Walleye

[Sweis]

Wondering what lake would be best bet for big walleye come first or second week of October? Range would be pretty much all of Missouri since I'm smack in the middle here at Saint Roberts. 

[Kramr]

Depends on what you mean by "big". I'm sure Stockton has big walleyes, you just need to know where they hang out. 

We were at Norfork Lake a few weeks ago and caught our limit of 18" plus walleye. Some even hitting 20". 

Bulls Shoals is supposed to have big walleyes.

Personally my goal is to catch "legal" size walleye to eat. 

[Sweis]

18-20 would be perfect. Never fished in this state. I'm use to fishing in South Dakota. What tactics work best down here in early fall. Deep cranks, leadcore, BB and spinners?

[bfishn]

Early-mid October is always feast or famine for me (more often famine). The lakes will  be in the process of turnover, so they can be anywhere, at any depth. The best advice I could offer is to find the shad and fish nearby. I've spooned October 'eyes at 40', and caught 'em trolling unweighted Rogues at 8-10' in the same day.

[Kramr]

21 hours ago, Sweis said:

18-20 would be perfect. Never fished in this state. I'm use to fishing in South Dakota. What tactics work best down here in early fall. Deep cranks, leadcore, BB and spinners?

My go to technique is bottom bouncing using a slow death hook with half a crawler. Seems to be the most consistent method for me. Any of those tactics should work if used correctly.