Adam Johnson Outdoors • Reading Outdoors

Beating the Tough Odds of Turnover Fishing: The Days that Try Walleye Men's Souls

By Perry Good

Think there's no such thing as a bad day on the water? Try walleye fishing around turnover.

Some call it the fall lull, others declare it's "golfing time." By any name, the period around fall turnover is a tough timeframe to fish walleyes in the upper Midwest.

Last year's Professional Walleye Trail championship occurred right at turnover in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and it was a challenging event. We had junk floating up from the bottom, and the fish were all over in the water column, inactive and disoriented.

A simple explanation of turnover is in order here. During the summer, a thin layer of water (called the thermocline) develops between the cool surface water on the bottom of our lakes (technically called the "hypolimnion") and a warmer layer (the epilimnion) on top. The temperature difference is remarkable, as much as 20 degrees across the thermocline.

Come fall, when days shorten and air temperatures drop, that warm water on top cools. The two layers eventually flip, which causes mass chaos. There's a rapid mixing of the water, so submerged dead plant and animal material floats up (smells nasty, too), and every living thing in the lake becomes disoriented. In our classic Minnesota lake country, the phenomenon can throw off the walleye bite for a week or more, and in my opinion, it's harder to fish than a bad cold front.

What's an angler to do? Your first option is traveling someplace where turnover has less of an effect. Shallow prairie country lakes are an excellent option. Take Lake Shetek, near Slater. This lake, normally pea-soup green in the summer, clears up nicely in the fall, and because it's only about 8 feet deep, turnover is virtually nonexistent. It's just too warm in this consistently shallow lake for a thermocline to set up. It's a great fall walleye option.

Minnesota has many lakes like this, and technique-wise, we'll typically begin fishing them via crankbaits by casting into the shorelines. You might also try a fathead minnow on a lighted bobber, again in shallow water. Fall is a great time to fish for walleyes from shore, or with waders, if you've got property access.

Our windswept, classic walleye lakes like Mille Lacs also seem less susceptible to the confusion of turnover. Quite often in the fall, you'll find me casting or pulling Rapalas along Indian Point or other shoreline areas of our big walleye lakes.

Rivers, thanks to their current and constant mixing, have no turnover issues, so consider a trip to the Minnesota or Mississippi rivers this month. Find a fairly deep hole right below a turn in the river, say below where a creek enters. Then, on a No. 2 hook, attach a redtail minnow to your Lindy Rig and drop it on the bottom. Let it sit.

It's almost better to fish this from shore, rather than messing around with a boat. If you bring your boat, anchor and use the rod holder, and watch your line. I grew up fishing the Minnesota River this way near Le Sueur, and guys are still catching lots of fall walleyes in the same places I did 25 years ago with this technique.

One last traveling option: The Rainy River is excellent in September. The shiner run kicks in on the river, and all those border lake walleyes follow. It's phenomenal.

But what about you stubborn lads unwilling to travel away from your precious lake country? Hey, you'll always find fish looking to feed, even during turnover, but understand this point: There is no pattern! This is the hardest time of year to target fish, so use your electronics religiously to find scattered fish.

A month ago, I wrote about my dedication to spinner rigs. Come fall, I'm done with them. Now it's more of a minnow bite, just like early in the soft-water season. Focus on the late evenings, when finicky or disoriented walleyes seem most likely to resume feeding. I'd start by casting crankbaits (this may be the best time of year for Rapalas) and using lighted bobbers in the shallows. Try the weedlines next, then work your way deeper, even with a jig and minnow.

Wherever you fish, whether it's a river or lake, we're less worried about finesse now than we were in the summer. Skip the nightcrawlers and leeches you used all summer. We're back to minnows (that's true for virtually any species you're chasing, by the way), and if possible, large ones. Fish sense that winter's coming, so they're more aggressive and seek larger bait choices.

Consider every fish a well-earned success during turnover. And take heart, by mid- October, these same techniques will be catching numbers of good fish. They'll have the feedbag back on, and you can enjoy some of the most productive walleye fishing of the year.

A good rule of thumb: When the fall colors are peaking, so is the walleye bite.

Perry Good, is a professional walleye angler from Minnesota. He is a Professional Walleye Trail (PWT) Champion and is the only angler who has qualified for every championship on the PWT and RCL tours.