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.

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.

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.

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......