Walleye Help!

[nwa1819]

I am not a walleye fisherman I generally fish bass, northern and panfish. The lake that my cabin is on is a murky brown lake with clarity right around 6ft. The bottom is mostly muck with some spots of rock and harder sand. Lots of reeds and lillypads. I have caught a lot of walleyes while fishing docks for bass with wackey worms and know they are out there just not sure how to fish for them on a lake like mine. Anyone with help for ways I should try would be appreciated. Also I will post below what the DNR HSOforum says to maybe better help you give me an idea?! Thanks in advance for anyhelp.

The lake has a maximum depth of 40 feet and about 61% of the surface area is less than fifteen feet deep. It is classified as a hardwater lake with moderate phosphorus fertility. Water clarity was somewhat below average for lakes in the area. Soils in water less than four feet deep were primarily sandy, with varying amounts of muck, gravel and rubble sized (3-10") rock present, as well.

The aquatic plant community was fairly diverse. Emergent species help control nutrients in the lake. Plants like bulrush provide shorelines with some protection from wave caused erosion. They also enhance the quality of spawning habitat for bass and panfish species. Wild rice can also enhance spawning habitat for northern pike. Submerged and floating leafed species provide important cover and food sources for a wide variety of aquatic life.

[tunrevir]

You already have a clue from your success while bass fishing. It sounds like the predominately sandy areas are in 3-4' of water and less and with turbid water with low clarity there is no reason why the eyes would leave the shallows unless water temps get too high for them. This sounds like a lake that you could fish shallow spring into early summer and then again in the fall. If you have any idea where the rocky substrate is this would be a good spot to try both spring and fall and if it is in deep water then you would have a good chance at picking off eyes there during the summer. If you know of any shorelines that drop to 3-4 feet near the waters edge this would be a great area to cast when the wind is blowing in. Emergent vegetation like lily pads rarely hold walleyes due to the mucky bottom but pencil reeds and wild rice beds grow over a sand/gravel bottom and chances are walleyes won't be far from those areas, possibly located at the first breakline moving out towards the basin and especially if there are weeds defining the edge of the breakline. If you can make long trolling runns without weeds fouling your line, try trolling a floating rap in 4-5 feet towards dark or pulling a crawler harness and spinner along the edge of the weeds. For shorelines cast a shallow shadrap #5 or #7, #10 rapala husky jerk, thunderstick jr or even some of the smaller micro cranks. If the rocky areas are in deeper water you can run live bait rigs, jig and minnow or leech or even pitch/jig twistertails or shimmy shads. Your presentations are going to vary depending on the depth range you want to cover. Most stickbaits and cranks have a dive range on the box which gives you an idea of a depth they will run on a long cast. If there are current areas where water comes into the lake these are great spring and fall spots to try with live bait rigs, jigs, plastics and even casting cranks. Hope this helps, of course these are general guidelines, I would never say you won't catch eyes in lilypads because you can but it sounds like you have some higher percentage spots to try out. I assume since the water clarity is low the weedlines don't get out much past 12-14' but the outside edges of weedlines can be great places to troll cranks, slip bob, and work spinners or live bait rigs when the water is warm. Good luck!

Tunrevir~

[MattL]

^^^What he said!!!

Also, keep and eye on the weather and if the wind is blowing into a particular shore for a few days, give that shoreline a shot. Sounds like they are in the weeds there if you are getting a few. IF you can find transitions from hard to soft bottom areas, these would be good spots as well.

[nwa1819]

Thanks a lot guys for the information....I now have a good idea as to what to try! Will let you know if I have any success!