One of the toughest challenges we as modern anglers face is finding success fishing highly pressured water such as most of the metro area lakes near my home base in the twin cities. Not only do you need to trick a few fish into biting but you’ve usually got to outsmart your fellow fishermen just to get a chance at a decent spot.
Under pressure finicky walleyes will quickly adapt to avoid the crowds and we as fishermen need to follow suit. Frequently metro lakes are a prime example of what I call the Taco Bell effect – Not many hungry customers during normal dinnertime hours but they’re still serving dinner late into the night!
Looking to take advantage of these late dining fish I met up after work with friends Tov and Danny Rezabek last Friday evening. By the time we made it to the lake just after dark we were greeted by headlights already heading in. Arriving at our spot we found a couple other sets of fishermen but by the time we were set up and ready to fish they too were packing up and making a beeline for shore. I actually talked to one guy and he said nothing but small perch for his group… I wonder how surprised he’d be if he knew I was pulling fish out of the exact holes they were nice enough to leave for us barely more than a half hour later?
A couple key tweaks that I make to my presentation after dark. First, I fish almost exclusively with glow colors when fishing spoons after dark. Second, I modify my jigging technique to use a more subtle and slower approach as opposed to jigging during daylight hours. Almost as if it were designed to meet these exact specifications the 3/16 Tingler spoon is quickly becoming my go-to after dark lure. Combining it’s slow fluttering drop with glow colors (my favorites are Glow Goldfish or Red/Chartreuse Shiner) make it deadly for late night walleye missions!
I wanted to get this report out there while it was still fresh so I’m posting from my phone… But for whatever reason the pics aren’t working quite right so I’ll add them after the fact.
I call this one Walleyes LOVE Glow Tinglers!
15-18″ walleyes were completely inhaling a large 3/16 spoon!
Nice Will I love the Taco Bell affect
Great info I’m camping out on castle rock for a weekend. My shelter is portable and some of the guys want to explore the night fishing. The small perch the earlier group was experiencing that the later walleyes were probably following and probably making their just before bedtime burrito, where were they structure wise? Where they shallow areas adjacent to deeper areas? Would like more specifics.
Me too, funny stuff and makes sense!
Joel
Will, what is your go-to light for getting a good glow on your baits? How much glow and how often do you refresh it?
THANKS! Gonna be hitting some after dark (after work) eyes on the Mississippi in the coming weeks.
Nice report!
I often find myself fishing late into the night as well on heavily pressured waters. People think I’m crazy….. By the way the rods are working great!! Thanks!! 
Absolute best is if you can get ahold of a battery powered camera flash. Many bait shops carry them. Second option is a good bright LED flashlight or even using a smartphone flashlight app. I usually will just hold it up in front of my LED headlamp as I move between holes every few minutes.
If I’m sitting still I usually reel up and recharge my spoon about every 10 minutes or so but I think that even without frequently recharging even if we can’t see it the glow paint has a luminescent glow that’s visible to walleyes for a long time.
Thanks for the kind words Duke I’m glad those rods are working out well for you
Im new to the metro area and have been looking for posts about the Stcroix river fishing. I finally found the area to get onto the river from the minnesota side thanks to this site but have not found any reports. Or possibly a rough idea of contour.
I’ll echo this report too. And this is a hard bite to crack without a lot of time/evenings on the water, as the spots and transitions zones are pretty specific and due to the pressure are not the standard types of spots you would guess from the lake map.
Often times the difference between 1 fish and 10 fish is measured in feet.
I really like the metro lakes with millfoil that stays green the longest, and that has the sharpest and crispest weed edge. Any little variation in that weed edge – especially jutting out – is where you want to set up shop. Or some subtle bottom transition. I’ve done a lot of scouting in the summer via canoe.
Stealth is key, be quiet, get there early and get set up. These fish are much spookier than shallow crappies and sunnies.
Small flashy spoons, I usually don’t use rattle spoons as they’re too obnoxious.
Also, when you find these fish be sure to practice CPR as there aren’t incredibly high numbers of good sized walleyes in a lot of these smaller lakes.
Welcome to IDO Chris!
I think the best bet for you to find what you’re looking for is to check out the St. Croix River forum – St Croix River
I have an old heavy duty 35mm camera flash that I taped tin foil to that comes down to a small opening to put the bait in. Gets a super strong charge and the foil not only reflects the flash but also helps eliminate people seeing it from all over the lake.
Good read! I live in the metro as well and it hasn’t been easy to find walleye. I have had some luck on the Mississippi. Will give your methods a try and thanks for the report!
Glad I might be able to help. Just a quick question for you… Are you talking Mississippi open water or are you finding fishable ice somewhere?