When you read the title, other than it's being in a fishing magazine, you'd think it was some new aged diet fad, to be done at a race track. Well, It is, sort of. More often than not, today's anglers are not going skinny enough. Skinny water, that is. And, I will get to the tradin' paint part, in a bit.

What is skinny water? Well, when you can look down, and see bottom, that can be skinny water. I say can be as, in clear water you can see the bottom in 10 to 12 feet. I am talking skinny, like bumping the trolling motor on the bottom skinny. And, this time of year, this kind of water can hold more fish than you might think.

Before we get too far, I want to talk just a bit about clear water and fish in the shallows. If you think you cannot catch quality fish in very clear, very shallow water, think again. I can think of several times where I have caught some really decent fish, way up shallow. You need to be much more stealthy, and dark, cloudy days or nightfall will help. So will wind. All you really need is a reason for the fish to be there.

Cover and food are two good ones. Contrary to the old myth, sunlight does not hurt a walleye's eyes. The reason fish don't venture out in featureless flats on mirror calm days is they cannot effectively chase down prey, if the prey sees them coming. Kinda like your buddy trying to sneak up on you, in a grassy field, while riding and Elephant!

The topic of shallow water 'eyes is an expansive one, and can inspire pages of text. What I wish to do this month is shift gears a little and tell you about a specific type of place where shallow water walleyes are even more overlooked than in clear water. The river.

"What river", you ask? Any of them. Provided the river has a fishable population of walleyes. Any river has plenty of shallow water structure that is vastly overlooked when it comes to walleyes. And, more overlooked than the rivers themselves, are backwater areas, especially, this time of the year.

Obviously, the first river that comes to mind when you think of backwaters is the Mississippi. However, there are several other rivers in our region that have plenty of side channels and cuts, and many of these can hold fish. You will find backwater channels, cuts, sloughs and lakes hold many more walleyes than you'd expect. And, more often than not, the fish are bigger than the average size you'd find on the main river.

When you start looking at the back water areas, it can seem to be a daunting task. There are so many of them and some very large areas, where do you start? It is important to understand that, like any body of water, not all areas hold fish. This is very true here. In fact, with shallow water and the backwater areas, the places that hold fish are usually very small, and there are few of them.

More amazing than how precise the fish holding spots are, is how hard it is to navigate a boat through these backwaters. One channel can look exactly the same as the next, but one will have clear sailing with a depth of 5 feet, and the other will have 8 inches of water! There are also many sloughs and channels that are ad deep as 20 feet! Worse yet, many backwater lakes are nothing more than huge duck ponds that may only be several inches deep. I know of many backwater lakes that are probably over 1000 acres and shallow stump and log riddled boat killers. Others are deep enough at the mouth to get your defenses down, only to turn into silted in, water covered muck flats.

It takes a little investigating, slowly, to find the good ones. Stopping in the local bait shops is also not a bad idea. But you have to remember, these fish holding treasures are well guarded honey holes to the anglers who know of them. However, there are some that everyone knows (The Wisconsin Channel on the Mississippi River at Red Wing MN is one such spot), and many more that have not been found yet.

One of the best ways I have found to scout some of these spots out is the local guides. It is a very wise idea to consider hiring a guide for the first day of your trip and let them give you a little info to go on. During this time of the year, which actually goes from post spawn through the rest of may, many river guides are well aware of several areas, somewhat off the beaten path that regularly give up some really nice fish.

Once you start plying these backwaters, you will start to notice how to tell if a location is going to be capable of holding fish. You will also be able to "read" the water and know if you can travel through an area. The river has it's surprises and secrets, to be sure, but by and large, you will start to be able to read the rivers signs and let them tell you what you are looking at.

The first sign. still or stagnant water. Usually this is a sign saying, "No current, real thin, I will eat your boat!" Most of the areas you can run in, or you'd want to look for fish in, have some current. Some areas there can be as much, or more current flow than the main river. (Remember that statement). Stumps or logs protruding from the water and Lilly pads are more indicators of water to skinny to run in. As a basic rule, a channel or cut, emptying into a backwater lake will dump any of it's contents a short way into the lake. "Silt bar!, shallow water!", is the alarm that goes off in my head.

Backwater lakes almost always are much shallower at the inlets, and deeper at the outlets. This is a factor due to current. During normal flows or high water, the river has sediment suspended in the water. When the rushing water enters the lake and the current slows, the sediment is dropped. At the other end of the lake, near the outlet, the current begins to increase, sediment is not dropped. In fact it gets picked up and taken away.

The absolute biggest mistake anglers make while fishing these areas is to only work the holes. If you have a Wisconsin Channel type situation, the bottom depth varies wildly. It will be 2 feet for a stretch and then 7 feet, and on and on. Most anglers only work the holes. I have had many fine fish come in my boat from off the top, leading edge of shallow bars, or off the edges of dead falls along the hole.

When the bigger female fish complete the spawning task, they begin to move back to their summer haunts (how's that for shifting gears). There are many fish that spend most of their lives in the backwaters. They will navigate these channels and lakes back to where they came from. They will hold in cover or deeper holes (deep can be 5 feet) and move up to the current edge or up on top of bars to feed.

This is where the current mentioned before comes into play. The fish will use the current to let the water wash food to them, just as in the main river. This is the reason why most of the fish you will find are going to be in channels with moving water, or in cuts, bends inlets or outlets You will need current to have the fish there, plain and simple

As for tactics, by far and large the best way to cover water looking for fish is with your eyes and your electronics. Pay attention. Once you think you have found a likely location, start casting the area with faster moving baits. I usually mix it up and I throw a jig and the person in the back of the boat tosses a stick bait or spinner.

Don't be afraid to pitch to shoreline structure and every current break you see. Make sure your cast is far enough above the object as to allow the lure or bait to get down to where the walleyes are. Fortunately, in the skinny stuff, this does not take too long. Most often I am using a smaller stickball or a 1/16th oz jig at best. You want a longer hang time in the shallow water as it is nothing for the walleye to raise up a few inches or so and snap up your offering.

In the longer channels or the more open outlets of the lakes, it is hard to beat trolling with smaller shad type baits and just let them plow into the bottom at a moderate speed. When I have the room, I will use Sideliners to cover more area. As far as what shad baits, it is hard to beat the ol' standby, Shad Raps. Don't overlook lip less baits either. You just need to be more precise and keep them just off the bottom.

And remember, don't be afraid to take the time off the water to research your likely spots before you launch the boat. Talk to the bait shop owners. Hire a guide and learn a little more about the area first. Then sit back and reap the benefits.

Above all, be safe. Use your boats speed in moderation and be mindful of hidden obstructions and blind corners in the channels. It is hard to resist putting the hammer down when you have to cross a large expanse of open water. However, if you don't know the water, don't fly across it. Also, this is no place for someone afraid to scrape a little paint off the skeg of your motor.

Call it tradin' paint with the river. Oh, before I forget, if you spend any time in the backwaters at all, you will eventually get stuck, bump a stump or shine your prop and skeg on a sandbar. But the fish you can catch will more than balance out a little paint lost. .