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| I have reached a point in my fishing that I can always find walleye when out on the water, even in tough conditions. The next faze that I am working on is being able to consistently or at least on a fairly regular basis, find large walleye. I would like some feed back on what to look for when trying to find big walleye.
This is what I have had some success with so far. In some of the clear lakes with deep water or lakes with good cabbage beds, I find jigging around the edges and pockets of the cabbage beds can produce some huge walleye. Most of my big fish have been caught this way.
Finding reefs that are surrounded by very deep water (over 40ft) have produced some big eyes as well. One other thing that I lucked in on while Muskie fishing on opening day was seeing large walleye on saddles. I have not explored this one more, although I intend to.
If anyone else wants to add your comments or anything new to this, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Cory |
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Member
Posts: 2393
Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Find the large pods of bait fish and the big girls will not be far behind. Smaller fish will still be feeding on bugs most of their time. But the big girls need real meat if they want to grow and stay fat. |
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Member
Posts: 238
| I have found, (not always consistent or true), but for me more times than not, bigger fish will hold in shallower water than you might expect them too later into the summer. Meaning when some people move off shoreline related reefs or weeds I might spend another few days or even a week or more casting shallow rocks or shoreline related structure. This is just my program that I use, but also while reading this keep in mind the deepest stretch of water on the lake that I particularly fish is only 10-12 feet deep...So there is no jig fishing in 40 holes or anything like that. |
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Member
Posts: 1656
| Cory, you mention 40+ feet of water and clear water. I'm assuming you're fishing a deep clear water lake. Now with it being summer, I'd be looking at rocks and weeds off shore. I'd also pay attention to thermoclines, finding structure that is above the thermocline or at about the same level would be an area I'd start looking. As Sunshine suggested, look for the bait fish, combined with the above structure and I'm sure you'll find some of the bigger fish you're looking for. Don't over look suspended fish off the structure but holding close to same level as the structure over deeper water.
Good Luck |
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Member
Posts: 2393
Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Jayman,
at the risk of sabotaging another's thread............
You mention thermoclines. I'm starting to believe more and more that the info we have been given regarding thermoclines is incorrect. I now believe that big walleyes (and other species) spend at least part of their time below the thermocline area. Have you or others found this to be true?
I actually found this out by accident a number of years ago while fishing for lake trout on Lake Geneva. We were using downriggers set at over 80 feet of water and caught an occasional huge smallie. Since that time, I have not been afraid to fish for the biggums in 50-60' of water in summer when all else fails. I have had moderate success doing this on Green Bay.
How about others? |
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Member
Posts: 1656
| Dennis, you've said too much already!!!!!! 
Yes, I've found fish deep and deeper than the thermocline. I like to pay attention to thermoclines because it seems to "hold" bait fish. Now of course there's the ciscos and like fish in some systems that change the rules. But as you know, where you find the food is where you'll find the likely "feeders". |
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Location: Rhinelander | There are differing types of thermoclines. A 'two story' lake; like most trout/salmon/Cisco type waters has a thermocline that sets up and has oxygen above and below that line. A 'single story' lake where a thermocline sets up will not have enough dissolved oxygen below the thermocline to support most life, so fish in those lakes(like a few around here) will not be below that line.
Many times Walleyes will bunch up JUST above the thermocline in this situation, so looking for humps and saddles that peak out above but are deep enough to be just on the line can net great results. |
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Member
Posts: 3899
| Dennis, you are on the spot on the spot when it comes to changing your way of thinking about thermolclines. Howie Meyer calls it the thermal refuge, and he has convinced me that this should be considered structure, much like any other structure you'd fish. Big fish will locate near or at the thermal refuge, even below it. It's a food shelf, and the buffet is usually open!
One of the most inciteful anglers I have ever met, I always look forward to conversing with him at the shows, outings, and in the boat. He's a wealth of information, and loves sharing it. Especially when it comes to the thermal refuge and fishing for big fish. Those fish happen to be muskies, but he says the same theory applies to any of the predatory fishes. |
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