How to catch big walleye on the Missouri River

fly2cast

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Please tell me.

I've been fishing on the river for many years. The biggest that I have every caught is maybe 7 lbs. I've caught a lot of fish but never the big one. Where does a person catch a big walleye on the river and with what?

We do what works to catch fish but apparently not the big ones. We almost always catch them verticle jigging, with minnow or worm. We find areas of slack water behind sandbars or entrances to bays. Are the big ones somewhere else or need a different presentation? I don't even know where to start finding those big ones because we never catch them.

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I should add that you guys gave me advice last year on how to catch more fish than my brother in the boat. You said to sit downstream of him so that my jig is the first that the fish see. This did make a big difference and now my brother gives me crap for sitting where I do.
 


JMF

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7lbs is a pretty big walleye to most people.
 

JayKay

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Keep trying. I started fishing the Missouri around 1980. Probably started actually trying around 1990. Been fishing the Heskett plant spring and fall for the last 20 or so years. In my opinion, the fishing keeps getting better and better. It took forever to get one over 30, but eventually.. it happened.
 

zoops

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I think the internet often gives false impressions. No doubt some guys are better fishermen than others, but in general you've got to put in a lot of time and effort to catch big fish. And just get lucky sometimes. 30"+ walleyes are not sitting behind every sandbar.
 


Mort

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Just put line in water and go ..."here fish fishy fishy"......One never knows where the big one are, if they did, you'd have 500 boats playing bumper boats and a lot of bad words flying around, you lucky to have caught at least a 7 lb already....chit..most of us are still chasing/dreaming to get a 5 lb...then 6...then the 7....till you find the bad ass 10 lber......life of a fisherman.
 

fly2cast

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I get that those big 8 pound plus fish are rare but there are plenty of people who catch them a lot more often than I do. They go to different places and try different things that most people don't do. For example, a number of years ago when the fishing wasn't so great on the river, the pro fisherman during the PWT would travel up Beaver Creek to catch the big fish. They knew what they were doing and did things a lot different than I ever tried.
 

Stan's Dad

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I get that those big 8 pound plus fish are rare but there are plenty of people who catch them a lot more often than I do. They go to different places and try different things that most people don't do. For example, a number of years ago when the fishing wasn't so great on the river, the pro fisherman during the PWT would travel up Beaver Creek to catch the big fish. They knew what they were doing and did things a lot different than I ever tried.

sounds like you answered your own question?
 

MSA

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Luck and confidence once you got the basics. Hell, my biggest walleye came from shore next to a boat ramp.

I never caught one over 7# until i was in my late 20s, last year i caught 10 over 8. Not doing anything different that i did before, just more confidence in where my bait/lure is and how its presented, or its just dumb luck. Whats that saying? "its better to be lucky than good"
 

Captain Ahab

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Luck and confidence once you got the basics. Hell, my biggest walleye came from shore next to a boat ramp.

I never caught one over 7# until i was in my late 20s, last year i caught 10 over 8. Not doing anything different that i did before, just more confidence in where my bait/lure is and how its presented, or its just dumb luck. Whats that saying? "its better to be lucky than good"


This. There's really no way to get it, but many hours behind the pole. Knowing how to move the bait to "trigger" bites and hanging in the "strike zone" as best as possible is key. That and using bigger profile baits never hurts. A big eyeball will suck a 4-6 inch bait in like a tic tac.
 


camoman

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64187C44-C2DB-407E-B6AB-AB889CF58462.jpgAhab mentioned bigger baits. This smelt was spit up by a 16” walleye early this week. It’s not JUST your bait, but it can be a start. I too fished for 15 years never catching anything bigger than 6 lbs., then I really started to put in the time and I’m one year I caught 6 fish 8+ lbs. Was a good year.
 

eyexer

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some people fish their whole lives and never catch one as big as 7 lbs
 

KDM

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nm0007061.jpgAhab mentioned bigger baits. This smelt was spit up by a 16” walleye early this week. It’s not JUST your bait, but it can be a start. I too fished for 15 years never catching anything bigger than 6 lbs., then I really started to put in the time and I’m one year I caught 6 fish 8+ lbs. Was a good year.

You're Welcome!!!
 

MSA

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Definetely bigger baits. I guess if i had to say what ive changed that increased my catch rates and size would be size and efficiency. Bigger rods, bigger lures, line, reels, etc. I started fishing for walleyes with finess...light, quiet, and slow. Now i go after them like theyre hungry stray dogs.
 


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