Do you know that feeling you get when you look forward to something so much that it just drives you crazy? When you were a kid, it may have been Christmas. As a teenager it was it the deer opener? As an adult, maybe the fishing opener? Well for me in my mid forties, it is the Fall walleye bite. It finds me in the beginning of August every year going through crank bait boxes and replacing treble hooks and split rings. Looking at lures and thinking “Remember this fish and that fish?” Well Friday night could not have come soon enough! This year the plan was to go up with my son Aaron Tuckner and Blake Kadlec. These two have been listening to my ramblings for long enough and were thrilled at the chance to get to see what all the hoopla was about. We hit the water at a little after 8 PM with anticipation of the first bite overwhelming us! I got the rods assembled and attached the head lights to each of my soldiers for the evening. I then sat down and took a deep breath…here we go! I lit up a Backwoods cigar, and hit the release lever on the Tekota 500. Ahhhhhhhh! Fall officially has begun!
Once we got the lines out we contacted IDO Staffer Jami Ritter on the VHF radio to find he was about a half mile away from us. So we set a course to intercept them. It took a while to pattern the fish, and once we found them and found the color pattern they were looking for it was “Game on!” We heard on the radio that Jami and “The Other Putz” Jeff Bauer had a fish in the boat, and we hear it was a pretty nice one! Turns out it was a 27.5” beauty! The kids ask them “Where did you get it?” and the answer was “We were trolling towards the moon!” I giggled, and the kids looked about as confused as they could be! The finally figured out what they were saying…
Fall trolling on Mille Lacs means following tight contour lines on your GPS. Weeds only grow to a certain depth. And finding that sweet spot is the key. Once found it is necessary to serpentine over key depths to provoke strikes. Every year it seems that weeds are higher or lower in the water column. Some years (Like this year) weeds may be completely missing from areas where they were in years past. This means that certain lures work better than others due to actions and depth curves. So the firs pass or so was to determine what lures, speed and angles we needed to use on our trolling runs.
I started the show rolling with a fat 24” fish, and found out that the batteries were dead in the camera. So Jami took a picture from his boat, and we stole his camera for a bit.
Once we established a color pattern for the evening, we got two lines out of the three out with identical lures. I chose chrome stick-baits to utilize the light of the moon. This tactic paid dividends in a hurry as Blake hooked into a 27” fish that he thought was a snag. This was the first walleye of his life, and it happened to be a FAT 27” fish! Not a bad way to start a young walleye career! Not long after that, and not to be outdone, Aaron hooks into his personal best 27.5” walleye. A little thinner than Blake’s, but no slouch in any book!
We found weed beds to have a little different appearance over years past. I don’t know if it was our late Spring or water level changes. But the beds we have trolled over for years were a bit more sparse that what I was used to. One thing for sure…If you were not in the weeds, you were not on the fish! Bait concentrations were significantly less that what I have seen in years past. We snuck our noses in to marinas with the spot lights looking for the smaller perch that were so thick last year, only to find none! Bait clouds that we saw on the graph last year are not so dominant. One thing for sure in that the fish were hanging just off the drops in large numbers. And as the night wore on, we would see them moving into the shallow weeds and we would get bit. Saturday evening we got 3 fish on our first pass before it got dark, and then nothing until 11PM. My advice is cover a lot of ground and mark concentrations of fish and come back to them at different times of the night. This is just the beginning of a lot of fun in my book!
There are over 40 miles of weed shoreline give or take along the shores of Lake Mille Lacs. The key to finding the right areas that consistently produce are cabbage beds, and quick access to deep water. I know of many weed beds on Mille Lacs that are eel grass and not cabbage. Years of fishing these areas has shown me that walleye are not big fans of this weed. Cabbage is high on their list of favorable habitat. So finding this weed during the day is key. Word of mouth, hiring a guide, or first hand knowledge is most beneficial in shortening the learning curve. One other thing I cannot stress enough is look at your copy of IDO Fall Walleye Tactics. This DVD is most helpful in explaining EXACTLY what you should be doing and when. It is a great tool that you can put to work for you and help you to put more fish in the boat this Fall. I know these same tactics are already working on Leech and Winnie as well.
I will be heading up again next weekend. We won’t know where we will be fishing until we see what the prevailing winds have in store for us. One thing for sure, the bite is beginning and should only get better. I look forward to seeing many more IDO folks up there in the weeks to come!
THANK YOU TUCK!
Now let’s get this ball, I mean FALL rolling!
Great report Tuck and we definitley need to share a boat this Fall!
Sounds like you guys had a great trip!
I’m hoping to find a weekend to make it up again this year. 
Way cool read, fish and pictures Tuck
Gotta love the fall bite, because it leads too freeze up
Thanks for the report. My blood is pumping now!!
Yup, tis the season to catch a bunch of big walleyes under that beautiful full moon! If you’re looking to master the art of night time trolling for BIG walleyes, here’s what member Dick Jakobi had to say about this dvd:
Testimonial – Dick Jakobi in Iowa
“Got my dvd in the mail yesterday. All I can say is WOW! I’ve never seen anything like it. Absolutely the most entertaining and imformative fishing related dvd I have ever seen. Just finished 3rd viewing. All those other guys who produce fishing education materials had better be looking over their shoulders. James Holst and friends are comin’ to kick your butts!!”
Topics Covered
DVD Contents / Topics Covered – Total Run-Time 2 Hours 8 Minutes
Walleye Basics – Understanding your Target Species
Basic Physiology – The Predator’s Eye & Influence on Behavior
How a Walleye Feeds & How it Effects Presentation
Understanding Basic Patterns
Walleye Location & Movements
Seasonal Patterns
Identifying Key Locations
Understanding Moon Phase & Effect on Feeding Bahavior
Forage Movements
Presentation Tricks
Triggering Strikes – How to Turn Lookers into Biters
S-Turns & Change of Speed
Boat Rigging & Lay-Out
Tiller VS. Console – Pros & Cons
Positioning Electronics
Boat Organization
Understanding the Influence of Light Levels
Fish Location
Color Selection
Trolling Speed
Lure Size & Type
Understanding the Effects of Water Temperature on Walleye Behavior
Electronics – Proper Use of Sonar & GPS
Narrowing the Search Area
Using GPS Maps to “pre-fish.”
Marking Productive Areas
Saving, Managing & Recalling WPT’s & Icons
Selecting the Proper Gear – Rods, Reels & Line
Tips to Maximize your Hook-ups to Boated Fish Ratio
And more including underwater footage to help anglers visualize the environment and detailed drawing and animations to illustrate key concepts and topics.
For anyone looking for this DVD you can find it online at:
http://www.bfishntackle.com/fish_dvd.html
Or pick up your copy at Everts Resort!
Thanks for the in depth report Chris.
Nice fish guys
Thanks Tuck.I still have 13 days to go before my week of fall fishing.
Stuart
You going to spend any time fishing for muskies during the day out front of the Red Door?
Good work boy’s
Nice report Tuck. Those sure are some nice walleyes!
What I find interesting is that 27 inches is the average.
Stuart
You going to spend any time fishing for muskies during the day out front of the Red Door?
You bet.Last year got skunked during daylight.
Did you know they love those little walleye cranks in the middle of the night?
I could learn to live with that!
Really?
I’m quite bummed I have not had the “luck” to hook one of these fish at night. Most everyone I know who puts in any amount of time up there in the fall gets one ski over the course of a couple years. Nothing for me in about 6. Maybe this.
Great Job Guys
Congrats Baiders that’s one heck of a first ‘eye 
Get in line Kooty.
I have caught some absolute tank Northerns up there (40,40,41,42.5,43.5) but no Muskie for me yet.
Besides Kooty, I thought you said People who spend time out there? The only stime you spend is on the couch the last few years. 
Reminds me of that night we had out on PP a few years back in the Alumnacraft and Blue and Silver Rogues.
Last year my notes showed a 24″ average. I know this is only the first time out, and the numbers may even out…but if these are last year’s 24’s…who knows???
There could be some real TANKS brought in this year!
Great report Chris. Looking forward to getting back up there.
Nice report Tuck. Job job Blake and Aaron, It only gets better.
……BB
Wow, great stuff Tuck! I only wish I was closer to that place…it really is heaven!
Thanks Mayz!
Thanks UB! (uncle bruce)
Yep, way too far away, especially at this time of year.
Great report Tuck
Nice report Chris. Good to see you got Blake up there
Thank you very much.
Way to go guys
Chris, Great report.
Let’s hope that average stays up there! Heck I will sacrifice a few numbers for some super sumos..that’s why I like to run and gun. Sooo many spots out there to hit that goldmine. I just ordered my night trolling DVD so look out now
Thanks! You are right…If you are after slots…this is not the bite for you. Well, you know what I mean…Who doesn’t like to catch sumos? This time of year we target these trophy fish. If my guide customers wanted slots I would go cork some of Jack Dunn’s spots.
But in the Fall, using these tactics…fish you contact more often than not are going to be large. We are pulling large crank baits right through their kitchen and ringing the dinner bell.
This Friday we are looking at some pretty stiff southerly winds. That is going to keep us on the south end of the Lake over “New” water. Jami Ritter and I did that a couple years ago and really got into fish working shallow rock to deeper water transitions. The fish were not as big, but when you get the big blow, some fish of any size are better than none. Plus we logged some new spots into the GPS.
Great report , might come back
this fall
Holy shhhhhh…….. crap!
Great report, Tuck! I don’t know if I’ll get up there this fall or not, but I will enjoy all the reports either way.
Jon J and I went up this weekend with no moon only to be chased off Friday by thunderstorms.
Last night we fished until 11 PM waiting for the slight northeast winds 4-6 MPH due at about 9 PM…Only to have it pick up to 20+ straight out of the east. 
We did however get into a few perch. I think this next week with the cooler temps should get them going as well. Jigs/minnows and plain hooks and minnows under corks were key here. I tried twister tails and hair…but the tigers were not in the mood to chase just yet. We ended up with about 25 nice fish.
You guys think last week was good…. just wait tell this weekend the best is yet to come! OH ITS REAL ITS DANG REAL!
Settle down young-un!
I THINK SOMEONE IS READY TO GO !!!!
Bringing BK, Roni and Mike Little up this weekend. Rumor has it Josh has some trees he needs dropped…
Little to these fellas know they are gonna have to EARN those fish!
Shhhhhh! I don’t want them to find out until we get up there.
Don’t tell me to calm down! did you see the honker i caught! i want bigger! AND THATS THE BOTTOM LINE CAUSE I SAID SO!
OK i think its time for me to take a deep breathe!
Have a good weekend boys.
Tuck,
I think you just found your toughest customer.
See you in a couple weeks.
FDR
Chris, what have you done to this young innocent
Blake, good thing your mom doesn’t come on this site
Muskies?? In Mille Lacs???
ME?!?!?!
He is just a little excited…
Ya im excited!But i won’t be the only one the luck this weekend which only is 24 hours away!
Now thats a fish!
Pardon my ignorance, just not used to this website. But where on the website can a person order the Fall Walleye Tactics DVD mentioned in this article? Thanks!
Send a pm (personal message) to Dean at Everts resort. He can have one in the mail to you in no time.
Or you can call the resort at 715-792-2333.
Great Video!
FDR
http://evertsfishingresort.com/
or
http://www.jollyannsales.com/boating/night_fishing_trophy_walleye_dvd.htm
Dean’s a great source for a phone in order. Give him a shout and be sure to have a little extra time for the latest fishing report too.
If you want to order online, here ya’ go: http://www.bfishntackle.com/fish_dvd.html
Thanks Wade. I couldn’t find the page where you had those DVDs for sale.
The DVD is a ”must have” DVD in my mind. Theres ALOT of things covered and if you want more info on using your GPS to mark out an area you want to fish it will show you how and more. Great learning tool.
Thanks, Bill
i got some perch and a 19in walleye, and i am okay with that….. not not what i was hoping but im alright.
I wish i could have caught one more.
I never thought that would be my first walleye.
