walleyes and depth finder

[comicdog]

Just bought my first depth finder. Little portable Hummingbird. Went out today and can see lots of fish between 8' and 18' in 28' of water. Any chance of catching these fish or are they suspended and not feeding?

[Team Otter]

Suspended fish are typically your most aggressive, especially as summer moves along. I would definitely get after whatever you're seeing with slip bobbers and leeches or crank baits.

[Fishin4Life]

Quote:

---

Suspended fish are typically your most aggressive, especially as summer moves along. I would definitely get after whatever you're seeing with slip bobbers and leeches or crank baits.

---

My uncle always told me suspended fish are the hardest to catch. Does aggressive mean hard to catch? Or when they are more aggressive does that make then easier to catch? When you are seeing lots of fish on the finder, do you assume they are walleye? Do walleyes typically school up, if so is there any other fish that do this that could appear to be walleye on the finder? How do you tell the difference between walleye and (for example) pike or bass. Just curious...

[BobT]

Aggressive would indicate they would be more likely to attack your bait.

When seeing lots of fish you can assume anything you want. I for one assume any fish on my sonar is at least a 10.

Seriously, about the only way you can know what you are seeing is to catch one unless you also have an underwater camera and/or scuba gear.

Are you seeing individual fish or schools of baitfish? What about suspended debris? Most sonar units are incapable of distinguishing between a fish and a plant stem. It is up to us to learn how to read the picture we see. Comes with experience of which I am lacking.

Bob

[Mike Walerak]

They key to catching suspended fish is depth controll of your boat. Put the bait in front of the fish and chances are they will bite. The Trollers Bible is priceless in a situation like this.

18'in 28 FOW sounds like a typical depth for the thermocline. (If the lake has one.) Fish will relate to this as if it is a piece of structure.

mw