Mid-Winter Walleyes - Don’t Give Up Yet!
By Mike Frisch

Mid-winter is a time when the walleye bite on many lakes slows. While it is true that walleye fishing can be tougher now, anglers willing to put in their time finding fish and figuring out ways to make them bite can still get in on some good mid-winter action.

The first thing to consider when targeting walleyes during mid-winter is fish location. At first or early ice, classic walleye structure like the edges of flats, points and underwater humps will often be key spots. These types of areas still hold fish later in winter, but now is the time when I like to start targeting some of the more out-of-the way spots that haven’t been fished much by other anglers. Some of these smaller, less distinct spots will often hold fish and usually haven’t seen the steady parade of baits that the walleyes on some of the more “community spots“ have seen.

When looking for out-of-the way spots, it‘s important to stay active. If I fish a particular spot one evening without much success, odds are that I’ll seek out a new location on my next trip. For this reason, I do the vast majority of my ice angling from a portable shelter so I can easily load it in my pick-up and move from spot to spot. I use a Ranger Solo shack a great deal for my mid-winter angling because it’s lightweight, plus it has a chair that swivels 360-degrees for comfort and fishing convenience.

Finding walleyes during the middle of the winter is important, but it’s only half the battle. The other half of the equation is triggering the fish into biting. During the early ice period, most of my walleyes come on jigging spoons. I still catch some fish jigging during the middle of the winter, but now it seems that a minnow fished on a plain hook under a bobber becomes productive as well.

My bobber presentation usually consists of a lively fathead minnow fished beneath a bobber on a plain hook with a split-shot added a foot or so above the hook for weight. It’s important to use a bobber-size that floats the bait, but one that’s not too big as biting fish can be spooked by the added buoyancy of a big bobber. I fish my bobber rigs on 6- or 8-pound test monofilament line. Trilene Micro Ice line has proven reliable for my winter angling.

One refinement to this set-up that I’ve had good success with lately is the use of a colored split shot for added attraction. I’ve been using the new Hot-Spot Split Shots in glow color with good success when targeting walleyes during late afternoon and into the evening. I think the added color attracts the fish, and once they get close, they find a lively minnow.

The use of lively minnows is the final piece to the puzzle. Anytime, winter or summer, I fish live bait I try to change my bait on a regular basis as I think that fresh bait does a better job of attracting fish and triggering them to bite.

Triggering walleyes to bite in the winter can be more difficult than it was at first ice. Nevertheless, they still can be caught. Being persistent and following some of the suggestions just offered will hopefully help you put a few more walleyes on the ice yet this winter.