walleyes

[walleyemaster]

where is the best spot for walleyes ive been to pelica, big c, and franklin and all the same results caught a nice 21"er on big c and a nice 3 lber on pelican but want to find some better walleye fishing any info will be great.

[mark n]

well......you are the master, I was hoping you would tell me

[Havin' Fun]

Lake Winnebago!!!

It can be a very tough time of the year for fishing. However, I would fish Big Pine or Otter Tail to pick a couple lakes. Don't be afraid to fish very shallow either on windy days!!

[Dahitman44]

WM --

I don't know what to say. Finding eyes this time of the year is pretty tough. You can get some nice ones after dark with cranks but that is very spotty as well.

OT -- is a good option. I have no idea why they bite in the middle of summer on that lake but they do.

When we go out this time of the year we don;t expect to do very well. If we do it is a bonus.

[RK]

Hiya -

You know, I'm going to give a completely contrary opinion... Other than October, this is probably my favorite time of year to fish walleyes in this area, especially for bigger fish. Part of the reason for that is I have ZERO patience for fishing slow with live bait rigs or that kind of nonsense. This time of year you can fish pretty aggressively. It took several years of catching 'accidental' walleyes on bass plastics for the light bulb to finally turn on, but once it did, I really got to like August for walleyes.

I really, really believe that a lot of walleye fishermen are fishing for neutral to negative walleyes most of the time. Walleye metabolisms are in pretty high gear right now, and they're actually feeding quite a bit. Problem is they're more spread out - not stacked up like spring and fall - and they have a lot to eat down there. So it takes something to get noticed, and you have to cover quite a bit of water.

I generally fish weed fish this time of year. You can be pretty aggressive with them. I sort of think that just because of the environment they're in they seem a little easier to trigger. By this time of year the cabbage is often pretty fried (especially this year), so I look for deep coontail edges. On some lakes in the area, that can be in 20+ feet of water. Look for little nooks and crannies along the weed edge, like little points and inside turns. If you can find spots where the weedline pokes out into deeper than usual water, or where there's a bare lip between the edge of the weedline and the drop into the main lake basin, you're really onto something.

I fish jigs and plastics a lot - like 4" Berkley Power Minnows or Northland Mimic Minnows or Swim Shiners, or Power Swim Shads or 4" ringworms. Swim them along, crash them into a weed stalk, then pop them free. (I use Fireline with a 14# fluoro leader because the no stretch makes it easier to pop weeds off). It's fun because you basically catch everything in the lake from walleyes to bass to crappies (amazing how many crappies will hit a 4" bait) to pike. Surprisingly, jigging spoons can also be really really effective. Just pop them through the weed edge. You've never had a walleye hit something so hard. Crankbaits can work too. Last time I bass fished the lake my cabin's on I ended up catching 4 walleyes from 4 to maybe 6.5 lbs on fat bass cranks fished on the coontail edge. Strange deal because they usually don't hit the fat cranks that well, but they clobbered them that day... Deep Down Husky Jerks or Tail Dancers are pretty good usually.

The other good option is spinner rigs. Can either use a bottom bouncer or a bullet sinker. Live bait can be a pain (sunfish and rock bass maul crawlers) so I generally use Gulp nightcrawlers or the 3" Gulp minnows. Just get on the weedline and go. Don't always have to be right on the bottom either. Sometimes using a bullet sinker and swimming the spinner rig over the tops of the weeds can work really well. Just use the bullet sinker size to control your depth so you're just ticking the weed tops. A bullet sinker with a spinner and Gulp minnow behind it is another good way to catch about everything in the lake. Tie the spinner rigs with 15 or 17# fluorocarbon to keep the pike from scattering spinner components all over the lake bottom. Great way to fish with kids too.

Anyhow, like I said, totally contrary, but works for me.

cheers,

Rob Kimm

[DEADhead]

Great post Rob! Thanks for all the great info, and reminding others that August can be a great time for some walleye action.

[mark n]

Wow, thanks for the pep talk Rob, like Walleyemaster I've also been in a little rut this year, and looking for new ideas.

As a matter of fact I think my freezer is near empty

What time of day were you most successful with the techniques you described?

[Havin' Fun]

Mid day!!!

The fish are in the weeds because it's cooler in there and there is lots of small fish. Windy edges tend to concentrate more bait, and thus more fish. I also like to fish very sharp breaking weed edges. In terms of the weeds, I really like brood leafed pickerel weed or secondly, coon tail. These block out more light and provide more cover.

Pitching jigs has become one of my favorite techniques but trolling crankbaits, and big cranks at that can be effective on bigger eyes. If you aren't ripping through weeds from time to time, you aren't in shallow enough.

Big C, Big D, Lida, Mellissa and Sallie have a good weed bite. Ripping suspending raps across the coontail in the evening can be dynamite for bigger fish...including bass.

Another option is to "speed" troll crawler harnesses...however I like to use power crawlers to avoid pesky perch and sunnies like RK. Speed is important as it triggers response bites. 2 mph is not uncommon. Here on Winnebago, I troll up to 2.5 at times depending on current. One afternoon, 95 degrees and calm I caught/released a stringer of walleyes all over 24" on Sallie doing this along the weedline!!! Big Detroit this is deadly!! Color...Chartruse!!!!!!!!!! And RK is right on with not having to fish on the bottom. I would rather put on some split shot or a 3/8 oz inline weight and fish 3-5 feet off the bottom. IF your along the weedline, the fish are positioned in the weeds but facing out looking for bait.

[Dahitman44]

Hammered --

Very good point. I haven't thought about fast trolling crawlers for a while. Good thought.

Speaking of Hammered -- did you see old Koren Robinson. Nice. Are season is going in the "drink" fast, if you pardon the pun.

[Havin' Fun]

Takintoomanyhitsman-

Speed trolling is a fantastic method for finding roaming fish.

Oh it's the Vikings...what do you expect. Actually, I thought they looked pretty sharp, and much more disciplined.

Speed trolling works on Pelican too!!! And OT, and Big Pine and Lida, and.....pretty much everywhere!!

[RK]

Hiya -

Hammer 'em is spot on. It's a banker's hours deal really. Especially for pulling spinners, mid-day is actually better than 'prime time.' I generally play with the speed range but it's in the 1.7-2.3 mph range. This sounds wierd, but, keep speeding up until the perch/gills stop pecking at you, and it's usually about the right speed for walleyes, but it changes from day to day. It's odd...

Pulling cranks does work great too, but it's touger along the weed edges unless you have a pretty long run of weedline. Or use leadcore so you end up with a really short line out.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[mark n]

OUTSTANDING thread!

I just worked 12 hours today and after catching up with this thread, all I want to do is go fast trolling, and weed jiggin' !!

Outstanding!