Night Fishing for Walleye

You will find walleye on the columbia river from just below the Canadian border all the way to the mouth of the pacific ocean. Not sure many rivers in the world can produce that many miles of continuous walleye fishing.

Night Fishing for Walleye preparation:  Much like a hunter who scouts out the area before the season starts, so should you "scout out the area".  During daylight hours walleye like to hide in deep holes or in areas along a underwater ridge or island.  At night these walleye like to move out of their holding areas and into the shallow water to find their meals.  Knowing that you should be looking for long stretches of beach or long sections of shallow water.  I like water from 5 feet to  10 feet max. If you see minnows jumping at dusk, that is a prime area to fish.

Once you find some areas that you want to try, you should mark these areas or look for landmarks that will be easy to identify at night.  Locate the weed lines and take note of the depth of the outer edge of the weeds.

Begin your night fishing for walleye at dusk so you can begin trolling back and forth at least once to help you set your pattern before it gets pitch black.  I like trolling because you can cover a lot of ground.  The minute you hook a walleye either mark it with a buoy or stop the motor immediately.  Land your fish and then begin casting to the area that you caught the walleye in.  There will be more in that area and with the motor off, you shouldn't spook anymore fish.  Be careful not to bang anything inside the boat because walleye will move away quickly.

Another night fishing for walleye tactic is to locate a weed free beach and anchor about a 50 yards from it.  Simply cast your lure or jointed rapala onto the beach and begin reel in. This technique has worked extremely well in areas of the Columbia near Paterson Washington.  Don't be afraid to cast 360 degrees around the boat because all the areas should be shallow enough to hold walleye.

Night Fishing for Walleye Rigs: I have found a jointed minnow and a black/silver sassy shad to work best for me.  The one thing you need to remember is walleye feed up, so you don't need anything that works below a depth of 3 feet.

Click either link to take you directly to the page I purchase from.  I always use black/silver or black/white combinations for best results.

If you want to try bobber fishing at night for walleye, then make sure and change your depths from 3 feet to 2.5 feet, to 2.0 feet, etc.  Keep working the depth until you find the best depth that catches fish.  We use worms for this type of fishing on the Columbia River.

Just about anything you have in your tackle box that doesn't go beyond 3 foot depths should work well.  I try to use anything that is long and skinny as I mentioned above.

Night Fishing for Walleye Safety Tips:  here on the Columbia we do a lot of night fishing and we know the areas like the back of our hands.  We always keep our lights on, we always wear a life vest and we always have a flashlight sitting right beside us.  

Weather can change extremely fast on a river or lake, so be prepared to leave at a moments notice. I've found that the more we want to stay and fish, the rougher the water becomes and the harder/longer it takes us to get back to the docks. One night it took us 2 hours to travel 4 miles. It wasn't fun and an experience I'll never forget.

Night Fishing for Walleye Help: please keep us posted on your success.  Share your story with us and many other avid walleye fisherman.  OK?

Last Word on Night Fishing for Walleye the flow of the river can and will fluctuate. Don't be surprised to watch the water level go down 10 ft in one day or rise 10 ft in one day. Many a times we have parked our truck and trailer in what we thought was a safe spot only to find out that it was up to the axles in water.

Stay in touch and don't be shy about telling us and showing us your pictures of success on the walleye fishing trip you just took.

Keep reeling them in

Bob

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