General Walleye Fishing

[Guest]

This is a question to all of those that have spent most of their time Fishing those elusive eye's through the ice.
I have fished mostly for Crappies through out the begining years of my ice fishing career but have always had a passion for walleyes and would like to catch more of them through the ice.
I spend alot of time in Bemidji and in the St. Cloud area of Minnesota. Fishing primarily Plantaganet and THe Horseshoe chain for eyes. I guess i am looking for certian structures to key in on, not only on those lakes but any lakes and how those areas change through out the season. Depths?
Also, are glow jigs the ticket as they are with Crappies or should i go without glow and with regular hooks?
Just trying to get information for myself and anyone in my shoes? I appreciate any info that you would be comfortable relaying to me. Thanks.

[Guest]

Hello PC, The first thing to get if you don't have one is a map of the lake your fishing. Next, look at the map and look for mid-lake humps, points with shallow flats that lead into deep water, rock piles,sand bars, weeds, and so on. These are just a few places to look. Walleye fishing in winter is usually best at first ice and then gets poor as the season goes on as a general rule. Fishing pressure,ice and snow thickness,fish movements, and food sources will play a factor when the bite will slow down.

Its easy to target these key area with a GPS unit if you have one, if you don't, you need to rely on landmarks and follow your map to find these areas. A good flasher will help confirm your areas once you find them.
I like to look for the steepest edges i can find on these areas, the lake map will show the depth lines tight to each other which represents the steepest break. Sun up and sun down are usually your best chances. Glow patterns work well but dont limit yourself.Gold,chrome,yellow,orange and red can somtimes be better.

Good Luck

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[Guest]

So on these steepest drop offs should i be on the top, the middle or the bottom of the drop offs. That is the predicament i was in tonight. I fished towards the top of the drop off, about 13-15 ft yesterday and caught five eyes. A couple of them cigars but three keepers. Tonight i fished the middle at 16-18 ft and caught one there and had a tipup in 22 ft and caught one eye and a jumbo perch. Now how close is the behavior of the eyes from one night to the next? or is it that big of a fctor? Should i go back on top? or head to the bottom? it is only a actual 20 ft move on the ice from one to the other but i hate to move when it is crunch time.
Also i have used mostly fat boy jigs and moon glows under ice busters a foot off the bottom. How many more of the fish that i see swim in and out on the vex willl hit them over a buckshot spoon of jiggin rap?
I guess my questions are endless and situational but it takes along time to obtain the info through trial and error and the number of days on the ice for me are not as much as i would like and the moods of the fish seems to change by the time i figure something out. i will continue to pound the ice and i enjoy doing so thanks for the last post D-man everything helps.

[Guest]

You want to move up top as the night moves on. Sounds like your on fish now, but have some holes drilled on top before hand and then move to those holes after the bite slows up where you are now. The fish begin the transition up the edges towards the top as it gets darker. If your catching fish on jigs,stick with what works, its proven. Only if the bite changes dramatically will i change to something else.

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[Guest]

Some of the best advice I ever got about ice fishing is everywhere you drill a hole, drill another one. Having two holes everywhere will allow you to target active fish with both lines, otherwise you gotta drill and the fish sometimes spook. When you locate the piece of structure you want to fish find the top, middle of break, end of break(deep) and the area right after the end of the break (basin in some cases). Drill hole patterns that you can place your house over in these areas, and have two holes for every tipup, in case one starts popping constantly.

To make short of this, just plan on fish biting where you dont have a hole, drill two everywhere, make sure you are able to move anywhere you have to without drilling more holes. This alone will improve you fishing.

I know moving sometimes sucks, but thats fishing and ya gotta move no matter how comfortable you are, move, move, move. Thats how you get em. Once in a while you'll get lucky and be able to stay put, but 80 percent of the time ya gotta move.

morriscode

[Guest]

I hear alot of reports that most people are getting their eyes in deep water as in 23-30 ft. Are these people fishing in basins off of points or drop-offs or what?
i would like to go deeper and last night i sat in 23 feet at the bottom of the dropoff and set a tipup on the top at 13ft. the tipup went off once and with nothing but a small perch on it. i had three small perch for the night where i was sitting. no eyes to speak of. When is it time to not key in on the dropoffs and maybe go to the flats or basins?
Also is it distracting to eyes to have a jiggin spoon in one hole and a jig under a bobber in the other a few feet away. Will the jiggin take away potential bites on the stationary bait by scaring them away or will it help by bringing them in closer to see the still bait?
I am learning more everyday. Thanks alot for the info guys.

[Guest]

The spoon will usually not be a factor, infact most guys will fish that way. It can only double your chances. Did you get any fish in that deeper water? If not you may want to find another area to fish. There really isnt any specifc times to key in on basin areas. I will fish those areas when my classic spots dry up or if iam fishing a bowl type lake. Why dont you e-mail the lake your fishing and i will take a look at it for you on my maps.

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MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/
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