Though the calendar doesnt say so yet, weather forecasters count the time around Labor Day as the start of autumn. Walleye fishermen can attest to the truth of that. Fish are no longer concentrated in their summer haunts. Trolling structure or fishing shallow weed lines produces fewer and fewer walleyes.
Days are shorter. Nights are cooler. The transition has come.
It is as if all of a sudden, walleyes arent where they were. “Theyre gone.”
As early as mid-August, subtle changes (that often go unnoticed) signal the start of the fall transition period. Weeds begin dying, from colder overnight temperatures, fewer hours of sunlight, and other factors.
Look for dying weeds, thats what starts it and push it. It has often been said of late season killer Walleye fishing that what a lot of people dont understand is that baitfish will only stay in those weeds as long as they are very green. Once weeds start to die off, it seems as though baitfish and walleyes start to leave those shallow-water weed areas.
Shallower, dark-water lakes enter the transition period first. Deeper, clear-water lakes experience transition later in fall. Some lakes...