need help

[Lund1993]

I have been fishing pretty seriously since i was 13 but primarily fished northern/bass. Cast to the weeds and wait for a strike. Now i have a boat and have been fishing primarily for walleyes and i am having a hard time finding walleyes on metro area lakes. I usually jig and i am pretty familiar with structure in a lake etc.....I have fished Bald Eagle, Big Marine, Chisago, Green, South Center. I have caught walleyes up north on my grandma's lake but never in the metro area. My question is how do people on here find walleyes in a new lake. techniques, electronics, etc...I have a lund pro v with 2 hds 8 units so i have the electronics and ability to find fish but i never seem to find them. Do i just suck at fishing or are walleyes harder to come by in the metro lakes? Any help would he appreciated i am starting to get frustrated.

[locomoto]

Obviously I'm an outsider to your area and know nothing of the lakes you fish but...try trolling if it's legal on your waters. You could just long line a crank until you find some biters. Can't troll?....turn that Lund sideways in a breeze and jig or bottom bounce a spinner rig or Lindy rig a crawler. I try covering lots of water in a hurry until I find biters...that's not always successful either. Sometimes they don't cooperate.

It's been said that the days you don't catch fish are the days you learn the most. If my luck doesn't change soon I'm gonna be a genius by this time next year.

[Rapscallion]

Jigging edges and holes of cabbage weed beds is productive as is jigging/trolling points, drop-offs and sunken islands.

[Burr]

Metro area lakes are tough fishing. Typically a Walleye won't live very long before it makes it to the frying pan.

Additionally, many of the metro area lakes are pretty AIS infested, especially milfoil.

I'd do one of a few things.

Fish the weeds in lakes, which will result in a multi-species catch result. You'll bump into a Walleye from time to time in the shallows with a spinner bait.

Or, fish the river, St Croix, and Mississippi. Nice walleye populations to catch there, with some seasonal movement to get familiar with.

A third option, won't involve your boat. Shore fish the smaller river and streams that are tributaries to the Mississippi and St Croix. It will take some time to become familiar with the seasonal movements and locations, but the fish are there.

Reminds me of the late Backwater Eddy. He used to fish some of the smallest, overlooked stream locations, and got really good at it. He would fish Drain #10 - which is basically a Fargo storm water drainage location, and pull 8 lbers out of a stream 3 feet wide. But he did it all the time, for years, understood the seasonal migrations, and filled every free moment with fishing. But please wear a life jacket. Eddie couldn't swim, and slipped on a concrete culvert. I miss him, we all do.