Daytime eyes

[Kyle]

Anyone have any success targeting walleyes during the day after the morning bite is over? I'm talking about a normal weather day, not a big low pressure day that happens to completely change the bite. I've search for them deep and in the weeds and cannot seem to find success through the ice.

[harvey lee]

I have been fishing a shallow lake and have done pretty well on daytime eyes. This lake's max depth is approx 11fow.

On the cloudy days I do my best in 5fow. I jig one line and deadstick the other as the jigging line helps bring the fish in. Numerous day's I have pulled limits of eyes. One day it was from 1-3pm and another day from 9-11 am.

The day's with sunshine I can still ice some daytime eyes but it is much slower, like an eye every 30-45 minutes.

Of course some day's are much better than others.

Yesterday I started about 2pm, by almost 5pm I only iced 2 eyes. From 5:15 to 6:15, I am sure I iced another 5-7. It was a very slow daytime bite but they fed much better at sunset.

During the day I like to use a JB Lures Rattlin Varmit in a glo color. I like the added noise to attract some fish over non rattle jigs. I will also go with a larger profile jig like a Chubby Darter sometimes.

[slurpie]

A lot of the bite is going to depend on the lake. Is there a lot of structure in the lake? What is the depth of the lake? It can also depend on the year some years you can get them to bite during the day some years it is only at prime times. I have caught eyes all day in. 18 ' of water and they disappeared at dusk turned the camera and they went deeper not shallower. Went to different structure on same lake and they started biting when we got there. To catch eyes during the day on a typical lake is going require lots of hole drilling and being mobile. Good luck if ya get out.

[tunrevir]

One thing that ha not been said is that to catch eyes consistently during the day you need to be on a lake that has a significant population of walleyes in it. Many of the metro lakes have a marginal to good population but you tend to get active fish at the hour before and after dark and before and after sunrise with only an occasional fish during the daylight hours. A daytime bite is usually more pronounced on stained water lakes versus lakes with better clarity in my opinion but each and every lake will have different characteristics which may include some fish willing to bite during daylight. Deeper sand mud transitions, base of steep breaks or points and deep weed edges next to deeper water are good starting points. If there is any deep water gravel or rocks these spots can hold active fish throughout the day as well.

Tunrevir~

[oleWalter]

The lake I am looking to find some eyes on has a 10 foot hump near some deeper water basins 30'-35'. I am planning to spend a day out there soon after this cold kick.

Would it be smarter to try the hump first or start on the edge of the basin near the hump?

Thanks for any input

[tunrevir]

I would drill holes from on top of the hump to thirty to forty yards out into the basin and if possible try to locate the base of the hump oftentimes, the base has a bottom transition and will also be used to herd bait fish up against when the fish are feeding if you can find a sharp breaking edge. Look fore irregularities to the hump edges like inside turns or fingers which can also be key fish holding areas. Good luck out there and stay warm!

Tunrevir~

[GSP4ME]

Great advice. I will be looking around and seeing if I can put some of this to good use. Thanks guys for all the great information

[Vitreus]

One thing that ha not been said is that to catch eyes consistently during the day you need to be on a lake that has a significant population of walleyes in it. Many of the metro lakes have a marginal to good population but you tend to get active fish at the hour before and after dark and before and after sunrise with only an occasional fish during the daylight hours. A daytime bite is usually more pronounced on stained water lakes versus lakes with better clarity in my opinion but each and every lake will have different characteristics which may include some fish willing to bite during daylight. Deeper sand mud transitions, base of steep breaks or points and deep weed edges next to deeper water are good starting points. If there is any deep water gravel or rocks these spots can hold active fish throughout the day as well.

Tunrevir~

+1. I've found that water clarity is huge as well. Definitely going to have a stronger daytime bite with stained water.