Hey guys I have always struggled to catch suspended open water fish. Here in nebraska in the heat of the summer it seems like the walleye suspend out in deep open water. I have never had much luck catching them. I am looking for some tips. The main forage here is shad. Thanks for the help help guys.

Troll, troll and troll
cranks or spinners

In deep water what's the most common way to weight spinners??? Snap weights???

Snap weights work. But there long leads with the 50/50 method
On really rough days they shine. the planner boards won't jerk the harness around

Inlines will allow you shorter leads
I like the BPS weights just for the reason that there's a dive curve in the PT book

Some people run them behind dipsy's or jet divers also

Lot's of options

Move around with your big motor and search for bait balls suspended with arches with your electronics. Note the depth of the bait and arches. Using a kicker or electric motor turn around and troll crankbaits with the wind on planer boards a few feet above the depth of the arches at 1.5-2.5 mph depending on the water temp and mood of fish. Fish higher in the water column are usually the most active. Good cranks are deep taildancers, deep reef runners, deep thundersticks, and deep husky jerks. Get a copy of Precision Trolling to accurately run the presentation to the proper depth. You can also run 1 oz inline weights and crawler harnesses. Figure the approx. depth will be half of the amount of line you let out. Let out 50 feet of line the harness will run approx 25 feet deep, etc. I troll harnesses slower at .8 to 1.5 mph. Go get'em!

Hey guys I think I have figured out my two problems. I think speed in the first one. I have been trolling cranks at 1.5-2.2 or so? Also I think I am using the wrong size baits. I have been using #5 shad raps and #5 flicker shads along with some #4 jointed shad raps. I proablly need to step my bait size upto like a #7 flicker and #7 8 and 9 shad rap correct? Thanks for the help guys

Try stickbaits rather than shad style baits, husky's, rouges etc.

Can I ask why not use shad style baits? Is it just for some thing different? Never though stick baits would work in 70 and 80 degree water.

Can I ask why not use shad style baits? Is it just for some thing different? Never though stick baits would work in 70 and 80 degree water.


Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is Einstein's definition of insanity. If one bait doesn't work...try another. When cranks fail fish worms, walleye are suckers for worms.

Try fishing for them at night as well, also try faster crank it up to 2.5-3.0 to get reaction bites out of them, fish are very active in the summer.

Would you troll shallow at night or out deep still???? Thanks for the help

Also what do you guys use to light up your rod tips and planner boards at night?

The 4" glow sticks work well and there cheap
I use a rubber band to hold them on the boards

http://glowrus.com/4__glow_sticks_s.html

TRY BLADE BAITS...ASSORTED WEIGHTS/SIZES/COLORS AND HOLE POSITIONS...STAY ON THE FISH...GENTLY "RIPPING THE BLADE BAIT UP THROUGH THE WATER, THEN GENTLY BRINGING IT BACK DOWN...THE WALLEYE WILL BITE ON THE "DOWN" SWING...YOU WILL FEEL THE BAIT "WIGGLE" THROUGH THE WATER...HEDDON MAKES A GREAT BAIT! GOOD LUCK PAL! MH34:banghead:

Here in the Ozarks we have Bull Shoals and Tablerock - both highland reservoirs with clear/green water and depths in excess of 200 feet. Shad is the primary forage.

Once the walleye go off the reefs and flats to the channel edges and the open water, some (including me) flat line troll with 10/4 or 10/2 braid pulling Mag Warts, no. 7 fat free shad, and the largest reef runner type baits. Others switch to lead core and use baits such a no. 5 shad raps. These techniques work well down to about 40 feet. Below that requires lead in the form of bottom bouncers, three ways, or snap weights.