West Side Suggestions

[Hockeyboys]

We're typically at the lake in July and August.  We decided to try the opener and are staying on the west end.  Anyone have suggestions for walleyes?  We're familiar with some mid summer spots in Norwegian Bay and Niles Bay.  Should we expect some action in shallower water in Black Bay or the upper reaches of Norwegian?

[guideman]

The mouth of the Partridge river is usually pretty good however there will be lots of boats there. Black bay could be good but it was an early ice out so I wouldn't count on that. If you want to do your best drive to the east end.

[SkunkedAgain]

You will likely find walleye in their post-spawn/pre-summer locations this weekend. Echoing Guideman, the walleye will have mostly moved out of Black Bay but could still be in the river channel from Black Bay out to the islands (between HOL and Wakemup). There are lots of spots like Ritchie Bay and Woody's Cove that should hold walleye as well as Norwegian. Had opener been closer to ice-out, you could have dragged raps in Black Bay and caught them quite easily. Since ice-out occurred a month ago in Black Bay, the walleye have been migrating out. Below is a good bit that I remembered reading.

 

From an in-fisherman article online:

"Colby also says that larger female walleyes quickly vacate spawning areas in search of a deep-water refuge. They head for deeper regions, especially if soft-rayed forage like ciscoes and smelt are available. It isn’t that they just quit feeding.

Younger, smaller walleyes, both male and female, often forage on perch. Perch tend to stay shallow, so smaller walleyes stay shallow, too. This isn’t to suggest that large walleyes don’t eat perch. They certainly do, especially in emerging weedgrowth during the Presummer and Summer Peak periods."

[delcecchi]

Sounds like the Cliff plan.  Fish deep. 

[Pikers1988]

I literally just watched an episode of Linders Angling Edge where they echoed exactly what SkunkedAgains quote claimed.