Walleyes in Small Rivers

[tgruenke]

On Saturday my dad and I are going to canoe down the Jump river in Wisconsin. It feeds into Lake Holcombe which has walleyes. Typically the fish only spawn in the river but do some stick around or during fall could they go back up the river trying to find warmer water or food? Thanks for the help. How would you attack the river?

[Northlander]

Not knowing that particular river Im not sure what you will have for a fall run but I would bet it has a resident population all year. I would look at weed edges still as well as deeper water close to weeds. Another good spot is always deep inside turns and any long flats with some humps. Find some good rock close to shore with a drop outside of it and you could have a ball with smallies as well as some walleye.

Drift jigs n minnows or plastics or cast some cranks to shorelines. If that dont work rig a minnow. Slow seems key right now in the river Im fishing.

[tunrevir]

I have a cabin on the Flambeau near the confluence with the Chippewea which isn't far from lake Holcome. Right now the rivers are high and fast and the fishing is a bit tough. I'd look for areas just off the heavy current behind points and areas leading into backwaters or feeder creeks. I was picking off fish a week ago casting countdown raps(#5&7 in fire tiger, black and silver and rainbow trout) and paddle tail plastics with the clothespin spinner. Alot of the areas that usually hold fish were being blown out by heavy current but I found fish slightly downstream from the usual spots which were behind points and areas that lead into shallow bays where the current was slack. In the general area fish will hold close to shore in depths of 1-5' of water. Rocks and woody cover will hold fish as well as areaS where the bottom changes from rocks to sand and gravel or even mud. Chartruese twister tails can produce well and don't be surprised if you hit some monster smallies and a few pike or a stray muskie. The water is heavily stained from the runoff but fish can be caught all day if you find the right areas. Good luck!

Tunrevir~

[tgruenke]

I was probably going to rig two rods one with a gulp minnow and jig and the other with a husky jerk or countdown. Thanks for the info. During the summer do fish Holcombe at all? My folkds have a cabin there. We usually catch fish but never really get into good walleye action. Any hints?

Thanks

[tunrevir]

I never make it to Holcombe other then to buy a lisc, groceries or bait once in awhile. Two weeks back the fish were really smacking the paddle tails and spinners where I could fish them slightly out of the heavy current. I found that they only wanted the smaller countdowns. I fished a few areas with 4" baits and never had a hit and even a few whacks at the smaller countdowns where fish was hooked and got off but then swithched to the paddletails and when the fish hit those they thumped them good. Caught a bonus crappie that was 16.5 inches while casting a paddletail and that fish totally engulfed the 3" bait. If you can find slack water areas and creek inlets work those hard especially downstream edges and don't be afraid to toss 2-3 different baits in one area that looks fishy. The fish will let you know what they want. Good Luck!

Tunrevir~

[fishinfey8]

I like using a spinner w/ minnow and a couple split shots. Concentrate any of the already mentioned "fishy areas" (deeper holes with slow moving water or slack water)and crawl the spinner along the bottom slowly. The current will spin the blade, which will allow you to slowly jig it along the bottom while still getting the action of the blade. Floating jigheads w/ minnows work well at times too.

[carpmanjake]

i frequently fish the sauk river for walleye, but mainly in the summer. but in the winter walleyes really gather beneath the dam.

so it seems to me, there are always walleyes under or close to dams. dams alway have deep water below it, where walleyes tend to sit.

i like to either jig with heavy jigs and berkely gulp alive minnows, or float a minnow on a bare hook, with a few split shot about 1 foot up the line. float it from right up by the dam, down

[Flakehead]

Another good area to watch for is a cut bank. I fish a river where a feeder stream dumps into a small river and undercuts a bank on the opposite bank. The grass attached to the balls of dirt that fall into the river attract bait fish and were deadly when the river level was dropping. I used nightcrawler on a #8 hook with a 1/16th oz split shot. Canoe control was critical and if you can tie off up stream and judge the depth, floating a minnow or crawler down the bank could work as well.

Let us know how you do,

James