Now that I have stated the areas I would look for, let s put these areas together with the fall movements of sauger and walleye to further increase our odds of filling our limits. As late November and December arrive, water temperatures drop into the 50 degree range. Fall, in my judgment, is one of the best times to catch full stringers of big fish. Locating these packs of hungry walleye and sauger is fairly simple. When you find the food, you find the fish.
Shad is the main forage base in many of our midwest lakes and rivers.
In the fall, millions of shad move onto shallow mud flats to feed on the remaining invertebrates in the water column. As the invertebrates in the water column start to deplete, the shad start sifting through the silt on these flats for the remaining food, much like the American Indians followed the buffalo across the plains. The walleye and sauger follow the shad, stopping to gorge themselves on the plentiful food supply before moving into deeper holes to hold up during winter. So for fantastic fall river fishing, look for shallow flats in the 10 to 12 foot depth range. This fall bite can be aggravating at times because the fish are so stuffed on shad they may not readily hit your offerings.