fish travel question

[maddowg1192000]

So does anyone know, do fish travel to and from feeding areas on the same path like deer and other animals do or do they wander???

[Chef]

We've seen trails in the silt on the bottom of Traverse where they clearly have been following the structure, but Traverse is a long, narrow and shallow lake so different than many lakes that it may be an anomoly.

[Northlander]

I believe individual fish use the same travel routes regularly depending on time of year. I dont believe all fish of a certain species all use the same routes though.

You can however pattern fish of a species by time of year. I have a "Milk run" I follow on my favorite water. Its pretty much the same yearly unless there is a major weather related problem like lots of rain, a huge wind or very early or late spring.

[maddowg1192000]

I had never thought about it til today but that was kinda what I thought and hoped but wasn't sure. The reason it came up was we saw the same northern twice today around 5hrs apart, that and the huge walleyes and northerns that came thru this morning and didnt bite. hopefully i can get one to bite tomorrow

[jwmiller33]

northlander-would you mind telling what species of fish it is you follow? that sounds mighty interesting... is it the STL with the eyeS?

[Northlander]

Of course its walleyes JWMiller.

Every body of water has its own migration thats usually pretty simular from year to year.

The river is easy just follow them down river from opener until July. Trick is finding the spots they stop to rest and eat. Find a bunch of them spots and your golden. Ill be fishing one this afternoon.

[icehousebob]

For years, I set up a fish house on a trench that ran between a deep hole where the Crappies spent the day light hours and a fanned out weedbed where they fed all night. There was a good dusk bite as they travelled through that lasted 3/4ths of an hour. The dawn bite, that none of the local people ever tried, was longer and the bite was more aggressive. The Crappies had a set path that was always followed until the milfoil choked it off.

[jwmiller33]

ya i found two nice spots on the river last summer after never fishing it before... the river is truly an amazing resource... tons of large fish in there of all different species... do you think these migration patterns happen on lakes and reservoirs too? like on island lake, do you think the same walleyes make their way up to the otter river each spring to spawn? kind of like salmon returning to their spawning grounds in rivers?