Walleyes Inc. Action packed adventures in walleye fishing on the internet.

A lot of people don’t realize that fish move on a seasonal and daily basis, and when they move they use underwater structure, essentially the bottom of the lake that is just a little different.  Things like bars,underwater humps and manmade structure like submerged roadbeds, leveesor riprap along dams or causeways.
When a fish leaves its sanctuary, to eat or search for food, it has to have something visual to follow.  A fish is a stupid creature.  It cannot rationalize like a human being, and when it moves about it must have something it can follow.  Fish don’t swim about a lake haphazardly.  Not only can they see structure, but we can also locate the same structure with our observations of land, depthfinders and the feel of the lures on the bottom.
The most important thing to remember is that the larger a fish becomes the tighter it schools and the more time it spends in deep water.  A fish lives there because it is forced there by environment over a period of time.  When a fish becomes an adult, its body takes longer to make adjustments to the changing conditions of the water and weather.  It’s easier for it to make these adjustments in deep water.  The deeper you go, the more stable conditions will become.  A fish can stay there for weeks.  It doesn’t have to move into the shallows all summer.
Is there enough food and oxygen down deep to support fish populations?
Absolutely there’s food.  There are shad, baitfish, and bluegills at 35 feet and deeper.  A fish’s menu may change and it may be less selective, but it doesn’t have to move shallow to feed.  However, you should keep this in mind: When a fish is down deep it’s probably dormant and its body requires less food.  It is just sitting there and not expending any energy, so it really doesn’t need a lot of food.  This also makes for difficult fishing, and you have to get your lures closer to them.  A strike zone can be very small in deep water, because of visibility and the lethargic nature of the fish.
We all know that a fish requires certain amounts of oxygen to survive. You must remember that a fish is a very adjustable creature, and when there is a very small amount of oxygen in an area it will adjust unless the situation gets to a point where there is just not enough to survive.  But no one has proven that a fish has a preferred oxygen zone.  Structure in relation to deep water is our guide to finding fish.
On the flats, the weather has less of an impact than it does in shallow water.  Fish favor stability.  Relatively constant water temperature, water quality, weather, and abundance of prey let fish live predictably.  Good fishing often accompanies stable conditions, but sometimes when weather is poor fishing is the best on the flats.  Flats are the major food-producing regions of most lakes.  Walleyes forage over flats.  Therefore, the flats are the home of walleyes.
It's easy to identify productive flats.  Some prime flats drop off steeply into the deepest areas of the lake.  Walleyes that use flats typically move shallower at night to feed on a variety of prey species. Baitfish such as cisco and shad move shallower at dusk.    The depth of a good flat can very from only a few feet to over 20, depending upon the lake and the season.  Flats with a fairly soft or sandy bottom carpeted with low weeds, with patches of coontail or cabbage rising above the carpet, attract walleyes. Submerged weeds develop as the water warms in the summer.  Weedy flats hold baitfish that attract walleyes at night.
In fall, weeds decline and small fish are flushed from cover.  Walleyes feed aggressively throughout this period.  Walleyes can feed in dim light.  They have a feeding advantage over most prey species after dark. When fishing these humps I rely on my depthfinder to tell me if anyone is home on these humps.  I usually like to look for a good shelf that comes out from an island that has boulders on it.  This is the structure that many walleye key in on to rest and ambush their prey as they slide back and forth from the hump to deep water.  These are transition areas where the fish come to feed.  These humps provide a structure for baitfish that have moved out into deep water as schools, and are lookingfor a place to rest.  Naturally, what attracts the baitfish also attracts the walleye.
 

Lowrance’s new X-15

The other thing that my Lowrance X-15 depthfinder unit allows me to see is how active these fish are.  Many times you can go over the hump and you will see that the walleyes are moving up to the top portion of the hump, this signifies that they are in a positive mood and within minutes you should be landing a nice plump walleye in your boat.

Drift Control Sea Anchor

Use with you bow mounted electric trolling motor by tying to the stern of the boat.  This adds more precise boat control and allows you to follow the contour of the shoreline or hold on structure