Trolling boards are also effective this time of year, especially on larger structures. With other anglers fishing the same body of water, boards can get in the way.

"I prefer to fish with a little wave action meaning you don't need the boards so much," House said.

CRANKBAIT CASTING
Terry Tuma has given hundreds of fall walleye fishing seminars over the years and does plenty of fall crankbait fishing. He is a fan of trolling but has had a lot of success casting the same locations he trolls as well as on weedflats.

"Find the cabbage and coontail patches that are still green and lush -- the best areas seem to be near the breakline," he said.

Trolling seems to work better in the evening and at night, while the casting pattern seems to be best in the morning. Lipless crankbaits work well but so do shallow-running lures like the X-Rap or jointed Rapala.

DEEPER TROLLING
Parsons helped revolutionize the concept of contour trolling, and it's a deadly technique for those walleyes that remain deep.

"In a lot of places we fish I can have a higher catch rate trolling crankbaits on lead core than other guys can with rigs and jigs," he said.

The reason, he explained, is that although rigs and jigs are a more precise and efficient method of covering a specific location, it's not exactly what the walleyes are looking for right now.

"Let's say there's a group of walleyes in 40 feet of water on a deep-water point adjacent to the lake basin. You could get those fish with a jig or rig by sitting on their heads and being in the fish 100 percent of the time --or you could contour troll and spend most of your time repositioning your boat."

Parsons continued, "You might be spending more time repositioning your boat to stay on active fish, but we find that these fall fish prefer crankbaits and you could be catching them five to one over those other anglers using jigs and rigs."

Tuma also fishes rivers in the fall and tends to find them holding in the depths of big pools. A heavily weighted three-way swivel rig with a 2- to 3-ounce weight and a 6- to 8-foot snell tipped with a crankbait is a deadly setup. "You don't need a lot of line out, just enough to get it down to where you need it. Keep the rod tip at a 45-degree angle and as soon as you feel something, set the hook," Tuma said.

CRANKBAIT DETAILS
Crankbait selection seems to be less of an issue in the fall compared with earlier in the year, Parsons said.

"Those walleyes are aggressively feeding all the way until ice-up, so they are less selective."

Because some of the best fall fishing comes during the nighttime, House likes lures with a lot of texture.

"I'll throw on a rattling Rogue because when you fish the twilight or moonlight that texture flips back a reflection like fish scales do," he said. His other lure choices include Bombers and Excaliburs.