deep water walleye

[hockey2]

I fish a deep clear lake with a good cisco population in it. I have never caught a walleye on this lake but have been with some one who has caught several big ones while not fishing for them. I was wondering how to fish for walleyes on this lake.

[Netminder]

How did the guy catch them that you were with?

[Hawgeye]

I fish a deep clear smaller lake and have caught several Hawgs in the summer. During mid to late summer, do my best on this lake (cisco pop too) fishing around dusk til a couple hours after dark pulling #9 Shad Raps, Thundersticks, Bomber long A's and other deep trolling cranks. I troll fast between 2.5 to 4 mph getting the lures down around 25 feet. This is fishing in areas when I can see the thermocline over water that is sometimes 100'+. These suspended eyes are feeding on the ciscos in the thermocline in around 25 - 30 feet. If fact, I caught 7 over 8 pounds in the last two years with one going 10.5 lbs. This is a small lake in Minnesota. Good luck, hope this helps ya!!

[minneman]

I'll 2nd hawgeye, Go for those suspended fish, I too fish a deep clear lk in MN, and at times with no wind you can see the ciscoes or mabey even shiners?? breakin the surface, out over 90' and even deeper. have used both deep and shallow running baits and done well, good chance you'll latch on to some nice northerns too. good luck to ya!

[Dunn]

I'll third that motion.

Approach the suspended fish that are feeding. Run some long, or fat crankbaits past them. Rattles might help during the low light hours. Speed, well you may not have to go fast, but the quicker speeds will cause more vibration and maybe trigger a reaction bite or two.
-----------------
Marshall J. Dunn
Bluewater Research, Inc.
(OffShore Release)
N.P.A.A. # 701

[stewart]

Try the sunken islands(humps, reefs, whatever you call them) where they break sharply too, in the summer. Corners and turns and stair steps are good to look for.Deep water nearby helps a lot, and maybe wind to push the water on it. What i think happens is walleyes wait at these ambush spots for some of those wandering ciscoes to happen by. It's a vertical jigging thing on precise spots.

[Jigger]

We have similar lakes around here and in June, through July we fish planer boards and # 13 or 18 Rapalas about 100 feet behind the boards. You will not mark these fish because they are too shallow; that's why you need to spread the lines. Later in the year we go to deeper running stuff, sometimes crawler harnesses with snap weights. Good luck. Jigger

[Caleb]

With cisquos look for suspended fish over deep humps. I mean deep too. This lake reminds me of one near me and most people are catching the walleye suspended over 40 foot humps. Good luck
Caleb

[GORD]

I agree with net minder. You were with the guy who was catching them. You saw what he did. Copy whatever he did. There is a good chance you'll get the same results. "Because it works" has always been an acceptable answer for me. Given time you will probably be able to figure it all out. If you don't know how deep he was fishing, try asking him. If that doesn't work, I'd start at whatever depth the weeds stop growing at. The reason weeds stop growing at a certain depth is because there isn't enough sun light at that point to support their growth. Since walleye are light sensative, that would be a good depth to start looking for them. Go deeper if necessary. Keep looking. You know they are there somewhere. As you know, fish are spooky in clear water. Present your bait a good distance from the boat if possible.