Lake Erie Walleye Fishing at night - a must-do on any fisherman’s bucket list!!

Targeting walleye after dark is an item that every walleye fisherman should experience! You can have nights with fish up to 10 pounds or bigger when casting or trolling crankbaits. At night, we get real bites and walleyes won't drop that lure for nothing! Walleye fishing after dark is a passion. I love hearing about the daytime crowd complaining about the boat traffic and rude fisherman, this usually means the night fishing will be spectacular.

The prime time for night Walleye fishing is midnight to 4:00 AM. However, the walleyes will typically start biting a half hour after dark. Late night to early morning is when I have caught the largest fish on Lake Erie. We typically go out and target shallow reefs, gravel bars and piers. We drift over these areas and cast suspending baits, such as Rapala Husky Jerks, Reef Runner Ripsticks and Smithwick Rogues. If you’re looking to catching really big walleye, try a “minnowbait”, the most deadly lure! Larger walleye love the shape of the bait and cannot resist. Walleyes come into shore at night, often into water less than 6 feet.Finding the reefs that taper off to the flats or near shore gravel bars seem to work the best for us at Lake Erie. Our fishing charters allow access to these prime fishing spots. Cast your lures out as far as you can and retrieve back to you very slow. Stop and go will usually work, but we get the best results just reeling slow. When Walleye fishing at night, the colder the water the slower the retrieve.

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a bite right away! Walleyes won't bite all night long. They will shut off for hours and bite for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. You have to stick it out in order to have the opportunity to get 3 or 4 of those windows in a night. The potential is there to find dozens of highly-prolific night spots on Lake Erie not frequented by other anglers. Find those spots and walleyes in the 10 pound plus range will be in your future.