Walleye fishing in the Delaware River only gets better as winter approaches.  My favorite time to walleye fish is typically between the falling of the last oak leaves and the turn of the new year. Last year, winter came in like an aggressive dog around Thanksgiving, leaving the river unfishable from then until mid-March.   

Walleye are known to be a nocturnal feeding fish, although I catch many of them on bright sunny days.  The pigment in their eye, called tapetum lucidum, is what gives them their name. It enhances their sight in dark and low-light conditions by reflecting the light back through its retina for a second shot at absorption. But I like to think of it as a form of color blindness, so as an angler I decode it with certain colors and baits, depending on water clarity.  

Walleye like to live and feed in the main channel of the river; they prefer water of at least six to 12 feet in depth and of moderate flow speed. They thrive in water below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once the water gets below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, they will move into the calmest, deepest sections of the river.   

Walleye are very slow-moving fish, and they have a slow ambush-type feeding regimen.  They swim behind their prey, then flare their gills and inhale it, biting down with toothy jaws.  

Typically, when fishing for them, retrieving or trolling your lure or bait as slowly as you possibly can will yield the best action.  This is by far the hardest thing to achieve for average anglers.  Slow everything down; reeling too fast will generally not present the lure or bait in the bottom half of the water column, and the fish that will feed up to eat, will not feed up that high or fast enough.    

I like to use 3- to 4-inch paddle tail swim baits in a variety of colors; the best colors are variations of bluegill, minnow or alewife patterns. These common baitfish are a main forage for walleye.  I also pulled an 8-inch brown trout out of the belly of a 21-inch walleye I filleted earlier this year. Walleye make great table fare, arguably the best-tasting fish in our immediate area.  

Dressing warmly with neoprene waders, or with a river boat setup, is the best way to target walleye during the cold winter months.  Go find the river channel where there are big boulders creating structure, or find a muddy or river-stone bottom with leaf matter that can provide great food opportunities, like baby lamprey eels. These areas provide great habitat for winter walleyes.   

It’s time to give walleye fishing a try.  Put on some warm gear, get a medium-heavy fishing rod with a fast tip, 10-lb. braided line with an 8-to-10-lb mono or flouro leader. Tie on a 3/16-ounce jighead with a 4-inch paddletail, and cast it out as far as you can into a deep river channel.  Reel it back as slowly as you can go without getting stuck on the bottom. 

Start by letting it sink for 2 seconds, then with each cast, increase the time the bait sinks before retrieving it.  Once you find the bottom, lift it up and retrieve slowly.  There is no need to be in constant contact with the bottom; a slow steady retrieve will yield many bites once the sink time and retrieve speed is established.  They are schooling fish, so if you catch one, expect to catch another in that same area.   

Walleye fishing is for folks who don’t mind the cold, and enjoy fishing in foul weather conditions.  Typically when you see photos of people with large walleye, their jackets are on and hoods are over their ears.  The colder and more variable the weather, the more likely it is to catch a trophy walleye weighing 10 or more pounds.  So buck up, and good luck!