New Walleye Fisherman

I have never targeted walleye in the open water period, so I have very little knowledge of the what/when/where/whys of these fish. I fish in northern wisconsin, and I would really like to learn how to catch Wallaye, so please, any advise would be great, such as: what depths to fish at what time of year? what structures to fish at what time of year? what presentation to use in which situations? etc..... Any advise would be great.... I am an avid musky fisherman, so if you feel more comfortable PMing me, I can give you all sorts of advise for musky if you are interested!!!!

good chance its devils lake nd we caught over a 100 a day.

@ Summers Off ......would you be willing to share the ND lake name and Ontario drive in too??? PM me!! THANKS!!! I don't have the $$$ for a fly-in and would like to get the kids up to Canada!! Thanks again!!

In my humble opinion, in a lake Lindy Rigs for back trolling and slib bobbers for anchor fishing tend to be the easiest two methods for catching walleyes for me. On a river in the spring floating and vertical jigging is fun as is anchoring up and using Wolf River Rigs. As always, remember it is location, location, location. I am amazed at how much better of a walleye fisherman I am in ND or Ontario than Wisconsin. I wonder why that is?? For example, first drift in ND this year produced 37 walleyes between 14-17"....unbelievable action for three guys. Two years ago in Ontario a buddy and I got 77 walleyes in 3.5 hours at a drive to lake. Not too crazy for Ontario, however, my first 7 eyes were 22 inches or longer. Spring river fishing can be fast and furious too, however, not all rivers produce the same tasting fish and some you shouldn't eat fish out of at all.

While I have upgraded over the years to nicer boats, my first boat that I bought when I didn't have pot to pee in cost me $1600. I used that boat on Green Bay, Winny and Michigan for salmon. You don't need a $40+K sparkly glass boat to hit the bigger waters if you respect the weather and the body of water. But to each their own. I didn't mean to upset anyone with my post. As I stated, there are walleye that can be caught up north and the scenery is great. And the best part is that if you want your 5 fish limit, you'll have to visit a couple of different lakes to get it. More opportunity to see that great scenery. What could be better?

bugle not everyone has a big enough boat or enough money to hire someone who does to go to those bigger bodies of water. i drive less then a half mile for my walleyes.

Sorry to say it but don't waste your time targeting walleye in N Wis. Sure, there are some that can be caught but it's a joke compared to MN, ND, Green Bay and Winnebago. To each their own but I gave up on N. Wis for walleye a few years ago. If N Wis is your only option, good luck. At least the scenery is nice.

dont be afraid to fish shallow weeds for walleyes in the dog days of summer. we troll 3 feet of water on the edge of the weeds.

There are many ways to catch these finicky fish. My best advice would be to get ahold of some good Walleye fishing books and read anything you can about them, and then go out and try some of the techniques you learned. I feel the biggest part is, you have to find them before you can catch them. So be sure to study up on your basic Walleye locations, like areas that are rocky, sandy and places where bottom types meet...even mucky bottoms where bugs emerge make for a good walleye meal. Don't forget about points that extend out to deeper water and have a shallow feeding flat nearby as well. Search for them on deep weedlines, especially where the weedlines are different from everything else, like inside turns. Where weedlines come to a point are also a good place to look, especially if these areas have a bottom that transitions from a hard bottom and soft bottom. Remember, walleyes are an ambush fish, so they hide in places where they can lie in wait for unsuspecting food to come by. Rocks, logs , boulders, humps, and weeds are ideal ambush points, among others. Don't forget to look for them in weed pockets, and up in the shallow inside weed edges. Typically, walleyes will be in shallow water in low light conditions, and in deeper water when it's bright out. If the water is stained alot, they could be shallow at anytime. In the spring and fall, I find walleyes in the shallows more often, and during the heat of the summer when water temps are on the rise they tend to spend more time deeper. Rivers add many more variables to consider as well. There are many more things to learn in addition to what I have touched on, but this is a good start. They are a fun fish to figure out and can be really rewarding when you do. One more thing I will add is they like similar areas as smallmouth and crappies, so if you can find them, the walleyes could also be near. So in ending, do some reading on location and techniques, and try them out. A person in the boat with some experience would speed up the learning curve greatly.

Fished Vilas County for 35 years and caught some walleyes during that time. Now fish Winnebago. Cast a #6 0r #8 wire hook and 4 lb test line with a very small split shot up from the hook about 18 inches. If you are fishing a clear lake check out the weeds where wally may be hiding. Also on-water boat houses, piers, pontoon boats tied up next to docks, downed trees with some space underneath for wally to hide from the sun. Use half a nightcrawler or 1/2 nightcrawler for bait. A small perch will do sometmes below a bobber. Jigs and a nightcrawler work also.