EDITOR’S NOTE: Dennis Jeffrey, Garrison, was crowned national walleye circuit Angler of the Year in 2004 and elected to the North Dakota Fishing Hall of Fame in 2013. He can be found pursuing and catching walleye somewhere on the east end of Lake Sakakawea virtually every day during the open water season. This past week he shared some walleye wisdom with The Minot Daily News.

MDN There’s not many boats on Lake Sakakawea this time of year. Are too many fishermen putting their boats away too early?

Jeffrey I 100 percent agree. I enjoy it because everybody wants to go pheasant hunting, but what they are leaving behind is some of the best walleye fishing on Lake Sakakawea. This lake really goes tremendous in the fall. Those 17-inch fish you were catching in May and June and July are like a football right now. They fight and they are ambitious and the bigger fish show up.

We went from catching 16-, 17-inch fish to now catching a lot of 18- to 22-inch walleyes. I don’t know where the 20- and 22-inches walleyes were back in July but I can find them now and they are a blast.

MDN So a fisherman can catch his best fish in the fall?

Jeffrey I agree. The fish are on the feed. I look for the sharp breaklines where the fish move from 20 foot out to 50 foot real fast. To me the best luck has always been on the real steep breaklines. I’ve caught enough doing it. If I start falling off into deep water I’ll start catching walleyes.

MDN Is there a best depth for walleye right now?

Jeffrey Sakakawea this year had a tremendous smelt hatch and I’m actually finding a lot of smelt in 60, 50 feet. Some mornings they are 35 to 40 feet. I’ve actually fished through the smelt where I’ve marked them 5 feet off the bottom in 35 feet of water. I’ll put on a bottom bouncer and a big minnow, below the smelt and drag through them. Lo and behold, I’ll get a nice walleye.

The smelt happened to stay on the east end this year and it doesn’t happen every year. This year there’s been a lot of smelt on the east end and the walleyes are still here and they are gorging themselves. After a successful day of fishing we have to clean the smelt out of the livewell.

MDN What depth are the walleye now? 25 feet? 40 feet?

Jeffrey Nobody can give you a perfect fishing report. It’s because the walleyes are 22 foot to 45 foot. We’re having a heyday catching them in the 27- to 36-foot range. That’s what I concentrate on.

MDN You do this a lot and are very good at it. How about the average fisherman?

Jeffrey They can do good. The biggest thing to remember is, don’t turn around when you hit 30 feet of water. Go right out into that deep water. Don’t worry about it. Slide off and let your lines go all the way to the bottom. The walleyes are out there.

MDN It sounds as though you like what’s happening with the fishery on Lake Sakakawea right now.

Jeffrey I love it. I think Game and Fish has done a wonderful job. It’s a walleye factory here. You can go out and catch 20 to 25 fish in an afternoon. Even the average guy who doesn’t have a lot of success can do it, especially in the fall. Concentrate and move slow.

You don’t have to use crankbaits or jigging raps. I have done all that and caught fish doing it. All that is fun and all can be productive but, for the average guy, a 1 1/2- or 2-ounce bottom bouncer and a 4-foot snell can catch a lot of walleyes.

MDN How about live bait versus artificial? Preference?

Jeffrey They all work but these fish down here are fat, they’re full, they are living on these smelt. The bigger the minnow the better as far as I’m concerned. Ninety-nine percent of my fish are coming on a Lindy rig with a minnow or a bottom bouncer with a minnow.