Night fishing for early spring walleyes is something that grows on you over time. It’s one of those things that quite a few people try but very few stick with it for any length of time. And like any other kind of fishing that we do, if your dedicated and stick with it, over time, you learn tricks & techniques that work. Learning how to fine tune those techniques based on what the walleyes are telling you on any given night, can be the difference between an okay night & a great night of fishing.
This year, I’ve decided to fore go some weekend, day time fishing trips for what usually results in plenty of small and eaten size walleyes & saugers for a better chance at catching bigger, pre-spawn female walleyes at night. There will be plenty of opportunities for catching eaten size fish later in the year. Same goes for big females but they won’t look as impressive as they do pre-spawn.
I could keep some of the legal fish caught at night but it would cost me in lost sleep by the time I get home and clean them. A couple quick snap shots and measurement of the better fish is all I’m really looking for.
Why not fish at night doing the week and daytime on weekends you might ask? Because that would make home life very unpleasant. Trying skipping out on doing anything useful (as my wife would say) around your house for a month or two and let me know how that works out for you.
Getting back to what works, for me one type of bait stands out well above all the others. That would be stick baits! Regardless of how early the ice goes out, or how cold the water is, most of the time at night it’s stick baits that persuade big walleyes to attack.
Stick baits sound pretty simple. Rapala’s, rebels, bombers, rogues and so on. But aside from brand names, don’t forget about these four critical factors when selecting your stick baits. Floaters, sinkers, neutral bouyant & color.
Making sure you have all four of those critical areas covered can make a huge difference between success or failure.
On any given night, I may find the fish anywhere from 3 to 15′ deep. Trying to get a floating rapala down 10 to 15′ and keep it there through out a slow retrieve is impossible. Same goes with trying to fish a count down rapala in 3 to 5′ of water, unless you enjoy snagging rocks, losing baits and retying lines with cold hands.
Color at night may sound like a non-factor to most. I’m convinced it’s not. Time & time again, I’ve been unable to get fish to respond until the right color for that night is presented. In February, gold & black was my “Go To” color. Black/silver had a brief run shortly after and lately its been orange/gold taking most of my fish. There are of course nights where I don’t think it matters what color your throwing. There on the prowl and they’re going to crush anything. Those nights are rare and memorable. I have maybe one or two of those trips each year.
One last note on depth: It’s not unusual at all to find walleyes in 10-15′ of water that are willing to feed on stick baits presented in 3-7′ of water. Another words, if you fishing in deeper water, don’t be afraid to fish high in the water column. Basically, big fish like to feed up in the middle of the night!
One thing has been missing from my catch so far this spring. I have not caught a single muskie nor have I had a bite off this spring. They’ve simply disappeared from the same area’s where we sometimes caught from 2-5 on any given night.
So it goes with fishing. Things vary from year to year and you just have to roll with it.
Great job on the eyes Joel !!!
Love the reports and you have them fish dialed in very well !!
Thanks for sharing !!
A few more decent fish from recent trips.
The last photo is one more shot of the 29 incher representing my best fish of the spring so far.
Joel, Excellent report on an early season technique that is mostly over looked. I would consider being spared the “bite-offs” by muskies as money still in the bank. I assume the water temps are still around 34?
Good report Joel
Good assumption!
It has been a cold spring so far. Night time temps are still dropping below zero often enough that water temps have not really warmed up much at all, if any.
Oh boy! Now I can try to fish all day AND all night. Nice fish, Joel.
Nice fish Joel
Great report Joel
and NICE fish. 
Excellent report and some very nice fish Joel
Great report Joel
Nice job on some TANK walleyes 
Nice fish!
Good report! I agree that stick baits seem to work best most of the year. I have found that Shad Raps 7/9 seem to produce better for me in July/Aug. than sticks. Keep the reorts coming! Thanks
Nice fish
joel
are you fishing from a boat or shore? if i remember you used to do this from shore which makes it even more awesome!
This is all from shore fishing. (wading)
A good pair of 5 or 7mm thick neoprene waders is an absolute must. Even with those, after a just few hours in 34 degree water, your feet tend to reach a point where they are so cold it feels like your walking on popsicycle sticks. It helps to get out of the water and walk around shore to get the blood flowing again.
Joel, you bring up a great point that people should really consider when purchasing waders or hip boots. Not looking to hijack this and take it to far into another direction. But, I run into this frequently with individuals on the tributaries of Lake MI. Wearing layers such as under armor, sweat pants, ect all aid in trapping air which works as an insulator and retains body heat. When sizing waders, take into close consideration what you will be wearing inside of them. Also, the insulation value and sizing of the boot. A 1600 gram insulate isn’t worth much if your foot is restricted inside and the boot is too tight. Likewise, you will loose a lot of heat if the boot is too large. For hunters and anglers alike that do a lot of cold weather (water) activities, having two sets of waders is sometimes a necessity. For myself personally, I am trapping creeks and ponds well into winter and often will be busting ice while walking. I need that “super” warm set and I have a relatively inexpensive set for the late spring early fall where the insulation value isn’t as critical and I would sweat to death in my other waders.
Boy! You hit this one out of the park Boog!
Great report and fantastic fish!!
We must have married sisters Joel
I always look forward to your spring night time adventures. This report and pictures, as always rock sir
Those are some nice eyes. I like to use the same tactics on pool 2 of the Mississippi. Stickbaits can be downright deadly at night! Thanks for the great report!
Holy Hanna! Those are some fat fish! Is this a report you forgot to post from last Fall or what?
Very nice fish Joel!
Way to set the bar Joel
…….great looking eyes 
Thanks guys!
I am fortunate to live close to a river with some quality walleyes in it. It’s certainly not the Mississippi, but it’s nothing to cry about either.
I know your just kidding Joe, but for those who might believe otherwise, I can assure you that all these fish were caught this year in late February and early March.
For those who would consider doing such a thing as what Joe mentioned above, there is software out there that allows others to check photo’s and confirm when the pictures were taken.
Great post Joel. I grew up in Sauk Prairie so it is great to hear about the back home bite! My dad grew up on the farm accros from the road that goes to the dam and spent the better part of his young days fishing there. My nephew is fishing the dam area tonight. Keep up the great posts!
Thanks Ed!
Always good to hear from a local.
Hopefully your nephew will stick a good one tonight.
Really interesting bite Joel, I love the thought of rod-to-fish combat while you’re in the water with them! Color matters at night, no doubt about it, really looking forward to more of these. Thanks for sharing!
Joel
Thanks for sharing. I also love the late night eye fishing.
Man I am getting the itch to get out on the open water.
Great report Joe! Those are TANKS!
Love the “old school” nite shore patrol!
Great report joel,Nice big catch……