Thursday on the d

Fished the D last night, between 10 to 1:30 am. As ALS Mako I believe recently posted, river definitely cleaned up with fewer leaves and eel grass and water level dropped from last week. Clarity was excellent. Fished first spot for about an hour without a touch. Lot of bait in the shallows but no takers or surface activity.

Made a move to second spot. Parked, got out of the car, saw a bunch of bear prints in the mud so decided for prosperity sake moving on to spot three.

Got to that spot and from around midnight to 2 in the morning caught five walleye, nothing big all in the 16 to 18 inch range and released. Missed maybe three or four others. Relatively new to walleye fishing but 4 of the 5 fish had a second walleye follow it in when I landed it. I know or at least thought they spawn around March / April so was surprised to see that. Not sure if it means anything, I'm really just getting started with walleye fishing so maybe it's common place for a school fish. Just found it interesting.

Coolest part of the night was the last fish caught. Was fishing an area with a relatively steep vertical drop. Switched over to a 4 inch Keitech and made my first cast. Wanted to make sure it was swimming right so when I got it close to where I could see it I turned my headlamp on and the second I did a walleye shot up and absolutely crushed it. Again not big but very aggressive strike. Very cool to see.

Started to rain and got pretty windy so called it a night. Water temps have definitely dropped, noticeably colder than the last few weeks. With the drop in temps hopefully fish are feeding up for the long winter ahead.

[Jigman13]

The smaller males are def aggressive and feisty esp when schooled up. The numbers breed competition.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Jigman13

The smaller males are def aggressive and feisty esp when schooled up. The numbers breed competition.

correct,, Many years ago I caught 26 cookie cutter size males, all fighting each other for the lure, trying to take it away from the fighting fish.[ORL]. that was in a one and a half hour period, and I had a keeper size[ all about 16-17 inches or so], on every cast... they must have covered the bottom in the area I was fishing as this was mid afternoon, broad daylight... Never again saw anything like that, not even close, but it did show how those males get crazy when bunched up tight... Walleyes can be tough to catch when they aren't schooled up, but when they are, they can be as stupid and unwary as a very hungry bluegill... bob

[thmyorke1]

Great looking fish. Hopefully weeds and leaves get going already!

Originally Posted by bulletbob

correct,, Many years ago I caught 26 cookie cutter size males, all fighting each other for the lure, trying to take it away from the fighting fish.[ORL]. that was in a one and a half hour period, and I had a keeper size[ all about 16-17 inches or so], on every cast... they must have covered the bottom in the area I was fishing as this was mid afternoon, broad daylight... Never again saw anything like that, not even close, but it did show how those males get crazy when bunched up tight... Walleyes can be tough to catch when they aren't schooled up, but when they are, they can be as stupid and unwary as a very hungry bluegill... bob

Bob that's an insane hour and half stretch of fishing! Jigman that's what I thought might have been happening. Fish were smaller in size and they were all males based on what I've read about distinguishing a male from a female walleye. Very cool either way seeing a set of lit up eyes following your hooked fish but not really seeing the fish itself. Females were probably deeper or not in the area I was fishing.

[Jigman13]

I've gotten some good ones the last 4 or 5 nites. I'll post them eventually. They've really started to fatten up with the sudden temp drops

Good for you, that's why we fish the crazy hours!

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by dakota560

Bob that's an insane hour and half stretch of fishing! Jigman that's what I thought might have been happening. Fish were smaller in size and they were all males based on what I've read about distinguishing a male from a female walleye. Very cool either way seeing a set of lit up eyes following your hooked fish but not really seeing the fish itself. Females were probably deeper or not in the area I was fishing.

I mentioned it because of the "aggressive males" aspect of the original post.. It was a long time ago on the susquehanna. -never saw it before or since, and all the fish were males and all the same size within an inch, and it didn't matter what you threw, size color, nothing, it was either a fish, a swing and a miss, or one lost on the way up, PLUS it was broad daylight, and i never catch walleyes in broad daylight.. I would love to see walleyes assume that type of aggressive posture regularly, but I suppose if they did, before long there simply wouldn't be any walleyes... I never really thought of walleyes as a "schooling" fish but I suppose they do school up at least at times..

I bet the Delaware has several areas that a few guys know about, where walleyes school up, or at least congregate in numbers.. We'll never know for obvious reasons. I miss fishing the Delaware, I like it a LOT better than the NY section of the susquehanna which is a muddy silty mess for much of the river... bob

[FASTEDDIE29]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

I mentioned it because of the "aggressive males" aspect of the original post.. It was a long time ago on the susquehanna. -never saw it before or since, and all the fish were males and all the same size within an inch, and it didn't matter what you threw, size color, nothing, it was either a fish, a swing and a miss, or one lost on the way up, PLUS it was broad daylight, and i never catch walleyes in broad daylight.. I would love to see walleyes assume that type of aggressive posture regularly, but I suppose if they did, before long there simply wouldn't be any walleyes... I never really thought of walleyes as a "schooling" fish but I suppose they do school up at least at times..

I bet the Delaware has several areas that a few guys know about, where walleyes school up, or at least congregate in numbers.. We'll never know for obvious reasons. I miss fishing the Delaware, I like it a LOT better than the NY section of the susquehanna which is a muddy silty mess for much of the river... bob

The “D” definitely has those holes Bob! If you play your cards tight you can catch them all day long from now til the end of January. 32 Walleye in one trip was my best day on the river in recent history. That’s a mix of keepers to 28.5 inches and shorts!!!!