New York - Emerald Lake: Walleye

This guide will cover gear, location and times to fish for walleye at emerald lake. I will go over some thing that i learned through personal experience or by following guides from other players. Two in particular i have to name are KP Shamino and Jake Vegas Digital.

These links in the credits section will send you to the appropriate videos of both these excelent guys about Emerald Lake. While Shamino's guide may be a bit dated, it still has a good basic setup and i used it as a basis for much of my own. Jake Vegas his guide helped refine my retrieve technique and gave me a good alterantive to float fishing.

Credits;
KpShamino (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBiwN2nzeQM)
Jake Vegas Digital (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jInVxvmUzS8)

Setups

So, to start off i will describe the setups i have, with a attached screenshot showing the gear in question. Most of the gear i use can be categorized in 2 ways; The "higher level" easy mode gear, which will net less XP per catch due to it being to high/heavy for the fish, and the "Budget/Low level" gear that you can get early on.

Each rod setup will be with a screenshot showing the setup in imperial mesurements, i will denote the metric values for ease for those who use grams/kg. If stats are in brackets () then its the metric value of that catagory. I will also add some minor comments to each setup if neccesary.

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Rod Setup 1:
Rod: Jester 7' / Jester 210 ;
Lure Weight - 3/8 to 1 1/16 Oz. (10 to 30 grams)
Line Weight - 5 to 11,5 Lb (2,5 to 5,2 kg)
Reel: LowDex MG 1500 P ;
Line Size - mono 3/80, braid 6/100 (mono 0.18/80, braid 0.15/100)
Max Drag - 12.1 Lb. (5,5 kg)
Line: Fluoro .011 (0.28 mm)
Test Weight - 10 Lb. (4,5 kg)
Spool capacity - 173 ft (53 meters)
Jighead: 1/2 Oz. #2/0 (14 grams #2/0)
Lure: Shad 2" White & Red Glow (Shad 5cm White & Red Glow)
This is a night time Shad, why will be explained more in detail later in the guide. You can also use a 1/4 Oz. #1/0 (7 grams #1/0) Black Narrow Spoon durring the day or night, but the cast will be short due to low weight.


Rod Setup 2:
Rod: Nero 14'10"' / Nero 450 ;
Line Weight - 5 to 13 Lb (2,5 to 6 kg)
Reel: Espira MLR 2000 ;
Line Size - mono 4/100, braid 10/100 (mono 0.2/100, braid 0.2/100)
Max Drag - 11 Lb. (5,0 kg)
Line: Fluoro .011 (0.28 mm)
Test Weight - 10 Lb. (4,5 kg)
Spool capacity - 242 ft (71 meters)
Chubby Bobber (Black & Red or Yellow & Red)
Hook: #2 - #1/0
Bait: Small Minnows
Which color Bobber you use doesnt seem to influence your ability to catch fish, so use which ever one you got. It needs to be a Chubby though beacause of the baits weight. I havn't tested the smaller hooks much, but it should perhaps get you some faster bites. Chance to catch smaller fish or different species will likely go up. It does require patience if you use the #1/0 or bigger hooks, they tend to bite, but not as fast as say catfish on Missouri. Patience is the name of the game here.


Rod Setup 3:
Rod: OmniFloat 14'10" / OmniFloat 450 ;
Line Weight - 3 to 7,5 Lb (1,5 to 3,5 kg)
Reel: WinCast 2500 ;
Line Size - mono 8/100, braid 10/125 (mono 0.25/100, braid 0.2/125)
Max Drag - 6,4 Lb. (2,9 kg)
Line: Fluoro .008 (0.2 mm)
Test Weight - 6 Lb. (2,7 kg)
Spool capacity - 242 ft (124 meters)
Chubby Bobber (Black & Red or Yellow & Red)
Hook: #2 - #1/0
Bait: Small Minnows
This is a easy and cheap setup, most of it can be bought at level 8. The use of hooks can be anything from #2 up to #2/0, but i preferred the #1/0 despite the wait time between bites. Personaly i feel it gives me a better weight fish overall.


Rod Setup 4:
Rod: Elemental 8'6" / Elemental 260 ;
Lure Weight - 1/5 to 1/2 Oz. (6 to 14 grams)
Line Weight - 3 to 8 Lb (1,5 to 3,5 kg)
Reel: WinCast 2500 ;
Line Size - mono 8/100, braid 10/125 (mono 0.25/100, braid 0.2/125)
Max Drag - 6,4 Lb. (2,9 kg)
Line: Fluoro .008 (0.2 mm)
Test Weight - 6 Lb. (2,7 kg)
Spool capacity - 242 ft (124 meters)
Jighead: 1/3 Oz. #1/0 (9 grams #1/0)
Lure: Shad 2" White & Red Glow (Shad 5cm White & Red Glow)
OR
1/4 Oz. #1/0 (7 grams #1/0) Black Narrow Spoon
You need to use a smaller and lighter Jighead then the 1/2 Oz #2/0 or it will be to heavy for this rod. You can also use a lighter shad, but you will lose the night time advantage this shad gives you.Overall this setup is cheaper to buy then the first setup. Most of the gear can be bought as early as level 8.

This is my prefered setup here, aldo i use one step higher for the Line (Flouro .009 or 0.23mm, test weight is around 8Lb or 3,6kg, which is just barely over the max line weight for the rod. I would recommend going for something like the FeatherLight or JiggWinner, since they can throw the lighter lures like the narrow spoon for max distance.

Location, Location, Location!!

Achmed the dead Terrorist's words ring true!

So, now that we have the setups all done, we can get to the main part of the guide. Again i will need to credit KP Shamino and Jake Vegas Digital for these locations. while you can technicaly catch Walleye annywhere from say 130 ft up to 160 ft and further (thats 39 up to 49 Meters), ive had the most luck in these two areas. Now to note; one area has almost only Walleye, thus i takes a while for each float cast to get a bite occasionaly. The other spot is faster, but alot of Pike, Pickerel and even Yellow Perch might bite your bate to, especialy if your close to the 130 ft mark.

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So for the first spot you want to go to the little pier and stand on the far right of it. If you look to the right, you see reeds/weeds along the shore, follow those up to the shore opposite of where your standing, this is your casting spot for both Lure fishing and Bait fishing.


Above is an image of me casting both a Lure and a Float in that location with the first 2 setups. I can't stretch it enought, but in this spot you only catch walleye with your Float setup if you can get the range needed (130 ft - 160 ft). That is not to say you can not get other fish there, but ive had several trips with nothing but Walleye in my net. Patience is required, they can take a while to bite. If it takes too long, reel it back a few feet, then wait again, or just reel it all the way in again and cast out again.

For the lure fising; Use a twitching method at either 1 or 2 speed setting. Just cast out and do a straight retrieve, while jerking the rod every once in a while (right mouse button). When you get close to the 90 ft mark you can speed up the twitching motion, but when your at the 40 ft mark, bite chances tend to get low. Either continue on the same method, or just reel in a try again. During night times ive had great succes with this method, just dont get discouraged if you get a few casts with no bite.


Here's a night time catch, notice the red arrows on the XP mean this setup is to heavy for the fish, but this won't impact your earnings. Setup 3 & 4 dont have this issue, but the XP is only slightly higher (90xp or so instead of 70xp) and you will be in for a thougher fight (though it still shoudn't be a problem if you dont set your drag too high)
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The second spot is the little beach left of the pier. You should stand infront of the log and cast past the reeds/weeds to your left, and behind the lillypads.


If you cast behind the lillypads you can see behind the log, again about 130 ft - 160 ft out, then you should be able to get both Walleye, and alot of other fish like Pike, Pickerel and Yellow Perch. You can also catch a Trophy Yellow Perch on this spot, but based on it's meager value (70ish dollars) its not something to realy aim for. In general the action seems to be higher here, but alot of it is the other species like the Pike's biting on your bait. While you can catch Walleye here, ive found that compared to the first spot, you realy need to reach the max distance to catch them more frequently. If your using the 3 setup (OmniFloat) however, this is still a good spot to work on.

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The third spot is an old favorite, but one that requires that you can make the distance in casting. When standing on the pier, look to the opposite shore and you will see the largest tree. Just left of this tree are two slender and smaller but still tall trees. Cast your lure inbetween these two slender trees to about 160ft (+55m) and do a slow (1 speed) twitching retrieve.


This is perhaps still the most active location, but mostly so during the night time from 9pm (21:00) up to 5am (05:00).

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Time to Fish:

In this guide i originaly ignored fishing times. Now ive decided after some more experience, that time does play a large role in this case. While in some places you can still catch walleye even during daytime and non-active fish times acording to the weather and activity report on the main screen for the location, Walleye tends to be most active durring the night. This has another added effect too your fishing, namely that between 9pm and 5am you have no cooldown on skipping ahead in time, but only if you skip forward to the next day to a time between 9pm and 5am again.

So if your net is full and it's 4am, then skipping to the next day 9pm incurs no cooldown, and technicaly you could skip ahead right again after this. This means your not forced to wait 40 min if you manage to fill your net quickly some nights, and allows you to farm for xp and currency faster.

So as you notice from the paragraph above, your best times are to start fishing at 9pm, then skip to the next day (again to 9pm) if either your net is full, or you are aprouching the 5am time mark.

During the daytime you can still catch walleye, but is will be realy slow going, not to mention catching loads of other fish species especialy during peak hours.

Some Facts and a little Fiction

So there you have it, a small but hopefuly usefull guide. For those wondering what i caught, the first setup shot also includes a shot of my keepnet showing my catches and what time/lure/bait i used.

Now there is some stuff i havn't mentioned yet, like time of day, sunny/rainy weather, etc. Now most times you can catch Walleye anny time of day, but fishing at peak times isn't a bad habit if your using a Float setup. For the lures, ive noticed that during the day it seems to not work so well, but at night the shad works wonders. As for weather, not much changes. Sunny seems to be a little slower at times, and Rainy is said to be best for Walleye. But as seen in the sceenshots i fished on a .... day, and it went fine. That said, you wont always (infact rarely) get your net full in 5 minutes.

Also, i havn't mentioned costs, well travel cost that is.
You should know that as of 16-04-2018, the cost of travel are;
- 1850 for transfer
- 500 for each day
total: 2350 for 1 day trip.

That mean you need atleast 2400 dollars in your net to play even, not counting your advanced license (200 for 1 Real Life Day/ 24Hours). You will also need atleast 2 days on the spot (if you have the 26 Lb net like i do), preferably 3 days, to get the most profit out of the trip. I sugjest getting a bigger keepnet or stringer if you want to get all your money out of it in one day trip.
I also highly sugjest getting the unlimited advanced license for 50 Gold coins if you can, cause in the end you will save thousands of dollars in license fees.

That was it for now. I hope you liked the guide, leave me comments if you got something to add or perhaps have your own setup you would like to share and i might test it out and if viable add it to the correct section. I might expand on this guide in the future if i have new information.

Good luck fishing!

Afterword

So thats the guide, i will edit it more if new information comes my way, or i find a killer cool ne spot or something. Now i didnt mention fishing from a Kayak, since i prefer doing it from the shore. I dabled in it some time ago, but found it rather lackluster in terms of catching anny worthy fish. Also, if you dont own a kayak yourself (be warned, they are extremely pricy at +30k for the lowest level one) then you can rent one for i believe 600 currency a day (not sure if its real time or per ingame day).

If there are any comments please leave them bellow, and rate the guide if you can, so that it might be found more easily by others. If you like to contribute some information to the guide, also leave a comment, and if i add it to the guide, i will be sure to give you credit at the top of this guide.

Thank you for reading this guide, and good fishings!

[Devilz]

Thanks for these. Would've been nice for a desired "depth" you're fishing at, with the bobber. But appreciate the tips you've spent time developing. Thanks.

[mlptk]

ill try

[eightydee]

Well, I started to think I had to farm bass in Texas to get to fish at the next lake only to not meet my quota. I bought a popper, started farming bass in texas. Than read your guide, saved up enough for a the chance to go, night fall came and literally every cast, I landed a wallie. Now I get around 3000 per trip. Before I would get around 1400. So thank you!

[DakimDragco]

*Edited the guide to add some more information. Leave comments and rate if you like the guide or have something to add. *