Help me catch a few 'eyes (technique)

[mainbutter]

So I was fishing a lake the other night, spent most of the day fly fishing pannies and moved towards crankbaits over weeds/at the weed edge (8 FOW) in the late afternoon for bass and pike. Although I struck out on bass/pike, I did hook into a 13'' walleye right around 6PM.

This was my first time fishing this lake, and right after I hit my walleye, I noticed a bunch of boats starting to congregate in an area not TOO far from where I got mine. I paddled my canoe over just to get a depth reading on my fish finder before heading in for the evening, and turns out they were all anchored on a sharp drop-off that went from 10 FOW to about 25 FOW. My bet is that they were fishing 'eyes.

Since this is obviously no secret spot to the people who fish this lake, if I were to give this big drop off a shot some evening, what kind of lure/presentation would one use for evening walleyes in such a spot? Should I fish the actual dropoff, or towards one of the ends (deeper or shallower)?

I promised the girlfriend that I'd do my best to get her to catch her first walleye ever, but I still need to figure out this species before I can guarantee that I've caught only a handful of eyes in my life, all accidental, and never twice at the same spot with the same presentation.

[Jim Almquist]

I would check out the spot to see if there is a rock pile or weed growth that they are fishing. Then you should anchor close by and cast lighted slip bobbers rigged up with leeches,minnows or crawlers.Set them 12-20" off the bottom and see what bites.

[james_walleye]

Jim hit it, use slip bobbers and a leech right at the top of the break. They will come up towards low light and cruise the top of the break and you will be there with the bobbers to intercept them.

[Boxcar Wllie]

I wouldn't be afriad of setting up in the deeper water and casting cranks up into the shallows. This is slightly problematic if there are a lot of weeds but the eyes that do bite will typically be big ones. You can also cast parallel to the break. Give the girlfriend the slip bobber and you can cover the water. (no innuendo intended)

[mainbutter]

Awesome guys, thanks, I'll give all of those a shot The weed edge if I remember correctly is right around 8-9 FOW, and the dropoff begins just a bit further out.

Once we get another evening free I think I've got to give this a shot. Wish us luck, I'll post with plenty of thanks especially if we have some success.