walleye?

[redneck666]

okay, tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm, im heading out for some 'eyes and whities tomorrow morning... would it be wrong to fish with a bright sun and no clouds? or is that good?..... i've only had 'eye success in the evenings i dont fish for walleye to often..... OR is it good to go as the sun is comming up?

any advice would be great!

Edited August 13, 2009 by bigredneck

[Fisherman]

Probably the best just before and around sunrise, although some days when the bite is on it doesn't seem to matter

[rbaquial]

From my understanding of Walleye's... on days as you've described... they're down deep.

 

Then again... I've only read that in a book...Theory is ALWAYS different compared to practical.

[solopaddler]

Usually better early morning, evening and especially at night on busy lakes midsummer.

However I've caught lots of fish mid summer on bluebird days as well.

A couple of basic rules of thumb. 1. Fish a bit deeper mid day and 2. Fish in the shade. The shaded side of a mid lake hump, the shaded side of an island or shoreline with good structure, etc..

[mizzmo]

It depends on how stained or weedy the water is

[Guest gbfisher]

Fish bite all day long. Just have to know where to look. Sun or cloud. Clear water or stained. Shallow or deep. Take your pick.

[ohhenrygsr]

Fish bite all day long. Just have to know where to look. Sun or cloud. Clear water or stained. Shallow or deep. Take your pick.

 

So Right, Fishing early and fishing late has started to become a myth. When you spend enough time on the water and develop an understanding of the water and fish reaction then fish really do bite all day.

[solopaddler]

So Right, Fishing early and fishing late has started to become a myth. When you spend enough time on the water and develop an understanding of the water and fish reaction then fish really do bite all day.

 

They bite better for me early, late and at night in midsummer.

 

It's not a myth when you're talking midsummer walleye especially on pressured lakes.

 

I catch them during the day as well, not too many instances when I don't, just not as many.

 

On my lake the difference between daytime and nightime fishing midsummer? A bunch of smallish eater sized fish compared to a handful of giant brutes.

[Fish4Eyes]

I have had the most success in the evenings.

[Uncle Buck]

success

 

[Fish4Eyes]

 

Eye'n ain't easy

[Guest gbfisher]

Eye'n ain't easy

 

 

It aint the eyes.................. .....

Mid summer, late summer, early summer.....fish only change spots is all. Some stay put. Weather they are deep or shallow in weed or on rocks. They feed all day long at all depths.

[gdelongchamp]

Fish for walleye all day long. On bright sunny days fish in 25 to 35 feet of water. If there is a slight chop on the water, evern better as you can cover more ground. But you must jig and use 1/2 oz jigs. Stay away from shore.

 

In early mornings late afternoons and evenings, fish near shore. 15 to 25' of water. Use jigs and go to 3/8 oz. jigs.

 

When they are feeding aggressively you can take them in 3 to 10 feet of water. On very calm days in early and late evenings I've watched them feed on minnows hiding in rock crevices in two feet of water. They would lay and wait.

 

I have never had to fish them at night.

[gdelongchamp]

Walleye are also affected by fast weather changes. If an east wind moves in, it will dampen fishing for 3 to 4 days. You have to work a little harder and changer your tactics.

 

Sometimes when you get frustrated and can't find them, ask someone else in the boat to suggest a spot and that quite often works. Even a newbie. It's weird man, it's like the walleye start to know you.

[scugpg]

What about size? When I fish the kawarthas I seem to only get into 12-14inch walleye. Using worms or jigs and even trolling cranks.

 

Is there a trick to getting some bigger fish? i.e. bigger minnows, twisters etc? Need to go deeper?

[Fish4Eyes]

What about size? When I fish the kawarthas I seem to only get into 12-14inch walleye. Using worms or jigs and even trolling cranks.

 

Is there a trick to getting some bigger fish? i.e. bigger minnows, twisters etc? Need to go deeper?

 

Your chances of catching bigger fish will be greater if you use bigger lures. Big ones are caught accidently on muskie lures. Don't expect to do as well though, it will take alot of patience. That is not to say you can't catch big ones on a jig and worm. My pb (27") came on a jig and worm at noon. If your fishing to eat them, why would you want to catch the bigger ones anyways though?

 

I have personally caught a few 4-5lb pickerel on the kawarthas on jig and worm, and have seen a 10lber caught on an erie derie and worm. It comes down to being at the right place at the right time for any big fish in my opinion. Persistance is the name of the game!

[Fish4Eyes]

It aint the eyes.................. .....

 

I was just beginning to think I was somewhat good. Way to cut me down ....

[scugpg]

Your chances of catching bigger fish will be greater if you use bigger lures. Big ones are caught accidently on muskie lures. Don't expect to do as well though, it will take alot of patience. That is not to say you can't catch big ones on a jig and worm. My pb (27") came on a jig and worm at noon. If your fishing to eat them, why would you want to catch the bigger ones anyways though?

 

I have personally caught a few 4-5lb pickerel on the kawarthas on jig and worm, and have seen a 10lber caught on an erie derie and worm. It comes down to being at the right place at the right time for any big fish in my opinion. Persistance is the name of the game!

 

Cool thanks for the advice. I wouldn't be keeping them just a few pictures would be nice!

[solopaddler]

It comes down to being at the right place at the right time for any big fish in my opinion. Persistance is the name of the game!

 

Actually no it comes down to fishing certain seasonal patterns and targetting strictly big fish.

 

The late fall planer board bite at Quinte is one example.

 

Another is trolling oversized floating stickbaits in high percentage areas at night in the summer.

The moon phases are key if you want the largest fish...

[Headhunter]

As mentioned, for size, trolling suspended fish will almost always net you bigger fish. And trolling can be successful any time of day. It also allows you to cover more water and tends to target active agressive fish.

Remember to keep you baits above the suspended fish as they will come up for a bait trolled, but in general, not down.

As far as bait size goes, try and match the hatch so to speak, byt again, for bigger fish, use bigger lures.

HH

[redneck666]

well today i caught a goby(killed it), a small bass and a decent perch all on a tear drop goin for whitefish... it seems the whities have moved out though. but tons of nice steelhead terrorising the minnows, mind you i never caught but had lots of follow ups on a cleo.... oh and i didnt get around to the 'eyes today, i was too busy tryin to catch a damn steelhead, but i couldnt get them to hit.

[Big Cliff]

Walleye bite all day long as do most fish. The biggest problem is that we become so programed to fishing spots and techniques that we get programmed to that we don't change our tactics or spots often enough. Here is an example for you:

 

I was fishing with two other friends, in the middle of the day. We had started out in the morning drifting and were catching some nice fish but then the bite stopped. After a bit I got snagged and lost my trustiest lure. I didn't have anything close to it in my box so I decided to play around for a bit, fish weren't biting anyway.

 

I built a worm harness sort of thing out of bits and pieces, some beads and blades. It was sort of a strange looking thing, pink, chartruse, blue, red. My two friends actually laughed at me and called it "Cliffie's Christmas Tree". Well, I landed 11 nice walleye they landed 3 between them. They didn't laugh so hard after that LOL.

 

Another time, fishing up near Elliot Lake; I had been told there were Rainbow trout in this small lake but they were really hard to catch. we tried several times but weren't having much luck. I finally rigged up a small silver Cleo (took the trebble hook off the Cleo and made a stinger hook about 3" behind the Cleo, tipped it with a worm and trolled it behind our canoe. We were catching rainbows in the morning, middle of the day, the evening. In fact we could go out and catch a nice feed of fish any time we wanted while others tried everything else you could imagine and their results were not good.

 

Sometimes just the slightest change of presentation place speed...... can mean the differance between being skunked and limiting out.

 

Even fishing this lake has presented some challanges for me, there is a lot of water to cover, most of my experience has been fishing fast water, this lake tends to be shallow and slow moving. I am use to fishing rocks and structure, this lake presents a lot of weeds. Do I still catch fish? Sure I do but my success is still limited. Yes, I can go out most evenings and put 4 or 5 nice walleye in the boat in an hour or so but that window of time is limited, too early nothing, too late, nothing!

 

I could spend hours trying to type everything here but that would cut into my exploring time so I'll leave you to do some of your own but: GET OUT THERE AND FISH!!!!! cause you won't catch any sitting here complaining about how bad the fishing is!

[redneck666]

lol thanks for the advice, but i'm not complaining. im sure that if i actually went to get a walleye or 2, instead of steelhead and whitefish then it wouldn't have been too bad.

[Radnine]

Walleye bite all day long as do most fish. The biggest problem is that we become so programed to fishing spots and techniques that we get programmed to that we don't change our tactics or spots often enough.

GET OUT THERE AND FISH!!!!!

 

This whole post is great but these few lines sum it all up.

I know from going to Doe, I fell into the trap of only fishing where and how I was originally showed by the people that took me there. As of late, through changing tactics and paying attention to details, I have done much better than in the past (and in some cases the student has become the teacher).

Time really is the thing though. Having the time like Cliff does on Sturgeon or like you have when you stay somewhere for a week or so (on multiple occasions) is the key to learning and having success.

On a personal note, I do better with walleye at dusk. During the morning and during the day I usually go for bass or pike and if a walleye grabs it so much the better!

Jim

[doubleheader]

Walleyes move more than most species depending on weather conditions, forage, and seasonal patterns. They feed all day, but feed more extensively on most bodies of water in low light as they can still see whereas their forage, like perch, cannot see well in low light. Generally, the farther light penetrates into the water the deeper the fish will be. Things like cloud cover, wave action, rain, weed cover, structure, shade, and water clarity affect light penetration. Walleyes can be as shallow as 6" and as deep as 80', although they will typically be where the forage fish are and stay within oxygenated areas of the lake. The primary thing to remember when fishing walleyes is you can't catch them if they aren't there. I know, sounds dumb, but the point is, all successful walleye fishermen have a common trait. If it isn't working they move or try another technique. Many fishermen, in fact most, aren't successful for any other reason than they are too lazy to re-rig and/move. If you do this you will eventually be successful, and you need to keep a log so you can begin to build a correlation between conditions,techinique, and result. Generally, jigging will work year round, spinners and cranks more after the water gets into the mid 50's F range. Slip bobbers is a great technigue as well, but has specialized applications. In other words cold water go slow, speed up as water warms. In general smaller presentations in the spring, bigger in the fall. In general, bright colors in stained water, more natural colors in clear water. Things walleye love: current, forage, cover, edges. Good luck.