We used to own a resort on Round Lake years ago and thought I would pass on a few tidbits for some upcoming bites that normally take place here on this lake this time of year and the upcoming weeks.
The walleyes can be found very shallow anticipating the fall frog migration right within the reed beds. Catching walleyes on spinnerbaits and big sucker minnows gave way to many large walleyes every year. Another technique for targeting the edges of the reeds is to flip medium to large sucker minnows rigged on a large unweighted worm hook and let it swim amongst the weed edges. This will produce big bass, pike as well as nice walleyes. To fish the minnows a bit deeper, rig them on a large shank jig head with a light 1/8th oz jig head weight. You may find your self going through alot of minnows on this kind of technique, but rest assured some very large fish can be taken here. As the water cools and the deeper cabbage is dieing off, thats when the fish become more and more congregated and this type of approach will take lots of fish in a very confined area. My buddy and I used to buy 7-10 dozen sucker minnows a day. Although it can be a bit expensive, the results are awesome!
Now with so many variations of soft plastics availible on the market, large profiled plastics such as the YUM 5″ Houdini Shad may be a viable option here as well to save on the pocket book!
Keep in mind, when water temps reach the mid 40’s, look to the middle of the day being the best period to take active fish and look to the tops of the weeds versus down deeper on the weedline where they might be in the morning hours.
This is a very old technique but still proves to be deadly when water temps are on the decline…..It can be applied to just about every inland lake in upper midwest!
Good luck
