Westwood is certainly onto something here...........

When people find out I'm a fish-a-holic I often hear the comment......."Oh I don't have the patience to fish"

Inside I can't help but crack up at that comment..........Patience while fishing is probably one of my least emphasized attributes. While I may have discipline to achieve a slow retrieve if I think that is the key, I would not describe my fishing style as one of patience.

I am always trying something new if I'm not getting a bite unless I am confident in my presentation. It is not uncommon for me to put something on......make 5 casts.......dislike what I see.......and slap something else on only to repeat the entire process another 5 casts later.........eventually I get where I want to be and that is when perseverance kicks in. I think patience and perseverance are often confused. I'm not a patient fisherman but I'm never bored either........there is always something new to try..........some where new to go..........a different wrinkle, a different line test, a different speed......

JJcanoeguide,

I think your last comment, then it turned off like a switch, is an important one.  Some times they bite and some times they don't.  The important thing is to have confidence that what you are doing will work and continue to fish.  It seems that most of my fish are caught in short bursts.  It seems that if you take an 8 hour day of fishing, most of your fish are probably caught in groups of less than an a half hour or so.  Obviously, some times are better than others and some places are better than other.  But just as in life, you got to put the time and effort in if you want to catch fish.  I think fishermen are like gamblers, we only remember the good times.  We will keep betting as long as we win every now and then.

Westwood

Thanks everyone for the advice.  Only thing I can add is personal experience of shore fishing a rocky point at dusk that had been thrashed by wind all day.  Water was very stained, but the Waldos were crushing baitfish in 2-4' of water.  The best performing lure was a white skirted spinnerbait with silver blade, kept no deeper than 1' during the retrieve (solves the snag issue as well).  Had fun for about 30 mintues, and then the frenzy turned off like a switch.

PhantomJug wrote on Jan 31^st, 2012 at 4:29pm:


I can't quite figure out why but I seem to have a certain affinity to that statement.........(pun intended  )

Here's my take.  Fish like to do 2 things:  Eat and reproduce.  Walleye are lazy.  Transition areas, like gravel to sand, rocks to mud etc...  offer both opportunities in the shortest distance.  Kind of like living between the chinese buffet and and a cat house.

I had heard waldo likes transition bottom areas, such as gravel meeting mud. Has anyone heard anything similar?

There's not much I'd quibble with in this thread. I've covered much of the same water for a lot of years and have found some go to places and I use those conditions as examples on new to me lakes and it works rather well. Adding that experience to these comments...

Magicpaddler wrote on Jan 26^th, 2012 at 1:10am:


Snow_Dog wrote on Jan 29^th, 2012 at 2:34am:

Yeah, it's kinda like that. The last three years I've borrowed depthfinders and as much as I hate to admit it, it does take a big ol' chunk of the "wishin" out of the Walleye equation.

1.  Depthfinder.  With it, you're fishin.  Without, you're just wishin.

2.  Troll until you hook up with walleye

3.  Slow down and jig or cast cranks until the bite stops.

4.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Pretty much everything else you need to know...lures, depths...has already been covered. 

The only other thing I will say is when you hook up while trolling, pay attention to the conditions around you and then try to duplicate as many of them as possible as you search for your next spot.  You'll quickly find out which of the variables matter on this particular day and which don't.

A partial list of what to watch for (in approximate order of importance):
Depth
Bottom content
Location (reef, point, saddle, flat, open water, weeds, etc)
Wind direction
Sun direction/penetration
Lure speed
Lure action
Lure color

After awhile you can go from lucky, chance encounters to targeted fishing with a high probablility of success if the fish are active...and you'll be on the most active fish in the lake more than likely.

Kerry your ship has DEFINITELY come in. Thanks again everybody for their tips. I just know the next time I go for walleye I'll be boating them by the 100s (note sarcasm )  Seriously though, thank you a lot of the help. 7 months as of the 24th, plenty of time to practice.

Hey Drewfus, if you PM me your email I would be willing to disclose the location of some hidden mid lake structure.  I don't know where you trip but if you're in the northern half of the park I have some places that 99% of people paddle over.