Philpott in December

[westonhar00]

Wanted to try to catch some winter walleyes in the upcoming week. Does anyone happen to know what depth I should be fishing in, or even what section of the lake, appreciate any help, thanks!

[johnr]

60-90’ deep. Anywhere you can find that, walleyes will be. Big shiners. Biggest walleyes I get there come now thru Feb. Not many per day though.

[irons]

Where do you get large shiners this time of year up there?

[johnr]

I always just catch them in my creek on mild days. Alewives would work too as will peanut gizzards but you won’t have much luck netting them at Philpott. Too deep. The walleyes are spitting up ales and gizzards in the winter.

[irons]

Gotcha, I know they quit selling shiners in the winter up around the lake.

[fatdaddy]

Good looking walleyes pal

[pbrobe]

I know this thread is old but just curious about tactics. Are you only using live bait? Any artificial? What sort of presentations? Jigging or just dead stick?

[herringbone]

Sorry, JohnR, but the first pic he shows with the walleye in the net there’s a rapala jigging rap stuck in the net.

[johnr]

Pbrobe: all of the above will work.

I like jigging raps or similar. Black/chrome or chartreuse/white are my favorite colors. The action depends on the day and the fish you’re working…

Flukes and spoons also work. Again, depends on the day and the fish.

Big minnow style jerkbaits will also work, provided you can get them down to 15’ or so.

Live bait is always an excellent option.

I like to target them deep, Because I can see them on my sonar. But, I’ve found that there are still plenty of “shallow” walleyes through winter. Shallow could be considered 15-40’ depending on the weather trend. They aren’t all 60’+ deep.

Walleye populations aren’t as good now as they were a few years ago.