Casting for Night time Eyes!

It’s that time of the year, there is way too much going on in the outdoors. The steelhead are starting to run, the ducks are migrating, the deer are getting close to rut, and perch fishing is in full swing. But it also means that it is soon time to fish for Walleye from the beaches and pier heads at night.
There is something very cool about a cool fall night and catching eyes from shore. It’s a fairly easy form of fishing that everyone can do no matter your budget. This opportunity is played out on many inland lakes also, not just the great lakes. All you need is a medium power rod filled up with some braid or mono, a handful of stick baits and maybe some waders.

What you are looking for in this style of fishing is where some deep water comes into the shallows within casting distance of shore or some place where you wade out to a breakline. During this time of year, Walleye will work balls of bait up against these breaklines or piers, then the walleyes will harass these shiners, shad, alewife until they are fat and happy.

When it comes to baits for this type of fishing its pretty straight forward. You can almost never go wrong with a stick bait. The only thing you have to figure out is what type of action the walleye are looking for. When I go I carry three basic types of stick baits: floaters, slashers and suspending. All three of these types give you the option of matching the walleyes’ mood. Below is a list of some of the basic options out there:

• 
• Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue
• Bomber Long A
• Rapala Husky Jerk
• Rapala Original
• Rapala X-rap
• Bomber Jointed Long A
• Rapala Jointed

These basic baits should be able to catch you fish most nights. But there are some times that baits such as Rattle Traps or Shad Raps can really shine. Another option is also the Countdown from Rapala, it works great when you are fishing piers that have very deep water around them.
The next thing to think about is colors, you can make this as hard or simple has you like. I carry anywhere from 6 to 12 basic colors with me. White, Perch, Fire-tiger, Smelt, Orange, and Shiner type colors. Below are some of my favorite baits and colors.

Also, don’t forget the headlamp that way you can tie knots if need be while you’re out fishing. Also anytime there is some extra ambient light nearby focus on those areas. The minnows will be drawn to the light and the walleye will be on the edges of those areas.