Is it feasible to fish for walleyes on the flyrod? Has anyone here done it? What kind of equipment are we talking? Thanks for any input.
Dave
Yes. Go to the Keyword Search on the left-hand menu, type in walleye. You will find how to, where to and with which flies.
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
We actually do quite well in the tailwaters and inlets on the Minnesota River, tickling the gravel with white Clousers, white Bunnies, Zonker streamers, white Gill Busters. Notice the connection between the flies? They run deep and they’re white. Some folks have used chartruse but for us, for whatever reason, white seems to be the key to success. Using a forward weighted line or weighted leader. You have to scratch the gravel though. lake fishing isn’t as predictable, fun or productive in what we’ve noticed out here. Good luck. JGW
Thanks a bunch!
Up here in Manitoba, on the Red and Winnipeg rivers, there is a large number of walleyes running in the fall. I use any streamer pattern that is visible, and in the red, yellow and white streamers work best. Clousers, woolies, zonkers as JGW indicated.
Once on the Winnipeg river in a region we call the WhiteShell Provincial Park, I was catching walleyes when the bait and gear folks weren’t catching anything. I was using a simple clouser pattern with weighted eyes (bead or dumbell).
Having said all that, walleyes are preditor fish, and opportunistic eaters. I have caught them on prince nymphs as well, and I know of others that have caught them on hairwings like mickey finns and ally’s shrimp (is a clouser a hairwing or a streamer?).
Nah, don’t believe it Dave. It can’t be done…
Name witheld by request…
I occasionally catch walleye in Illinois rivers on clouser minnows while fishing for smallmouth bass. I seldom target walleye on local waters with the fly rod.
I have also caught walleye in Ontario on leech patterns on fly-in lakes. I have used either weighted bunny leeches with a long leader on a floating line or unweighted leeches on a sink tip line. In either case, I was fishing in water ten feet or less in depth.
Yes…& it is loads of fun.
The Black Sabbath Black Bead Emerger (recipe & picture on flytyingworld.com); one of my own patterns that has caught every freshwater fish, but is my major go-to pattern for Walleye. In Arizona, there is fantastic Walleye fishing East of Phoenix !!!
I have started using a lot of my Glow-in-the Dark Streamer & large bead-head patterns as well. They put on a nice fight !!! Also great if ya like to go night fishing !!! As a kid, I grew up in Iowa (spending my Winters there & Summers in Colorado). A Lot of my original patterns were geared for Northerns, Muskie, Walleye, & Bass !!! I started developing a lot of patterns later for trout !!! Many of my good trout patterns have worked on all fish (including catfish); Trout, Bass, Walleye, etc !!!
[This message has been edited by MR.JML (edited 26 November 2005).]