My buddy Sid Brown exclaimed “got one!” His medium action spinning rod bent in a deep arch. A minute or so later a thick, golden-flanked walleye was visible, coming up from the 25-foot depths of Mosquito Lake’s stained water. I slipped the net under the fish, and we were on the board.

Mosquito Lake is in northeastern Ohio, not far from the PA/Ohio border. It’s one of Ohio’s most productive walleye lakes, exhibiting a degree of natural reproduction, and well-stocked by the Ohio Division of Wildlife with fingerling stage walleye. The lake provides much of the brood stock for that agency’s walleye and saugeye stocking program.

Sid and I have fished Mosquito for walleyes, off and on, for over 10 years. Following a late trip there this past spring, we’d discussed the idea of fishing the lake during the late fall, when walleyes really key in on baitfish species such as gizzard shad. Shad make up a major part of walleyes’ diet on Mosquito.

This late fall, walleye bite happens to some degree on Pymatuning Lake, which is very similar, physically, to Mosquito, and is also rich in gizzard shad. Typically, the walleyes are in the deeper part of the lake (since the temperature-sensitive shad tend to migrate to the deeper/warmer end of the lake when cold temperatures set in); most of the fish are taken on blade baits, compact metal lures when can be worked vertically.

We theorized that what works on Pymatuning at this time of year should also work on Mosquito. So, we set aside a couple mid fall days to put this notion to the test.

Mosquito Lake was calm the morning of our arrival, a plus during a chilly time of year, on a lake that is often windswept. However, light showers that persisted during our two-hour drive to the lake greeted us and would continue to fall throughout the day.

Our first half hour on the water was spent simply idling around the lower end of the lake, looking for clouds of baitfish on the sonar unit. We saw lots of scattered bait, but not many thick pods. There were plenty of seagulls and loons around, too, so it was obvious there was plenty of food in the area.

After that brief period of reconnaissance, we began working the deeper zones, ones mostly associated with the main river channel, with blade baits. As I’ve written about many times in the past, blade baits excel during the cold-water period, providing an in-the-face look that often triggers a reaction from lethargic fish. And with a water temperature of 38 degrees, the situation certainly qualified.

A couple hours of slowly working channel edges had yet to produce a strike, that is until Sid scored the walleye described at the outset. As is so often the case, getting that first fish can be a challenge. After some degree of success, though, things are often easier, armed with an idea of the depth and kind of cover the fish are using.

Such was the case that rainy day. We went on to boat nine more quality-sized walleyes, all on blade baits (we also tried jigging spoons, bucktail jigs and vertically-fished lipless crankbaits). The following day, which brought with it snow and moderate winds, supplied a similar catch, and the opportunity to discover additional productive spots, ones likely to kick out some fish during future trips. Sid’s 36-inch northern pike was a nice bonus.

Besides walleye and northern pike, Mosquito Lake has also developed into an outstanding crappie and largemouth bass lake. Access areas are well scattered around the lake. We used the one located at Mosquito Lake State Park, found along the southwestern portion of the impoundment.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle