Sweet Valley, Luzerne County – Duke Dalley has fished the Susquehanna River for decades and he believes walleye fishery in the winter has boomed in recent years.
Cleaner water may have something to do with it, he said, but regardless of the reason, the chance to catch walleye on the river is enough to get Dalley on the water in snow, sleet and cold.
In fact, the winter conditions is a big reason why the river’s walleye fishery is often overlooked by anglers, he said.
“It takes a special breed to go out and fish in 20-degree weather with sleet,” Dalley said. “A lot of people just don’t want to deal with the conditions in the winter to fish for walleye.”
Aaron Frey, Area 4 Fisheries Manager for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Sweet Valley office, said there are some anglers targeting walleye on the river during the winter, but it’s not nearly as popular as the smallmouth bass and catfish fisheries in the summer.
But for those that do venture out onto the cold water, the opportunity to land a large walleye is increasing.
Frey said walleyes school up in the slack water areas during the winter, and they are very active feeders. That’s one reason why they grow well in the river, he said.
“They’re doing decent, and we’re seeing young-of-the-year in the fall reach 10 to 11 inches, and most will hit 15 inches by their third year in the river,” Frey said.
As far as numbers go, Dalley said 2020 was a stellar year on the river, particularly in February. He found consistent numbers of large walleye in deep water near the current, but this year things have been a bit slow.
“It’s still early, but we’ve been fishing for 4-plus hours at a time and just catching one or two,” Dalley said.
The observation matches what Frey encountered when he surveyed three sites last October for young-of-the-year walleye on the river, from Wysox to Bloomsburg.
“Our catches were really low,” Frey said. “The flows were low and the water was very clear, so some of the issue may have been the fish just not being where we sampled. We also had some flooding in early April, which might have impacted the young fish in 2020.”
But Frey isn’t concerned about one poor recruitment year having a major impact on the walleye fishery. If other recruitment years before and after 2020 were strong, the numbers can compensate for a poor year, he said.
For now, Dalley isn’t concerned about catching fewer walleye this year compared to 2020. The river constantly changes, he said, and one needs to adapt to find the fish.
While he caught most of the walleye in deeper water last winter, the ones that Dalley is finding this year are located in 5 to 10 feet.
“The river is an entire different fishery in the winter, dominated by walleyes and muskies. The habitat changes too, and that’s what intrigues me about it,” he said.
For now, Dalley can only attribute the higher walleye numbers to cleaner water – a factor that he believes has existed longer than people believed. For several years, he said, the river has been noticeably cleaner and it’s not uncommon to see the bottom in 8 feet of water.
While that benefits all fish species in the river, Dalley said not as many anglers are taking advantage of the excitement offered by the winter walleye fishery.
The few that do, he said, know that the numbers are better than ever.
“Some guys are catching enough that they’ll throw the bigger ones back and take those between 16 and 20 inches home to eat,” Dalley said. “I don’t think the walleye fishing will ever get as popular as smallmouth bass because your best success is in the winter. But if you prepare for it, you’ll find that the walleye population is really doing well in the river.”
- This story originally appeared in PA Outdoor News.
