how much do walleyes move under the ice?.

[joshb]

i recently read an artical about the dawn to dusk movement oe eye's. have any of you followed them with much success?. do they move in drastic frenzy like patterns or do they move just a few feet up and down the depth of the lake?. thanks for any info.

[Steve Foss]

I don't know the farthest a walleye will move in a winter 24-hour period, but I've caught them during daylight hours on Lake of the Woods and other big water out in 30 to 35 feet of water during the day (sporadic bite at best) and then set up in 10 to 15 feet for the late afternoon/evening bite. On LOW, it's can be a long way across the water/ice to get from 30 to 10 feet.

Same thing on Devils Lake, N.D., where I've caught 'eyes out in water that deep and deeper targeting perch, but set up on the deep side of the flooded timber in 10 to 12 feet for the evening bite.

Do the walleyes that bite in shallow water late and early in the day spend the daytime hours out deep, moving in at low light, staying all night and moving out deep again as the morning ages?

That's a good question. The common supposition is that the fish that bite deep in the day are the same fish that you catch in shallow in low light, and that they move that way. But it's certainly possible some deep fish stay deep, or at least move less shallow than most. And it's also possible that some walleyes stay shallow all day, or at least shallower than the deep ones.

I've seen articles about this in In-Fisherman and other mags, but I don't think the question's really been answered satisfactorily.

At any rate, I've never seen what I'd call a "frenzied" movement of 'eyes, although that word can mean different things to different people.

Daytime deep fish come scattered through the day. Evening and morning fish, on the other hand, tend to come in a wave that lasts from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the lake. Some lakes that lasts well into the night, which seems to be true more often on really clear lakes than dirty or stained lakes. Other lakes it doesn't last very long. The bog-stained LOW is famous for being a poor night-time 'eye lake with a decent deep daytime ice bite and a dynamite evening shallower bite. But I know one NW Wisconsin stained lake that consistently puts out decent, not great, numbers of 16" to 20" 'eyes after dark in very shallow, weedy water (Can't say where. Northlander would have my hide ).

Personally, I think the fish you catch are at different depths at different times because they move, not because there are distinct resident populations occupying different depths. I think that's especially likely on small to medium sized lakes. Water as big as LOW or Lake Erie, maybe there are more distinct populations. Dunno.

In most small to medium lakes with 30-foot depths or deeper you can find relatively shallow 10-foot feeding flats with weedlines or sand bottoms or good rock or other structure adjacent to deep water, and those are where I like to set up for low-light 'eyes.

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
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[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 11-25-2003).]

[Guest]

I think that walleyes move quite often under the ice. Walleyes are constantly looking for food and after they eat they are on a new path, or the same path, in search of more food. Walleyes are often found on flats and some flats have limited structure, which causes walleyes to roam in search of food. If they find any kind of structure in the flat then they might relate to that, but will be on their way if it doesn't meet their needs.

Walleyes will also move on the structure that they occupy. For example, walleyes will relate to breaks off an point or inside turn and then once low light periods come around they will rise, but not always, up on the point or inside turn to feed. Then after feeding the walleyes will relocate in deeper water or hug the bottom until the next feeding binge.

I've noticed several times on the underwater camera where a group of walleyes or a single walleye will swim by not even slowing down to look at the presentation that I offer. Its like they are on a mission and only that mission.

When fishing LOW, as well as other lakes, I've also noticed that you can actually follow a group of walleyes as they swim through an area. Just as when a hole goes dead when fishing panfish, you can move 20 yards or so and be back on fish. Same goes for walleyes, except sometimes it may be 50 yards or so, etc. Last winter me and some friends of mine put some truth to this when we had a group of houses set up along a bar that was producing good numbers of walleyes. The walleyes always came from the same side and went the same direction for several days in a row. We almost had the timing down perfectly. Once the first house got fish, it was just a matter of minutes until the second house got fish, and then after that it was just a matter of minutes until the third house got fish. Same thing happened three nights in a row and at about roughly the same time. Walleyes were using this structure as a migration route to feed or to where they were feeding, and we just intercepted them on the way. Just goes to show you how walleyes move under the ice. Walleyes will get accustom to a migration path and they will use is on a regular basis. If you can find these routes then you have found some great fishing.

All the areas that produce for you every year at a certain time will have a migration route leading to it or from it. Walleyes will relate to structure and hold for periods of time but don't expect the same walleyes to hold there forever. Its a never ending system, assuming populations hold. Different time of year can call for different routes and different routes can call for new structure. Just another reason why location patterns for fish are different for different seasons, times, etc.

Now I'm not saying that there is always the same old route that walleyes use day after day, but I believe the develop some sort of migration pattern. Think of it as an underwater highway. You have your already traveled roads, which are used, and you also have new developed roads, forks in the road, exits, etc. If you can figure out which roads are used then you will catch fish. Location is often times the hardest part to catching walleyes. Once you figure out these roads/routes/patterns, then just think of yourself as a stoplight...the walleyes have to stop, and that means more fish.

Good Fishin,
Matt

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[Guest]

My theory on walleye movement is kinda simple. Find the food and you found where the walleye will be.

If you understand the forage preferences in that particular system your ahead of the game. If forage tends to remain deep then you can bet the bulk of the walleye will also be deep.

If they forage is widely dispersed and abundant then you need to look closer at structural elements to up your odds. Inside turns, funnel areas, humps in a relatively stale basin, anything of interest.

I always start with whats for supper, then look for the dinner.

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