Livebait rigging or jigging the edges of prominent midlake
structure captures the essence of fishing walleyes in lakes
throughout the Midwest. Fish like an edge. Fish are not randomly
scattered through any body of water, be it a pond, lake, large
reservoir, stream, river, ocean, bay or slough. Fish are always
found in specific areas. These areas will vary with the species
of fish and the environment in which they live, but are based
on typical factors that involve every living thing - food,
oxygen levels, temperature, pH, light levels, structure and
schooling tendencies. Learning to understand the special needs
and preferences of a species is critical to locating fish
in any body of water. For example largemouth bass have a preference
for wood as structure, while smallmouth bass prefer gravel,
rock or stone rip rap. At this point you are probably wondering
what constitutes an edge? Well an edge is anything that is
different about the environment where the fish lives. When
looking at structure, the edge is where gravel turns to sand,
mud meets rock, drop-offs, wave-washed points, deserted sandy
bottom beaches, or bottle necks between two different land
masses, or near a culvert where fresh water is filtered through
a rock causeway. The more subtle structure might be where
there is a confluence of two rivers, a mud line (cloudy discharge
from one river or stream into a lake), a current break in
a river or a stream, even shadows on the water, or a fallen
tree to provide an edge that fish like to relate to. With
this in mind anglers should stop and think, where are the
edges on this body of water.
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For example, walleyes in cold water will probably be
where there is a warmer temperature. That might mean the
northern part of the lake or where a feed creek dumps
into the river. Then, what other structures are present
to make up the edge? Is there a barrier from current or
wind? Has the vegetation or weed growth started yet? Is
the bottom sandy, muddy, rocky etc. In effect, search
drop-off edges of large midlake points and humps rising
above the summer thermocline, using electronics to detect
the presence of baitfish and game fish. Some may be up
along the first drop-off or deep weed edge; others may
be lying along the base of the break where it bottoms
out into the main basin. Slowly backtroll livebait or
a livebait and artificial combo at the depth of the spotted
fish. If they're tight to the bottom or slightly into
weed cover and hard to see, weave your rigs along the
drop-off or weedline, paying particular attention to irregularities
that may concentrate fish. Points, turns, changes in weed
growth. This subtle structure change should hold groups
of fish in distinct areas. |
A common summer pattern is to work the weedline area over
with a jig and minnow or jig and plastic tail combos from
slightly outside to slightly inside the deep weed edge. Using
a pop of the rod tip to rip the weed growth let the jig fall
between stalks to trigger fish. Night fishing the shallows
with diving Crankbaits or casting Crankbaits across weed tops
or rocky points and humps can be very effective especially
if the lake you are on gets a great deal of boat pressure
in the day or it is an extremely clear lake. Don't overlook
slipbobber fishing shallow rocky spots with livebait after
dark and drifting the shallows with long line snap jigging
tactics on large bodies of water where active walleyes penetrate
and feed in the shallows day or night. Where jig or rig eating
snags are bad switch to a bottom bouncer teamed with either
a Little Joe spinner or a livebait rig like a Lindy rig. For
jigging or rigging, drift or troll your baits or lures as
vertically as possible, trying to hold them just off the bottom
to minimize snagging and loosing tackle. In many cases, tipping
jigs with livebait is unnecessary; walleyes will inhale a
Berkley Gulp offering with gusto. Summertime walleyes are
the most aggressive fish during June, July and August. Therefore,
get out on the edges and find the hungry walleyes and enjoy
the summer with a limit of summertime walleyes. Want to learn
more about fishing for summer walleyes or all year round?
Drop me a line at www.walleye.info
and you will see a lot of helpful tips for walleye fishing.
Hope to see ya on the water this summer!
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