You Want More Midsummer Walleyes?
There are lots of huge walleyes in more lakes than you know. There are instances when baitfish are suspended within the lake and those midsummer walleyes won’t be far away in deep water. So you can get some deep pelagic walleyes but this article is about making it easy in a location many avoid or don’t believe there are walleyes to be had in this location during midsummer. The warm water and extra light cause many to believe the walleyes aren’t there. But there are schools of overlooked walleyes in shallow water because of this reasoning and lack of pressure due to that line of thinking.
The yellow perch is among the primary forage species for walleyes in several of these lakes, the schools are inclined to follow the edge of the weeds. It is a time you’re able to catch walleyes through the day on northern Minnesota lakes, even in clear water and particularly those with dark water. In midsummer, panfish and crayfish often choose to be in the shallows and the walleyes will target them. Cast a plastic on a jig that imitates a crawfish, maribou jig or alternative bait past the shallow part of the weed bed and slowly retrieve and/or hop it through the hard bottom locations close to the shallow weeds.
Schools of fish can be found at various depths, but these walleyes can be easier to find and catch if you develop stealthy shallow water fishing skills. In fact you’ll catch a lot of walleye and your friends won’t believe you when you tell them. Especially on a warm day.
The depthfinder could be the all-important tool for the thriving walleye fisherman. Find the weed edges that break into deeper water rapidly. Even though you want to fish right away, run an hour or two just searching for the pockets where fish head into the shallow flats to sneak up on later. It’s especially important to do this in the event the water is turbid because the fish are even more likely to be shallow.
To catch midsummer walleyes, anglers utilize quite a few techniques. Long-line trolling is an effective method to utilize on summertime walleyes. A planer board can get them shallow where you can’t take your boat. When conditions are right and there are a lot of minnows shallow, the odds are excellent that a great deal of walleye will be ready to take you up on properly presented offerings. The funny thing is the fact that, even though we see several enormous walleyes “shallow” in many lakes, you wouldn’t suspect have them, each year within our bait trap nets, those enormous fish rarely appear within our creel surveys or at the neighborhood bait shops. Just remember, they’ll be searching for baitfish in schools that generally follow the inside edge of the weeds. You have to be stealthy in your approach and match exactly what they are feeding on.
To achieve success, anglers better be prepared to make some serious moves to remain with the fish. This is a significant factor to catch actively feeding fish, so know the shallow water you charted earlier with your depthfinder and use it to keep your boat from running aground. It is also possible to make use of a slip bobber to fish in rather shallow water. A lot counts on the kind of lake you’re fishing. Walleyes often hold shallow in great numbers when you find current or circulating water that happens in the very shallow zone in midsummer.
Walleyes are essentially lazy fish and those bobbers make it easy when they lay up shallow. Try tail hooking the minnows. Hooked in this fashion they often stay on longer and drive walleyes crazy. The secondary factor in shallow current fed or wind swept areas is a greater oxygen level around the weeds.
Very often we’ll catch a huge pike or muskie while we’re doing this and can be a key indicator there are walleyes using this area and the big pike are keying on them. Maybe you’ll come across weed-oriented walleyes along with the deeper walleyes who are laying up in the shallow sand rock and gravel, Search for little breaks within the weed line or big elongated shallow points off shore. Be stealthy and target those shallow weed walleyes you didn’t believe were there.