Fall Weed Pattern
By Sam Anderson

Many anglers think of rocks, sand, drop-offs, and deep water when walleye fishing. But walleye chasers are missing some good fishing if they aren't poking around in the weeds when they are after walleyes, especially the fall months. Walleyes will make extensive use of weed clumps if they're available, and often the fish that are in the weeds are looking for a meal, making them susceptible to any type of offering.

First of all, what type of weeds will hold walleyes? Coontail will hold a few fish, and on some lakes will be pretty good. But my favorite vegetation, day in and day out, will be cabbage weed. Cabbage is abundant on many bodies of water, and will also be the feeding grounds for bass, northerns, muskies and panfish. I've found the best weed beds for walleyes will be located at the edge of a drop-off and extend over the flats into shallower water. At times the fish will be down the drop-off a little, but frequently they will be up on the flat right in the middle of the weeds.

Be on the lookout for small isolated clumps of cabbage near the weed bed. In fact, many times the weed bed will be made up of a bunch of clumps of weeds. These individual patches of cabbage can provide a fisherman with some hot action.

When an area is found that looks good, try fishing it with a jig. Tip the jig with a leech, crawler or minnow. Leeches are my favorite but there are days when something else will produce better. Therefore I try to carry all three types of live bait with me when I am on the water. Many anglers like to cast the rig to the edges of the clumps, but I like to use a variety of flippin, methods made popular by bass fisherman. A long rod, maybe even a cane pole, is rigged with a jig. When fishing is tough, a slip bobber and hook rig is used to work the bait through and around the individual clumps of weeds. Just throw the bait up next to the clump, let it work awhile, and if nothing happens, pick it up and try the other side of the weed patch. You can fish a large area in a short time, and probably catch some nice fish.

Chartreuse is a good color for fall walleyes in the weeds. If the water is a little on the dirty side slip a chartreuse Fuzz-E-Grub body on an orange jig head. Purple and black Fuzz-E-Grubs have also been good. When the fish are real active, try an action tail body, like a twister body and work it with quick hops.

In the weeds you need a line you can depend on. In open water I like 4 and 6 lb. test, but in the weeds, you need a heavier less abrasive line. Eight or ten pound Berkley XT Solar High Visibility Line is what I count on for fishing the weeds.

One last thought. You'll get a lot of pesky smaller fish in the weeds at times. When this happens, you might want to move to the other side of the weed clump, or a little deeper. But when the small fish are hitting your bait, the walleyes should be active nearby. Fish the weeds you'll catch a number of excellent fall walleyes.