Fall 'Eyes

When I worked at the Inland Fisheries Division's eastern headquarters in Marlborough, CT, there was a poster adorning one of the walls that made an impression on me.  It showcased a fierce looking fish with large eyes peering from a dark, craggy rock pile.  The text above it read, "Walleye: A Creature of Habitat."

Walleye are predators in every sense of the word.  Their large marble eyes allow them to hunt in low-light or dark conditions.  They have a mouthful of sharp teeth and they hang out in the bottom part of the water column munching on forage fish and anything else that crosses their path.

Walleye are not native to Connecticut waters.  Thankfully, the Inland Fisheries Division stocks them in a handful of lakes and ponds around the state.  There is also a population in the Connecticut River.  Although they don't successfully breed here, they are brought in from the Midwest as fingerlings and take a few seasons to reach 18-inches, or what is considered a keeper in Connecticut.  That's important to know because walleye are arguably the best tasting fish in freshwater.   

This fall a few friends and I have been targeting walleye with live shiners and artificial lures like soft-plastic baits on jig heads.  The action has been good, yet the large 'eyes have remained elusive.  The early morning or late afternoon hours have been productive windows to fish for them.  However, when our waterways lock up with ice over the next weeks and months, it will turn strictly to a night game.  I am looking forward to finding larger "creatures of habitat" through the ice this coming winter.