Depth

[Morquinn23]

Hey everyone, just starting out on walleye fishing, wonderin what depths are best to catch these guys at. And would it most likely be in the middle of a lake, or more towards like a bay?

[Redline]

Depth will depend on a lot of things such as the time of year, or the weather. Most the time you can find them along weedlines, so that could be an easy place to start.

[Morquinn23]

Is that mainly any time of day, or more towards morning and evening hours? I fish the weedlines all the time, never caught a walleye, maybe its just timing.

[Redline]

It depends, but what have you been using? There are lots of variables when fishing for eyes. How deep have you been fishing?

[LoonASea]

Water clarity has to be considered as walleye have good lo light vision ...In stained water they can be found shallow during lo light periods (dusk and dawn,,,,cloudy or some chop on the water)weeds can also be good as they provide shade cover and food ,,each lake will differ so keep experimenting

go back and read past threads Im sure You will find lots of valuable info

Randoid

[Team Otter]

I would look shallow in weed cover from now until ice-up (i.e. 1 - 6') or off deep points and/or mid-lake structure (20 - 30').

[Morquinn23]

The lake I mainly fish on is a very clear and clean lake. The cabbage and reeds are where I have been fishing, and the farthest point of the weedline is around 5-6 feet deep, with the shallowest around 1-2 feet. Its almost always crystal clear and can see right towards the bottom. I have been using a mimic minnow spinner combo lately, perch colored, and have produced alot of bass, but not much else. I have had a few tugs where I couldnt hook whatever I had, so im not ruling out that it wasnt a walleye. But, just keep trying different things I guess. There is a part of the lake where about 12 feet off the shoreline there is an 80 foot drop, I will try when the water isnt so choppy, which it has been lately.

[Boedigheimer]

Morquinn23, Depth that walleyes use in a lake varys greatly, but generally a good place to start is at the same depth as the deepest cabbage or coontail in the system.

In most of our lakes this is 10-20 ft. More specifically the 14-18ft. stuff.

You can find these deeper weeds with good electronics, or just troll a #7 shad-rap until you snag some, OR cruise these depths on a calm day and look for the tips of cabbage plants(flowers) protruding from the surface.

These deeper patches of cabbage and coontail will house a ton of fish, including alot of walleyes. If these patches are adjacent to a large flat, all the better. Add a good wind and you have yourself a walleye hotspot. Most of the walleyes I catch over the course of an open-water season are relating to these types of spots, cabbage on the edge of large flats and humps, windier the better, work the points and in-side turns. Put on a live-bait rig with a blown up nightcrawler, jumbo leech, or redtail chub. Perch are a constant nuisance so big bait seems to help, and eater walleyes have no problem sucking in a 11" nightcrawler. Later in the year, other patterns emerge but for my money in June you can't beat the edges of large cabbage flats. Hope this helps and good luck!!