this goes against everything i've done in the past.

[addictedjerry]

i ocassionally fish a lake near where i work. last night i tried it for the first time this year. 6" of good ice. anyway, i look at the map and start punching holes, i find a spot about 12' deep, just off a large shallow bay that runs between two points of land.

the shallow bay is huge, averaging 7'-9'. I'm fishing for about 1 hour and i see three portables set up between the two points. i look at the map and sure enuff, it's only about 7' deep in that area.

i move a little closer to them and it I was only in 5' of water. my dilemna, people fish that area all winter. I always thought fish move out of the shallow water later in the year? maybe i should consider targeting the shallow water throughout the winter? I've always moved deeper and deeper, to find the fish, as the winter goes on..

I'm confused.

[CNCMike]

I have seen this myself and from my experiences it has been Northern Pike and Perch fisherman that are shallow like that. But, I fish a lake similar and set up in the same sort of area for walleye all winter long. They seem to dart up shallow to feed in the evening so my theory is that they are in the main lake and the bay but come up the shallows for food.

Of course, I could be totally off base here, but that is what I have experienced.

[sjburnt]

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[Keith_MN]

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You could find some pretty good pan fishing up in that area because of either weeds or a muddy bottom, both of which would provide food for sunnies...

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I think SJB is onto it. If the weeds are green in this area they will attract fish all winter long; especially the sunfish and northerns. It could be the make up of the bottom as well; mud vs sand vs gravel vs rock etc etc.

[addictedjerry]

I've heard (and seen pictures) of some BIG walleyes caught in 8' of water, in the middle of January. just last year, i saw pictures of 3 that were 9+LBs. maybe i'll have to blow off the deep water on that lake and concentrate on the bay?

i'll have to do some more exploring of that area later in the year. i can see if the weeds didn't die off (like most deeper weeds) that might explain alot.

[Dances with Walleye]

Quote:

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I've heard (and seen pictures) of some BIG walleyes caught in 8' of water, in the middle of January. just last year, i saw pictures of 3 that were 9+LBs. maybe i'll have to blow off the deep water on that lake and concentrate on the bay?

i'll have to do some more exploring of that area later in the year. i can see if the weeds didn't die off (like most deeper weeds) that might explain alot.

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I've been keeping a pretty tight journal for several years now...

One thing I noticed was that Lakes that have Walleye stocked as Fry or Fingerlings, that those eyes tend to prowl the weeds more.

A random drunk guy, local, that I talked to when I was staying up at Winnie (Near some of the Rearing Ponds) told me that Walleye Reared in weedy ponds relate to weeds at the prime times more than the usual hard bottom roamers.

I've adjusted my ice strategy to fishing the weeds as an alternate Low light location, and it paid off last year.