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If you’re just not prepared to admit that the open-water fishing season is drawing to a close and still wish to target larger, active walleyes, I’d strongly suggest you trailer your boat for a day trip to the river. Odds are, you won’t be disappointed in your decision and your chances of hooking a girthy “Sumo” eye is very good indeed.

Both the Mississippi River and St. Croix River give up good numbers of fish throughout the season, but it is during the spring spawning period and late fall that these fisheries really shine and produce some of the heaviest walleyes of the year. Reports of fast, consistent walleye and sauger action is hot off the press for Pool 2 (between St. Paul and Hastings) and Pool 4 (Red Wing) on the Mississippi, as well as the water below the dam in Alma, WIS. The St. Croix River is also fishing very well right now from Stillwater to Hastings.

Bait presentation couldn’t be easier for fall river walleyes and saugers. Jigs in the 1/8th to 3/8th size tipped with either live minnows or plastics are the clear ticket, and when the water temperatures dip below 50-degrees, scented, soft plastic curly tail grubs and shad bodies will oftentimes out-fish live bait. Unlike lake walleyes, river walleyes position themselves and feed fairly tight to the bottom, so be sure your jig is working no more than a foot or so off the riverbed.

River walleyes need to stay out of the fast and heavy currents, so look for breaks such as wing dams, current seams (where fast and slow currents meet) and drop-offs to hold active fish. Sometimes it’s effective to anchor just upstream of a good drop-off, send your jig to the bottom and allow it to work downriver into the hole.

There is no doubt that boat control is a major factor in fishing success, and that rule of thumb is doubly important when fishing a river. Faster surface currents will constantly threaten to push your boat downstream faster than your bait, so using a trolling motor to slightly power upriver as you drift down will go a long way to ensure that things remain vertical. Keeping your jig next to the bottom and in the strike zone while drifting is most efficiently achieved when your presentation is vertical and under the boat.

Speaking of outstanding late fall walleye fishing, some friends and I are heading up to the Rainy River on the Canadian border this weekend. Emerald shiners run up the Rainy to spawn at this time of year and, in turn, draw numbers of big walleyes out of Lake of the Woods to chase them. If our timing is just right, we may be in for some awfully good fishing. If we don’t freeze solid in the cold, wind, rain and snow, I’ll let you know how we fared.

Dan Brown’s weekly outdoor column is brought to you by Frankie’s Bait and Marine, in Chisago City, and St. Croix Outdoors, in St. Croix Falls, Wis.

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