Why is late fall the trophy walleye window?

Because the biggest females eat their year's boldest meals in cold water. From roughly 10 °C (50 °F) down to near ice-up, big walleye gorge on the year's now-large baitfish — and in cisco lakes the timing is explosive, as cisco spawn onto shallow rocky shoals in November and the lake's largest predators follow them into casting range. Cold water also strips the caution out of the light rule's edges: hulking fish that lived in 12 m (39 ft) all summer prowl 1–3 m (3.3–10 ft) rock after dark. The classic program — big minnowbaits and swimbaits, cast or trolled slowly at night over shoals and shorelines, in weather most people quit on — is uncomfortable, low-count fishing that produces a disproportionate share of each season's giants. Dress for it and go.

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