Walleye Fishing
Best Bait For Walleye Fishing
How to Troll Up a Limit of Walleyes
By Kolby Kester
Mastering the fundamentals of trolling for walleyes really isn't
all that difficult. It's taking it to the next level that separates the
men from the boys. There are many considerations to take into account
when you're thinking about trolling to find and catch walleyes. In this
article we will look at one simple element that will help you catch more
and bigger walleyes while trolling.
The first step is depth.
We can troll all day at the wrong depth and not catch a fish. However, we can troll at the wrong speed or use the wrong bait in the right depth and probably still have some success. That's how important it is to get your baits diving to the depth that holds the feeding walleyes. If you botch this part of the equation you've killed your foundation for success.
Using your electronics to mark bait and fish is a good start and it's the traditional way to get a feel for what's happening in the lake before you troll. However, traditions are habitually broken by walleyes in more ways than one. Many times fish will be so shallow that you must catch them to confirm they are present. This occurs on structure and in open water. Fish suspended 8 or 10 feet down and feeding just under the surface
.
Other depth considerations for trolling could be the deepest depth a weed bed grows in. This marks the end of sunlight penetration and you'll often times find this depth is productive all around the lake on structure as well as in open water. It's a good tidbit to keep in the back of your mind. As is the depth that weed tops come to. Trolling spinners or cranks over the weeds is a solid June tactic anywhere you walleye fish. Marking a constant line of clutter in deeper water during summer means you've located the thermocline. Right in the top part and just above the thermocline is another key depth - especially for big walleyes.
Depth considerations also change with the time of day, the time of year, and forage types. Fish start the open water season out shallow, as the season moves on many move deeper and deeper, yet others move up shallow - especially on dingy lakes or in lakes that offer good shade in the way of healthy weeds. By the late fall period fish are deep by day and they make major feeding runs up into the shallows at night. We all know walleyes tend to run shallow early and late in the day and that cloudy choppy days are good in the skinny stuff. This classic advice can get skewed by the time of year though, so be flexible and get ready to change gears quickly out there. One example is in the spring time we find walleyes making a strong feeding movement in shallow water bays during the middle of the day after things have warmed up. Let's look at a tiny sampling of bait fish depth trends...
Walleyes foraging on shad will tend to suspend in open water and they'll also show a tendency to use very shallow depths on structure all summer long. Walleyes feeding on crappies will also suspend, however, they will be deeper in the water column than those relating to shad. When bluegills are the diet of walleyes we find the fish using rocky structure and suspending very high in the tree tops in reservoirs. Walleyes chasing down ciscoes or smelt will run very deep in the summer time. If your lake has shiners in it walleyes will be doing other things depending on whether it's spottail shiners or emerald shiners. And yes the times when bait fish spawn can really be the secret to heavy limits of walleyes when your thinking about what depth to start trolling in.
Now do you see why it's so important to get the depth right and why so many walleye fishermen get caught into the trap of fishing the wrong depth. They think they're using the wrong bait or going to fast. When in fact they are simply fishing to deep or to shallow. Getting the depth right is the root that makes up the walleye fishing tree. By focusing on this one simple fundamental you'll find yourself putting more and larger walleyes in the boat.
I hope you have a productive season with the walleyes. Be sure and do yourself a favor and take two minutes to check out our website. You'll find some untraditional walleye fishing information that will really enhance your time on the water and help you stand out above the rest of the trollers out there...
The first step is depth.
We can troll all day at the wrong depth and not catch a fish. However, we can troll at the wrong speed or use the wrong bait in the right depth and probably still have some success. That's how important it is to get your baits diving to the depth that holds the feeding walleyes. If you botch this part of the equation you've killed your foundation for success.
Using your electronics to mark bait and fish is a good start and it's the traditional way to get a feel for what's happening in the lake before you troll. However, traditions are habitually broken by walleyes in more ways than one. Many times fish will be so shallow that you must catch them to confirm they are present. This occurs on structure and in open water. Fish suspended 8 or 10 feet down and feeding just under the surface
.
Other depth considerations for trolling could be the deepest depth a weed bed grows in. This marks the end of sunlight penetration and you'll often times find this depth is productive all around the lake on structure as well as in open water. It's a good tidbit to keep in the back of your mind. As is the depth that weed tops come to. Trolling spinners or cranks over the weeds is a solid June tactic anywhere you walleye fish. Marking a constant line of clutter in deeper water during summer means you've located the thermocline. Right in the top part and just above the thermocline is another key depth - especially for big walleyes.
Depth considerations also change with the time of day, the time of year, and forage types. Fish start the open water season out shallow, as the season moves on many move deeper and deeper, yet others move up shallow - especially on dingy lakes or in lakes that offer good shade in the way of healthy weeds. By the late fall period fish are deep by day and they make major feeding runs up into the shallows at night. We all know walleyes tend to run shallow early and late in the day and that cloudy choppy days are good in the skinny stuff. This classic advice can get skewed by the time of year though, so be flexible and get ready to change gears quickly out there. One example is in the spring time we find walleyes making a strong feeding movement in shallow water bays during the middle of the day after things have warmed up. Let's look at a tiny sampling of bait fish depth trends...
Walleyes foraging on shad will tend to suspend in open water and they'll also show a tendency to use very shallow depths on structure all summer long. Walleyes feeding on crappies will also suspend, however, they will be deeper in the water column than those relating to shad. When bluegills are the diet of walleyes we find the fish using rocky structure and suspending very high in the tree tops in reservoirs. Walleyes chasing down ciscoes or smelt will run very deep in the summer time. If your lake has shiners in it walleyes will be doing other things depending on whether it's spottail shiners or emerald shiners. And yes the times when bait fish spawn can really be the secret to heavy limits of walleyes when your thinking about what depth to start trolling in.
Now do you see why it's so important to get the depth right and why so many walleye fishermen get caught into the trap of fishing the wrong depth. They think they're using the wrong bait or going to fast. When in fact they are simply fishing to deep or to shallow. Getting the depth right is the root that makes up the walleye fishing tree. By focusing on this one simple fundamental you'll find yourself putting more and larger walleyes in the boat.
I hope you have a productive season with the walleyes. Be sure and do yourself a favor and take two minutes to check out our website. You'll find some untraditional walleye fishing information that will really enhance your time on the water and help you stand out above the rest of the trollers out there...
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