Methods of Finding Walleyes

[Guest]

#2 is it--If I don't see marks on my flasher or other indicators on my flasher that fish are present, I keep looking...sometimes it means moving to a completley different lake.

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Chells

[Chris Haley]

Another thing to keep in mind when looking at the map before, is conditions. What is the water temp?? This will dictate what spots on the lake are the "A" spots for that time. What direction is the wind out of?? This narrows the structure you will want to concentrate on i.e. always start with the windward side of structure. What kind of bottom content?? Certain bottoms always hold fish while others will only hold fish during certain times. Time of year, though tied in with the first condition (water temp) this is also important for different areas of the lake. You don't want to concentrate on spawning habitat in august. As a rule, fish will start out shallow in the spring and gradually move deeper as the year goes on. Now there are always exceptions!! So don't come back with the story about the time in July you hammered em in the cabbage in 7ft. Some fish will always relate to weeds, no matter what time of year. Water temp can also be an indicater of Oxygen content, the warmer the water the less Oxygen content. Fish will move with cooler temps due to Oxygen content. I hope I haven't put too many things out there, but there is a lot to think about to increase your odds. The most important thing to remember is that fish are creatures of habit. They might surprise us from time to time, but learn the basic behaviors and you will become more successful.

[This message has been edited by Chris Haley (edited 06-04-2003).]

[marine_man]

What method do you use to find walleyes during open water?

1) Drive to a spot located on a map and fish in the pre-determined depth range until you find fish

-or-

2) Do you drive to a spot located on a map and use your electronics to locate fish... if there aren't any fish you move on to the next spot... and keep going with this method till you find fish.. more of a ice fishing method...

The guy I first learned to walleye fish from used method #1... and that's the method I've been using with limited success...

Any input you have would be appreciated...

marine_man

[Guest]

Primarily #2, but I will stop and fish for a brief period most of the time if I any fish. No sign of fish, I'm gone.

I added 2 vexilars in my boat this year and I tell ya what, they WORK! I have a Lowrance LCG running right next to the Vexilar and the fish hardly ever show up on the LCG! The LCG will help me determine if what I see are weeds or not

I should add that the flasher locates baitfish, and where there's baitfish I find eyes.

[This message has been edited by CD (edited 06-03-2003).]

[marine_man]

Chris,

Thanks for the tips... they'll help...

Anyone else have any advice to offer?

Thanks!

marine_man

[CrappieJohn]

Buy a good map of the lake, if one is available. Many resorts offer simple maps of the lakes they sit on and are quite helpful in finding the humps, holes, and weedbeds. In open water you will find precious few landmarks so electronics coupled with any sort of map will be a real boost to finding the fish. As mentioned, water temp is another factor...not so much for finding preferred water temps of the fish, but to determine where you are likely to encounter the thermocline. If you skilled at reading electronics you will know how to find the thermocline using an lcr...if not just boost the sensitivity way up and look for a grayline above where you know bottom actually is. That false bottom is the thermocline and in the summer months the fish are more likely to be found near it during the daytime. Good fishing!

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster