Dissecting a new lake techniques

[Avid Angler]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to review my techniques of how to start fishing a new body of water for walleyes. I primarily fish lakes less than 1000 acres in size. I wanted you guys to take a look and feel free to add ideas or point out things that may be wrong.

Step 1:Review contour map before outing and look for prime areas to start. This could be points, inside turns, sharp breaks along shallow flats, etc.

Step 2:Watch what the last few days weather pattern has been and wind direction. Look at wind direction before heading out. Head to the lake.

Step 3: Land boat, look at water clarity and determine what depths to start at.

Step 4: Start trolling the windy shoreline with crank baits or a spinner rig or some other method that allows to cover water fairly quick.

Step 5: Zig zag pattern the shoreline in various depths until you make contact with a walleye. Take note of depth of water, speed,direction of boat and location of fish. Maybe troll further down shoreline to see if you run into any more fish. If not after about 200 yards, turn around and troll back through the area to see if you can contact another fish.

Step 6: If you contact another fish, work that area thoroughly. Maybe even slow down presentation depending on how the fish are reacting. If no other bites have occured after a half hour, start trolling again down the shoreline.

Step 7: Repeat steps 4-6 as permits.

Any walleye fishermen knows this is pretty simple and not very detailed. A good GPS and depth finder make these steps much easier. You can follow exact paths, locate baitfish, identify transitions, which can all help.

If you are not getting strikes after awhile, try different baits, speeds, etc. Having a partner in the boat helps to identify patterns. Two people trying different baits or colors.

If using spinners, a speed between 1 to 1.5 mph should work. Crank baits in the 1.5 to 3 mph range, 2.5 mph is where I like to be, but need to be willing to try different speed at times.

If you are going to slow down techniques, like rigging or jigging, I like to be moving about .50 to 1.0 mph.

My favorite raps are SR-5 shad baits in blue, fire tiger orange, perch and shad. These are for depths of 9ft or less. I use SR-7's for 9 ft to 13 ft.

I would like to hear from the rest of you your thoughts and different ideas of how to approach a new lake.

Thanks.

Avid

[Borch]

Hey avid thats pretty systematic. A few additional thing I frequently do. Check the NDNR site looking for stocking, bottom content, water clarity, weed type, netting and forage info.

If other fisherman are at the access strike up a conversation. It's surprising how often a person gets some useful info on location or technique from a fellow fisherman who's either coming off of the lake or is launching but has fished the lake recently.

I cruise several of the prime locations paying close attention to my electronics looking for fish, biat and weed growth before I ever wet a line. If I'm seeing fish I'm getting in the water right away. If not I may probe a nice deep weddedge for a bit before moving on but I'm not spending much time until I see some fish.

Like you I fish aggressive first and often never need to change. Some days you need to though.

Don't be afraid to fish yesterday's wind even if it's calm or the wind has changed. Fish will still be relating to these areas.

Good Luck.

[pulleye16]

I like number 2. Weather can be a big part of finding bait fish which will in turn catch you some predator fish.

My system may not be as linear as yours but you hit many key areas. I always start with what I know and use the most and thats lindy riggin' and would encourge others to start off with what they know best.

A big and helpful advantage when trying new areas (I just recently went through this) is to have as many rod/reels with numerous set ups as possible to save on tying and re-tying. I was running 5 different poles and each had different tools pre-set the night before. One lindy, two different jiggin with different weight and colors, slip bobber, and a quick change casting set-up with plastics.

It can honestly be the most rewarding experience discovering a new lake/area and finding the fish!

[ratherBfishnJP]

i agree with the NDNR site but now it cant be accessed due to state shutdown. I like seeing the samples taken.

[Kettle]

This is the situation I find myself in currently, new area completely to me, small boat so most lakes I fish are under 1,000 acres. I find myself using techniques that I had not before, my electronics are well pretty old, I have a hummingbird that marks fish as blocks and doesn't work over 5 mph. I find clarity the largest thing for me, the darker the lakes the shallower I go during light, clear lakes fish deep. Without the DNR site up it is tough bought a lakemaster book.

Kettle

[reinhard1]

with the dnr site down, get a sportsman's connection county book or many bait shops sell individual contour maps of the area lakes. my favorite lakes are the stained lakes that produce fish during the day. these are often shallow so fish are easier to locate. also the smaller stained lakes are often full of boulders and rocky reefs so you wont see the water recreation that you would in other lakes.

as mentioned before trolling is a good method to locate walleys. shoreline breaks are a great target for this. i like to work areas with a jig/leach this time of the year or a jig/half crawler. if the fish are finiky i go to a bobber/leech. wind swept shorelines and mid lake reefs and off points would be my go to areas. good luck.

[james_walleye]

I have a new app on my smartphone. Minnesota lakefinder. Pretty slick. You get all the info you want on it.

[james_walleye]

Haha Nevermind. The app is down because the info comes from the dnr. Nevertheless, an easy way to get quick info when its working.

[Avid Angler]

Hey Borch,

I was out last night and we started trolling cranks and never quit. We caught fish all night and never had to slow down. We did find an area that seemed the most productive. We worked that area hard until we were bored with it and tried a different area.

What a blast though. The line counter system with the trolling bible is effective.

Avid

[JohnMickish]

Yesterdays wind is a great secret, especially if the wind has been pounding into the shore for a few days. Trolling or casting cranks close to shore can be deadly at times.