Night fishing’s greatest danger is the long trolling pass, deep into the realm of sensory deprivation. Outside the aura of navigation lights, the world is veiled in black. The sound of water endlessly burbling along the hull begins to sound like a mantra in some voodoo ceremony, bent on the sequestration of your mind. At any moment, you could become a zombie.

It isn’t difficult to make a case for night fishing for walleyes. Dark-side ‘eyes prowl through the night from the Atlantic to the Pacific, cruising rocky points and reefs, inside turns in weedlines, river mouths, and lots of other spots in the Great Lakes, small lakes, reservoirs, and rivers. The walleye is better equipped to feed at night than most fish because a specialized retina in its eye reflects more light onto the rods, giving it a nighttime advantage over most or all baitfish in any system. In spring, walleyes are programmed to be nocturnal anyway because they spawn at night. Night fishing is the great equalizer, producing better after cold fronts and on bodies of water that receive heavy daytime pressure. And from postspawn through midsummer, it’s often the best way to target truly huge fish.

Nights of the full moon can be dynamite for walleyes, in almost any month, but especially in spring and fall. The brightness of a full moon can affect the nocturnal shifts of plankton, resulting in more activity among larger invertebrates and preyfish, drawing them up and out. Walleyes follow suit, feeding higher and more aggressively. Nights of the full moon should be target fishing dates on your calendar.

After all these years, the most productive methods haven’t changed much. A few technological gizmos have come along to make night fishing a little more pleasant, a few new tactics have surfaced, and advances in lures have helped, but the same tactics that worked years ago continue to produce wall-bending results.

Find Walleyes At Night

It’s a simple matter of following walleyes through typical seasonal movements, then translating those positions into nighttime positions. In spring, reservoir walleyes tend to gather at the back ends of creek arms, running up creeks to spawn or spawning along gravel banks. As postspawn progresses, they make their way out to primary and secondary points at the mouth of the creek arm.

In reservoirs during spring and early summer, walleyes prefer flooded woodcover when they can find it. Slow-tapering flats that hold few fish during the day hold lots of walleyes at night near the backs of creek arms. A little later on, stairstep shale or gravel shorelines on those secondary and primary points hold fish at night.

As in most environments, walleyes tend to ride higher and cruise shallower at night. They might hold 20 feet down or deeper during the day, but typically move right up into 2 to 5 feet of water at night.

In the Great Lakes, giant walleyes cruise up rivers like the Maumee, the Saginaw, and the Fox to spawn. Prespawn fishing right on the bank along riprap shorelines at night has become increasingly popular over the years. When walleyes finish spawning, piers and shorelines along rivermouths attract most of the fish. Stone jetties, elbows in pier walls, slag piles, riprap, warmwater discharges, troughs, and sand beaches attract walleyes in spring.

In natural lakes, the same kinds of things happen in microcosm. Walleyes may run creeks as opposed to rivers, but still stage at the mouths before and after spawning. Some of the hottest areas in natural lakes from spring through midsummer for night fishing include necked-down areas between basins, where the lake narrows to the width of a large river; inside turns, where deep water and deep weedlines bend in close to shore; and shallow main-lake points with some hard bottom and patchy weeds up into depths as shallow as 2 feet.

River walleyes like wood, reefs, and rockpiles at this time of year. Good spots can produce all night long, right on top in 1 to 2 feet of water. In fact, river walleyes hit some pretty odd things at night—like spinnerbaits and topwater lures.

Things depend, to a large degree, on the environment. In super-clear bodies of water like Lake Saganaga up in the Canadian Shield, it’s possible to target some of the biggest walleyes available anywhere by night fishing through the end of July. But on nearby Lake of the Woods, where algae blooms are common, casting or trolling the most productive reefs at night usually results in a skunking anytime after early prespawn. In clear lakes and rivers, some nocturnal walleye activity always will be present. In cloudy or muddy water, night fishing can be a bust in summer, though unusually heavy daytime fishing pressure can change that.

The overall key to location for night-shift walleyes is to look shallower. As summer wears on, location is determined more by forage location than by specific structural keys. Walleyes could be on sand beaches, long featureless weedlines, or classic structure. Wherever you look, don’t overlook 2- to 5-foot depths.

Longline Trolling

The night troller for walleyes has a specialized tackle box. It contains a short range of shallow- to deep-diving cranks and minnowbaits, from 4 to 7 inches long, most contrasting a dark back against a white belly, some with reverse countershading, a few “experimental” stealth bombers painted all black, and a couple with spots of glow paint or tape. One tray of the box has a little spattering of terminal tackle—a few split shot and some swivels. Ready, set, go.

The key to trolling for walleyes at night is to choose the right areas, know them well, and design trolling passes that bring the lure, but not the boat, over key points and inside turns. Otherwise, each trolling pass should keep at least one bait moving back and forth along the break from 2 to 5 feet, where weeds allow. Large balsa minnowbaits like the F-13 or F-18 Rapala and the Bagley Bang-O-Lure stay up best, ticking the tops of weeds at ultraslow trolling speeds. If the lure can be kept from fouling, it should be back at least 80 feet, preferably 150. The long line allows you to maneuver the boat so it doesn’t pass over key spots while allowing plenty of room to zero in the lure on it. Longlining also keeps the biggest spooking factor (your boat) some distance away from biting fish.

When the hot bite is truly shallow, no weight is required, and casting actually will work better where fish are concentrated. When the bite happens over 6- to 10-foot depths, a single split shot might be required. Vary the size of the split shot according to the situation. Start small, see if fish are willing to rise to it, and go progressively larger if necessary. On dark nights between moons and major solunar periods, walleyes may not rise at all. Go down after them with a #5 to #9 Rapala Shad Rap, Rapala Tail Dancer, or Reef Runner Lil’ Ripper.

On sharp breaks, the inside rod (toward the bank or top of the reef) should have a minnowbait or shallow-diving crank, while the outside rod could be rigged the same or with a deep diver. Suspending baits can be productive, especially the deep models, such as the Deep Suspending Smithwick Rogue or Rapala Down-Deep Husky Jerk. Stall the boat after a turn to see if a bait hanging in the fishes’ faces for a second or two triggers strikes.

Braided superline giveth and it taketh away in this situation. It giveth great sensitivity, to the point of telegraphing tiny specks of weed on the lure. It giveth great hooksetting power at a distance. But it taketh away the shallow pass, because its thin diameter allows lures to run deeper. Sometimes, 8- to 10-pound mono works best to keep a lure over shallow weeds and snags. Finding the right depth is critical, because on some nights, all the biting fish seem to be at the same level. In really shallow water, run the outside rod directly over the transom, straight behind the boat at least 20 feet farther back than the inside rod, if possible.

Other Methods

One favorite night-bite tactic for late-spring/early-summer walleyes is to simply anchor upwind of a key spot on a reef and drift slip bobbers over it in a slight breeze. It’s a natural for families and kids, but the wind is critical. Big, crashing waves are no fun. The bait flies up and down, it’s not relaxing at all, and only worthwhile if the big girls don’t care if the bait is flying up and down. I’ll take a slight breeze every time.

It’s the simplest of games. Show up early, toss a couple markers on key spots, and anchor upwind of the markers. Slide a bobber stop up the line, slip on a lighted (Fuji, Thill or Blue Fox) slipbobber, tie a small jig to the end of the line, and put all the weight on the line just under the float to allow for a slow fall and natural drift. Better yet, use a Thill (Lindy-Little Joe) ring weight that slips right onto the bottom stem of the float. Cast upwind of the reef, or just drop it in by the boat, and let it drift across spines, over boulder piles, and into inside corners. I like Jack’s Jigs 1/32-ounce glow, chartreuse, or black jigs with a #4 hook for jumbo leeches, or a Jack’s 1/16- to 1/8-ounce jig for minnows. Sit back, feed line, and wait for the little light to disappear. Ahh.

My favorite night-bite tactic is night casting from a boat. Because if I’m casting, walleyes are concentrated and biting big baits like Rapala Husky Jerks and Smithwick Suspending Rogues, or something simple like a ballhead jig and a twistertail.

Small, specific spots that attract walleyes in the evening and at night are prime casting spots. Current areas, little inside turns on windswept shorelines, points, specific boulders, weedlines, rock shorelines, and bars are good places to start looking. I prefer a 7- or 71⁄2-foot spinning rod and a wider-than-average reel for making long casts when necessary. For snapping jerkbaits, especially around weeds, I like 10- to 15-pound braided superlines with a 6-foot 10-pound mono leader. Braids cast farther, set hooks better, and telegraph the action of the bait much better for making slow, subtle presentations. Sometimes twitching and pausing suspending lures in place for long periods works best. Sometimes it’s a long, aggressive pull and a short pause. Experiment.

Finally, don’t overlook shorecasting. When walleyes post up in shallow spots and concentrate near culverts and other small inflows, patrolling on foot can be the most productive method. In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange, has long been writing about “doctored” lures for this pursuit in early spring and late fall, and with good reason. He drills indentations into balsa minnows, shoves in a split shot and then epoxies it over to create a bait that’s just a little less than neutrally buoyant. That way, it still rides up over weeds, but casts a little farther and runs a little deeper at slower speeds than a floating bait, but it hangs far less often than a suspending jerkbait.

A 1/8- to 1/4-ounce standup head with a 4- to 5-inch plastic shad body, such as the Mister Twister Sassy Shad, can be deadly at night, too. Take a chunk out of the plastic near the base of the tail to get more “thump” and swim the bait slowly above bottom. Present it on 10-pound mono with a long 7- to 8-foot medium-fast spinning rod.