As most of you know, walleye across the state go into a complete feeding frenzy in the month of October. The northern reaches of Minnesota start poppin first and as the water temps drop across the state the bite starts to pick up accordingly. On average the bite in Alexandria starts getting good around the first of Oct, and usually hits it’s peak about a week or so after. Then,depending on the year, the bite will last most of October.
If you’ve looked at the calendar lately you’ve notice it’s prime time! Over the last week the fishing has picked up significantly. The attitude of these fish is now geared 100% towards eating. I’ve been fishing primarily with 3/8oz Lindy Max Gap Jigs tipped with a minnow, but I’ve also been tipping these jigs with large plastics. The wide gap on these jigs increases my hooking percentage greatly. For me the plastics yield fewer fish, but they are generally better quality.
During the past week I’ve fished a number of lakes in the Alexandria area. Some have been better than others, but the areas with standing weeds and deep water nearby have been holding most of my fish. During the morning hours these fish have been congregating right on the weed edges in about 15-20fow. Then during the brightest parts of the day these schools of fish will push into the deeper water nearby. Even though the fish are most active in the low light hours, I’ve been able to follow these fish up and down these breaks with fairly good action throughout the daytime hours. As the sun begins it’s decent the fish will then work their way back up to the weed edge in search of another easy meal.
My good friend Travis and I decided to make a last minute trip Thursday night. We ended up hitting the water at about 6:30. We didn’t have long, but the way the fish have been biting we didn’t anticipate it would take too long to get into some great walleye action. The fish certainly didn’t disappoint us, as Travis had a nice walleye on before I could even put on bait. The action continued and over the next hour we boated over 35 walleye. Even with unseasonably cold weather we’ve been having there should be some excellent days over the next couple weeks that will be too nice not to spend in the boat. The action right now is incredible, so come on up and enjoy some of what Alexandria has to offer!
Looks like some fish heading for Hot oil baths!! NICE!! Thanks for the update Joe!! Keep putting the hammer down on them!!
Sounds like some great fishing. Way to get on them. Do you guys ever try trolling for them after dark? SOunds like you dont need to with the bobber action you are having.
Thanks Chris! Ya, infact I just fried some of those fish up for my Grandma at the nursing home today. Boy does she love fish
Mike, I have done a fair amount of night trolling in the past and done very well, but now that I have the day time bite figured out I usually have my fill by the time evening comes along. We’re averaging 100 fish a day right now and as the water temps continue to drop we’ll start to see more large fish mixed in with these great eater sized fish
How Fun!! I bet that made her day!!
What a beatiful night on the water, check out that sunset! Tonights action was just as incredible as the last. We had a number of fish pushing 20″ that we threw back but no monsters. We boated well over 35 fish tonight and Tom kept his limit of nice 15″-16″ eaters! It was cool out, but with action like we had it was hard to find time to get cold
That’s a gorgeous sunset, Joe. Sounds like you’re having a blast right now. Thanks for keeping all of us in the loop on the bite in your area.
Sounds and looks like some great fall fishing up there Joe.
Those are some awesome numbers for a day or half day of fishing.
Fall is my favorite time of the year to fish for walleyes.
We’re a little behind the curve this year but after another week or so of colder weather, we hope to be enjoying some of that great fall walleye/sauger fishing also.
Great report Joe! And that sunset photo…
Thanks for sharing
Thanks Guys!
The action shows no signs of letting up either. We hit a number of lakes yesterday and caught fish on them all. My client traveled all the way from Eastern WI to fish up here. He had never boated a walleye before, but after a couple quick lessons we changed that. We boated over 50 walleye and he was having such a blast! He said “I think I’m goin to get me a boat!” This is why I guide, turning people onto the outdoors, I love it!