During the night, because the moon doesn't provide much light, walleye
are more on the move. This is also when bait fish are more active, so
the walleye are looking for food.
When you have staked your pad on the ice and have your hole drilled,
you will, of course want to keep warm and be able to see. Naturally,
you would have brought along a light to accomplish both of these. There
is a trick to lighting your fishing hut. Instead of a lantern, bring
along a variety of candles. They will provide enough light for you to
tie your line and watch your rod in case a fish strikes. Any light that
you use will penetrate down the hole, and the brighter the light, the
further away the fish will be. You will, of course, need to bring a
heater, but make sure that it doesn't emit too much light. I found that
I got the most bites in the 2 hours after sunset and the 2 hours before
sunrise.
Take the right equipment- Because you want to minimize the amount of
light that penetrates your fishing hole, you need to choose your bait
wisely. Normally, walleye love to attack brightly colored jigs, but in
the dark, this could pose to be quite a dilemma.
Instead of color, go for profile and sound instead. Choose a jig that
is a decent size so that it is easily seen as it passes over the
walleye. As well, use bait with a rattle. I found that walleye are
attracted to this sound. Make sure that the bait is heavy enough so
that the line is taut and there are no kinks in it. You should be able
to feel it bounced in the water when you tug on the line.
When it comes to line; the thinner, the better. Rather than lunging at
their prey like their fellow predator, the pike, walleye will instead
inhale their prey. If you use a lighter line, it makes it easier for
the fish to inhale. Otherwise, they will simply spit it out or let it
go.
To get the full "Tips for Ice Fishing for Walleye at Night" article you'll need to download it here.