Do 'eyes head for the deepest part of the lake at first ice?

[Sonicrunch]

OK, so I understand that at first ice the warmest water will be at the bottom (39°). So in that case, if a bowl shaped lake is 60' deep at the center and the weedline is 15', wouldn't all the 'eyes be at the deep part?

Or is the coldest water (33°) simply just a few feet under the ice.

Or, do walleye not care about temp.

Long story short, I haven't caught a 'eye in 3 years and I am quite frustrated.

[Fishin Beast]

They will be on any type of structure early ice. I would find a drop-off that has a weedline and fish off the weedline. Atleast when I have fished them and what I know, they do not just find the deepest water early ice. Rockpiles, mudflats, sandbars, weedbeds, weedlines, or right on the top/bottom of a drop-off.

In the lake you are talking about I would be setup in the 15-17ft range right from a half hour - hour before sundown till however long you want to fish.

[Sonicrunch]

Thanks much!

I am going to try Riley or Waconia this weekend.

[BDR]

My short theory is they will be where the food is at. Early ice you will find an abundant amout of green weeds still, however with the snow cover we have that will change fast this year. The green healthy weeds feed the food chain from the smallest up, also providing cover for the bait fish.

In the lake you describe I would look to the maps real hard and try to find an area where the break turns sharp or goes a little further out than the rest. During the day I would look off the edge in the deeper water. As you get closer to sundown I would move right up tight to the edge.

Weather permotting I like to "hole hop" I like to find the exact edge during the day, get all my holes predrilled for the shallower bite. I will drill a series of perpindicular to the edge. I have one right at the edge and then in a straight line to deeper water 2 or 3 three more. I will make 3-4 series of holes in this pattern. Alot of times I will first catch fish in the deeper hole and as it gets darker I will catch fish in the shallower holes.

As the weeds die off this becomes less effective. I start fishing current areas or deeper transition areas. Bowl shaped lakse will usually have some bottom changes that can be invisible on maps and to they eye. I try to use any summer experience to help me find key spots now. You can cruise the lake and watching the sonar signals strength of the bottom and find subtle changes. If I see any changes in the bootom signal strength I will check it out. A camera would be very valueable for this. Also I like to fish the area slowly with a lindy type rig where I can cover some ground but slow enought to feel the bottom. With a good sensitive rod and son power pro, I can tell if I am in sand, mud, gravel pebbles, rocks and relative size of rocks. Any thing that stands out as different than the rest of the bottom is a great transition area I would fish thru the ice also. A GPS is very helpful for finding spots in the summer and getting back in the winter.

[curt quesnell]

Hi Everybody,

My name is Curt Quesnell and I am from the Lake of the Woods

forum here at Fishing Minnesota.

This is a good topic and unless I missed it I have some

additional information. What BDR had to

say was right on. To add to that, areas of weeds are

good from early ice until the vegetation is dead and

no longer giving off oxygen. Fish are forced deep to

find not only food but a comfort level of oxygen. This

applies more to smaller lakes but to some extent most

lakes.

In the spring when the warmer sun melts the snow, it

drains thru cracks in the ice giving much needed "fresh

air" to the shallows and the fish return in a big way.

First and late ice are excellent times to fish shallow

and in the weeds until you pull up weeds that are dead.

On Lake of the Woods, the fish houses move deeper all

winter for a couple of different reasons. Mostly, to

take advantage of the fantastic Sauger bite and also

to get back on fish that havent been beat up for a few

months. Oxygen levels and weeds are not much of an

issue since the water is so huge and there really aren't

many weeds.

Good topic

[eyepatrol]

This is a good topic and asks a question that I've wondered too.

BDR-

When the weeds die off and the fish move deeper, will they still come in to the weeds during the evening/night to feed and then return back to deeper water, or is the oxygen level low enough such that they don't return to shallower water say during the "dog days" of ice fishing.

Also, I've always wondered if saddle areas will hold fish during hardwater. One of the lakes I like to fish and have caught walleyes on in May/June has a saddle area that is about 30'-35' deep on both sides and around 20' on top. The weedline is down to about 13', so the top of the saddle would be deeper than the weeds (unless I got close enough to shore to get into them) Any thoughts on whether the top of the saddle would be a good daytime or nighttime bite, or more importantly, would even hold fish?

Thanks in advance.

bc

[Sonicrunch]

Hey guys, thanks alot for the info.

With this knowledge, I outfished my buddies on the same lake last weekend!

Me--6 sunnies 3 crappies

3 other guys sitting too far out---0

HA!

[BDR]

Basscatcher- I would fish a weed edge pattern untill proven that it is not holding fish. It will be much easier to pattern the edge than to find where they are roaming. There are so many variables to oxygen levels it is very hard to predict. ie.. snow cover, ice thickness. springs, current, clarity. Hard to make any definate predictions. That is why I say fish it untill you can't find them then start looking. If you are fishing a grid pattern as I decribed above, pay attention if you find them moving slightly deeper as winter progresses. That would be a great indication that o2 levels are falling in the shallows and the whole food chain has to adjust. If there is enough o2 the small baitfish and insect will tend to stay in the protection of the weeds.

There is a good chance in the lake you decribe with weeds to 13', that alot of those deeper weeds will survive thru most winters. I would definately try near them and right in them. Especially low light periods.

Curt had very good info about oxygen levels and how the spring thaw affects their shallow migrations.

[anchor man]

qucik question..BDR mentions that when the weeds die off, the fish my search deeper for a higher oxygen level. Why is there more oxygen in deeper water. Is it simply because deeper water is surrounded by more water, therefore having more o2?

[BDR]

I don't know the correct scientifics about it. From what I have gathered oxygen rich water is denser and sinks. Also the decaying weeds give off carbon dioxide which adds to the depletion of oxygen.

Hopefully someone can chime in with a clear answer.

[MetroEye]

anchor,

The amount of dissolved oxygen held in water is directly related to its temperature. Water at 33 degrees can hold more oxygen than, say, 37 degree water. Also as water cools it becomes more dense and at 39 degrees it is at its maximum density.

Aquatic vegetation produces oxygen during the day through photosynthesis and consumes oxygen at night via respiration. When plants die, bacteria feed on them and consume oxygen in the process. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of this process and of the respiration process. Hope that helps

[beer batter]

I was recently on a west central Minnesota lake where it seemed the only place anyone could catch walleyes was in the deepest parts of the lake. We tried all the typical early ice "structure" areas with no success. Only places with success was in the deep areas.

Any thoughts why this pattern is in effect during the early ice?

[BDR]

I am seeing different patterns on several of the lakes I have been on. For all species. Could be water temps were fairly warm in the deeper parts when surface drop fast and skimmed over, could be snow cover on ice almost since the day they skimmed.

I do know that one of my favorite early ice weed walleye spots is only producing very small fish and the weeds are dead and almost dissappearing completely.

Just some ideas.