The Walleye That Got Away

[Bruce Litton]

From the third week in October on, we always seem to catch walleyes--and nice ones--in Lake Hopatcong. I suggest you go with live herring, make sure you have a topographic map, and fish as many as three lines from 25 to 40 feet deep. Just make sure to check the herring set deeper than 30, since turnover's not always complete by then. Use 3/4-ounce egg sinkers, a barrel swivel, and a four-foot leader. Hook herring through nostrils, and keep the bails open. Start early; you can rent at Dows...but you do need the boater's certificate, so I hope my advice is good for you. Otherwise, we catch them on Binsky bladebaits on the same drop-offs and depths, not necessarily vertical jigging, but by lift-drop right on bottom, and you do need to keep feel on the line and be quick, because they often hit on the drop. So quality braid is a must for this, as is a fast-action tip.

[MudCat08]

All the tips are greatly appreciated!

We did get a walleye today! Unfortunately I didn't catch it, a friend did, but i was glad somebody finally got one!
It was out of Pompton River of all places. I did hear rare reports of them being caught there but today confirmed it.
Only a 12"+ fish but a walleye is a walleye!
It was caught on a tiny jighead with a green curly tail grub.
Other fish from today's trip included nice scrappy Smallmouths, a solid largemouth, some smaller bass, sunfish, two crappies, and a decent yellow perch.

I'll keep trying the Delaware river though and maybe some other places in October - November, and I'll get em eventually.

[Skunk City]

Originally Posted by MudCat08

All the tips are greatly appreciated!

We did get a walleye today! Unfortunately I didn't catch it, a friend did, but i was glad somebody finally got one!
It was out of Pompton River of all places. I did hear rare reports of them being caught there but today confirmed it.
Only a 12"+ fish but a walleye is a walleye!
It was caught on a tiny jighead with a green curly tail grub.
Other fish from today's trip included nice scrappy Smallmouths, a solid largemouth, some smaller bass, sunfish, two crappies, and a decent yellow perch.

I'll keep trying the Delaware river though and maybe some other places in October - November, and I'll get em eventually.

Wow, that's pretty cool! They are not supposed to be in there, wonder if he came from somewhere else or was accidentally mixed in with the stocked pike.

[MudCat08]

It may have washed down from Greenwood Lake or Monksville since all that water is connected. Maybe even the pompton river has a small breeding population of walleye, since that guy was fairly small. 2nd or 3rd year of life maybe.

[MudCat08]

So to continue the walleye hunt, here are the results of yet another trip to the Delaware.
Fished for walleye really hard during the day and night. Got my biggest fallfish to date at 17" and 1.5lbs, and some smallmouth bass (lost a good 2lb+ smallmouth) in the day with a boat.


At night I went to a likely spot and fished from the shore after dark and got some more PBs. Unfortunately not walleye but just as good I'd say!
I didn't even know trout could be caught at night but got an 18" male brown trout at 1.9 pounds and an 18.5" female brown trout at 2.1 pounds. Also got a rock bass at night too.

Someday I'll find that elusive walleye!

[Jigman13]

That's the biggest fallfish I've ever seen!!!

[Fred E. Goose]

Originally Posted by Fred E. Goose

Well, the hardest part is finding them...the second hardest part is hooking them, and then the third hardest part is landing them So, you going 2 out of 3 aint bad! I've got the walleye skunk, but I'm starting to see them swim by and once in awhile even follow certain lures. We'll get 'em, MudCat...we will kick that skunk down the road! And all this effort will make it even more rewarding for us when we do!

Just gotta keep at it. I posted the above on this thread the beginning of July. After I had the walleye skunk really shake my confidence, I fished other lakes and caught other fish and built my confidence back up. Just recently got the skunk out of my pocket and got my first one. Keep at it, read about and try different techniques (This site is a gold mine for information, but a google search and youtube videos are worth your time too). I'm hoping the fall feed brings your first one to the net

That fallfish is huge! I've foul hooked them while trout fishing streams and brooks with roostertails, but never actually caught one legit in the mouth like that. I called them White Suckers, is there a difference or is it 2 names for the same fish? Oh and is chub a 3rd name for the same fish or is that different too?

[MudCat08]

Originally Posted by Fred E. Goose

Just gotta keep at it. I posted the above on this thread the beginning of July. After I had the walleye skunk really shake my confidence, I fished other lakes and caught other fish and built my confidence back up. Just recently got the skunk out of my pocket and got my first one. Keep at it, read about and try different techniques (This site is a gold mine for information, but a google search and youtube videos are worth your time too). I'm hoping the fall feed brings your first one to the net

That fallfish is huge! I've foul hooked them while trout fishing streams and brooks with roostertails, but never actually caught one legit in the mouth like that. I called them White Suckers, is there a difference or is it 2 names for the same fish? Oh and is chub a 3rd name for the same fish or is that different too?

Yea i did read you post, looks like you beat me to it. One problem is that i live far from most walleye areas like the Delaware river so i cannot keep doing many trips if i have to drive 1.5-2+ hours one way just to have a possible shot at catching one. I keep at it whenever i can. I figure i can probably try at least 3 more times before December sets in. We'll see what luck brings, and i'll post results here. Nice work and patience to get your first!

White suckers are an actual sucker species, I've caught those too and they weigh heavier than fallfish/chubs. Also the sucker's mouth is downward pointed and smaller. A fallfish has a mouth that is wide and opens forward like a bass - probably the reason why they eat similar forage to bass. They eat any insect, other invertebrates, and minnows that swim by. I catch them on bait, flies, mister twister grubs, and on smaller rapala minnow lures.
Fallfish and chubs are two names for the same fish. There is also another species of chub called a creek chub that grows smaller and has a horizontal black stripe on its body. Caught those too.

I'll leave a photo of each - fallfish on left, sucker in middle and creek chub on right.

[Fred E. Goose]

I hear ya man. Swartswood and the Delaware are about 1.5 hours from me and Hopatcong and Greenwood are too large of lakes for my dinky little boat and trolling motor to handle. So I stuck with Monksville, even though I've heard time and again the chances of getting one there were slim to none.

Thanks for the education! The ones I was catching had the downward mouth. I see them all the time feeding on the bottom in a brook I sometimes hit up. I don't think I've ever caught a fallfish then.

[Jigman13]

It's all esox food in my mind!