Catching Walleye

[MartyMarPlv]

Hopefully we can get some good ice out of this polar vortex the weathermen have been talking about. I live in central CT and would really like to get another shot at icing a walleye out of Batterson. Any tips or tricks you guys are willing to share for catching Walter?

[eiderz]

Drill your holes before sunset in 3-5 feet away from crowds. Leaders a few feet long, 8-10 lb fluoro, or mono. Large medium shiners (about 4") fished a foot-18" off bottom, split shot a foot above bait. Invest in tipup lights like Lil' Shiners or Arctic Fires, shining your light around spooks them as does walking around too much. Bring a chair and some suds, leave the boom box home. If nothing by 10 pm, go home. 

[Hooking]

Drill your holes before sunset in 3-5 feet away from crowds. Leaders a few feet long, 8-10 lb fluoro, or mono. Large medium shiners (about 4") fished a foot-18" off bottom, split shot a foot above bait. Invest in tipup lights like Lil' Shiners or Arctic Fires, shining your light around spooks them as does walking around too much. Bring a chair and some suds, leave the boom box home. If nothing by 10 pm, go home. 

Couldn’t ask for better tips than these! Thanks. I also live a short drive from Batterson and would love to get my first walleye there, so this will be helpful if we can get some ice. I’m planning a trip to upstate NY to try for them, betting Batterson doesn’t freeze up enough this winter, but let’s hope.

[MartyMarPlv]

Drill your holes before sunset in 3-5 feet away from crowds. Leaders a few feet long, 8-10 lb fluoro, or mono. Large medium shiners (about 4") fished a foot-18" off bottom, split shot a foot above bait. Invest in tipup lights like Lil' Shiners or Arctic Fires, shining your light around spooks them as does walking around too much. Bring a chair and some suds, leave the boom box home. If nothing by 10 pm, go home. 

wow, thanks for the detailed instructional!! Sounds like you may have targeted this species before...  I will follow your pointers and hopefully with some luck, check the walleye off my bucket list.

[eiderz]

Couple more thoughts....it's common for there to be a bite right at dark, then nothing for an hour or two. Supposedly their eyes need to adjust like ours. Most of my best nights have been when it's really cold and the lake is singing, or nasty windy. Not sure why, it just has been that way.

[lowaccord66]

Couple more thoughts....it's common for there to be a bite right at dark, then nothing for an hour or two. Supposedly their eyes need to adjust like ours. Most of my best nights have been when it's really cold and the lake is singing, or nasty windy. Not sure why, it just has been that way.

Crappies like some loud night ice. Stu have you heard of anyone night fishing Mt Tom?  Technically you are not supposed to but I used to fish for holdover browns at night there frequently sometimes stopping to chat with state troopers that would park their to do paperwork.  I'm 15 mins away so the idea of getting an eye there at night interests me.  Little green light and a big alweive school should do the trick.  I know you guys probably don't fish like that but I have seen it work on other water bodies with Walter and alewives.

[eiderz]

I know very little about Mt. Tom. I didn't know you aren't supposed to fish at night, why is that?

In lakes with alewives Walter behaves differently from lakes where they forage on panfish and shiners. I have been told about using lights, and seen posts about it but never did it myself. In an alewife lake I would try jigging with a rap about the size as the alewives. Or catch some sawbellies for tipup bait.

[MartyMarPlv]

I know very little about Mt. Tom. I didn't know you aren't supposed to fish at night, why is that?

In lakes with alewives Walter behaves differently from lakes where they forage on panfish and shiners. I have been told about using lights, and seen posts about it but never did it myself. In an alewife lake I would try jigging with a rap about the size as the alewives. Or catch some sawbellies for tipup bait.

All types of good tips and info. Thanks guys. Also, I just looked it up. Mt. Tom hours are 8am-sunset. My guess is because it’s a state park. I fished there once years ago and got skunked. Have never went back, not saying I wouldn’t though. I believe they have stocked salmon in there in years past??

[eiderz]

So it's a parking problem, if they enforce the park rules.

[lowaccord66]

So it's a parking problem, if they enforce the park rules.

Maybe.  You can access from 202 where people fish from shore.  They park at the farm stand.  I do believe the state should allow access to fishermen in lakes they stock nocturnal species like walleye. 

They stocked salmon this year. 

[Hooking]

All great tips. Maybe I can try out Mt. Tom before Batterson gets fishable ice. How likely are you to get a walleye during the day as bycatch when targeting more typical daytime fish? Reasonable chance or highly unlikely? Seems the odds would be stacked since we don’t have an abundance of walleye in our state.

[lowaccord66]

From what I understand guys we're getting keepers off the beach fishing for salmon.  There's so many alewives in there, like squantz I expect some big eyes eventually.  I'm up the road in Kent and pass it daily.  The alewives seemingly love to stack on the western shore.  I will warn and others will too, it's a tough fishery.  My best luck was always around the late fall when the browns would go shallow. 

[Hammertime-IceCube]

Enjoyed reading this thread... so much expertise and experience.

Very challenging winter ice fishing for walleye  in Ct...  aka
Mt. Skunk and “Squatz” Pond
But keep the faith, pray for a polar vortex

[eiderz]

All great tips. Maybe I can try out Mt. Tom before Batterson gets fishable ice. How likely are you to get a walleye during the day as bycatch when targeting more typical daytime fish? Reasonable chance or highly unlikely? Seems the odds would be stacked since we don’t have an abundance of walleye in our state.

The daytime bite varies by lake, I don't know about Mt Tom. If I was going to try it in daylight, I'd try jigging around/under the alewife school. I'd use a horizontal jig like a rap, the same size or smaller than the baitfish. Jig it aggressively no less than three feet off the bottom unless you are pounding the bottom to get attention. They can move pretty quick in the winter, you'll be surprised how much action they respond to. If you get one to chase, tease it away. If they want it they'll commonly come up ten feet. Don't try to feed them, it rarely works. Try tipping the jig with a baitfish head, if you can get what they're eating that's the best.

[androux]

Be careful if you are getting on by the farm stand, there is an inflow of water there that weakens the ice on an already irregularly freezing lake. Pick your spots, I used to work in Bantam and always wanted to night fish after work for wall-e's, but never got the chance with these lousy rainy winters. Talked to guys there fishing years past and no one has seen one through the ice. Fishing that lake is like deer hunting, you can fish it all season and you're lucky to get one keeper.

[imsafanct]

What you’re reading here is dead-on accurate. I was fortunate enough to spend an evening at Gardner with eirderz a few winters ago and he unraveled what I thought was a great mystery of how to catch walleye in about 45 minutes, right before my eyes.

Drill your holes early, spread your traps from deeper water, up the slope and up into the shallows, use medium shiners with split shot and try to be as still and quiet as possible.

I was shocked at how easy/simple it actually ended up being. I went solo the following weekend, two nights in a row and was successful both nights plus I got my first walleye jigging. Very, very fun and rewarding. Thank you again eiderz!

Hopefully we get some real ice here soon so we can all get after those eyes. Go for it!

-Eric

[lowaccord66]

Be careful if you are getting on by the farm stand, there is an inflow of water there that weakens the ice on an already irregularly freezing lake. Pick your spots, I used to work in Bantam and always wanted to night fish after work for wall-e's, but never got the chance with these lousy rainy winters. Talked to guys there fishing years past and no one has seen one through the ice. Fishing that lake is like deer hunting, you can fish it all season and you're lucky to get one keeper.

Nothing a green light and a sabiki can't fix.  I'm out right now and the crappies are alluding me.