook the size minnow that you are using, with enough hook gap left to penetrate the fish’s mouth when you set the hook.

There are several styles of rigging hooks: octopus, octopus circle and the Kahle style of hook, to name a few. Mostly, it’s personal preference. Each is a good hook, and all three styles work well.

Concentrate on sharp breaklines when fishing a rig in fall. Work up and down the breaks using a heavier sinker to get your bait into sharp corners like stairsteps. A heavier, 3/4- to 1-1/2-ounce sinker is preferred to help maintain a vertical presentation and get into those sharp corners.

When you get a bite using a large minnow on a live bait rig, release a little line to give fish time to reposition and even swallow the bait. Then engage your reel, gingerly take up slack, and when you feel the line go taut but not tight, sweepset your rod upward to set the hook.

Live bait has and will always be a great way to put walleyes in the boat, especially in late fall.

Find more fall fishing insight in the fall issues of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.