What does wind have to do with walleyes? Do walleyes even know that the wind is blowing? Do we need a "walleye chop?" These questions will probably never be answered exactly, but we do learn more and more every year about walleye behavior.

One of the reasons wind makes walleye fishing more effective is simply because of the increased options it adds for presenting your baits. This up and down motion of the waves gives action to the rods in holders, allowing walleye fishermen to use multiple rods. A rod holder is a perfect presentation when waves are rocking the boat. With a wide spread of rods, a wide area of water can be covered on a drift.

Wind permits access to shallow fish without scaring them. Wind creates dirty water, and the walleyes can't see your boat. Wind also allows us to fish closer to the fish because waves camouflage pressure changes caused by the water displacement of our boats.

Water displacement from the boat hull is very important and often overlooked. Walleyes don't necessarily have to see to know what's going on around them. He relates differently to his environment than we do. As humans we expect fish to see things as we see them, hear and feel things as we do and act like we act. But that's not the case, walleyes have a unique major sensory organ, its called a lateral line.

The lateral line works like a big ear. It picks up vibrations, it feels water displacement and can act as a huge 'eye" to help the fish "see" when water clarity is reduced to zero. When you troll across a walleye, the hull of the boat will displace an enormous amount of water. As your boat moves water, a chain reaction is set up as pressure waves continue to move out from the source. This movement is picked up by the walleye's lateral line. Although the walleyes lateral line doesn't recognize or identify the hull displacement as an angler, he does recognize it as this: "Here comes something about 18 feet long, and that's something big enough to eat me!"

This may not be an exact quote of the walleye's reaction, but we do know that his senses alert him to change quickly from the offensive to the defensive. You'll find that it's a tough bite if the fish are on the defense.

The lateral line is located along the fish's side. It's the red streak that runs down the fillet. Through a microscope, it looks like tens of thousands of tiny hairs. The hairs lie right under a row of scales which are hollow, filled with a mucus, and transfer water pressure changes to the brain. This is how fish relate to their environment. The lateral line is so sensitive that a fish can feel the smallest of movements.

How sensitive is this sense of "hearing or feeling"? Researcher Joe Lindel says, "With this organ, fish can readily distinguish one baitfish species from another. As a minnow swims by, it gives off unique underwater vibrations that makes it identifiable. Every aquatic creature has its own 'signature,' much like humans have a distinctive set of fingerprints."

Young fish don't have a well-developed lateral line like they will later in life. If you look at a fry (a small, young-of-the-year fish that's just out of the egg), it's no more than an eye with an attached tail and a belly. The eye is the first thing that develops on a little fish which is key to the fish's movement. It's his whole defense. The lateral line hasn't fully developed; therefore, he can't pick up on water displacements and pressure changes. His defensive eye can detect any type of movement, and the fish reacts instantly.

For example, observe minnows slowly finning in an aquarium. They're fairly stationary, but if you wave your hand over them, they scatter. Movement terrorizes small fish. Even leaves blowing off a tree or birds flying overhead will cause them to dart away. That's why in clear water conditions, small fish will see the predator walleye long before the walleye can strike.

When the wind blows, a dramatic change occurs in the world of the young-of-the-year fish. The waves start rolling ashore, stirring up the water. This dirty water with suspended solid particles reduces visibility. Walleyes, reacting as if hearing the dinner bell, move into this muddy water to feed, using their lateral lines as eyes. Remember, nothing has X-ray vision. If you can only see three inches into the dirty water, that's all anything else can see.

The small fish act as if they're more comfortable in the dirty water. They can't see movement, which eliminates their defensive shield. They're off-guard and also actively feeding on the suspended particles. The walleyes slide into this dirty water along with the big waves. They detect the signature of the minnow's water displacement, ease within a few inches, flare their gills and suck in a volume of water surrounding the baitfish. This draws the water in through their open mouth, filters the flow through their gill rakers, and traps the unsuspecting baitfish in their mouths. Neither fish ever sees the other one! It's easy to understand why dirty water, wind, and big waves act like a dinner bell for walleyes.

Wind can also create new structures in shallow water. These are called mud-lines. Waves crashing against a shoreline or an exposed point often wash clay into the water creating what we refer to as "mud-lines." This "mud" normally suspends in the top two feet of water. It moves along the point, eventually spreading over a large area like an umbrella.

Phenomenal fishing can occur within the first 20 or 30 minutes of the creation of a mud-line. I watch for this constantly in tournaments. If it's a flat calm day and the wind starts to blow, I go immediately to the closest point or flat of shallow water where I believe fish may be holding. When a new mud-line is created, there's an immediate movement of fish into the shallow water. What happens on this early movement into shallow water is a "feeding binge." It becomes a walleye feast because the eating is so easy. When full the fish move back into their comfort zones until they are hungry again. A few days of the wind blowing into the same areas will support a mud-line that does hold fish, but it can't compare to the frantic action during the first 20 minutes of its creation. I've won several tournaments by fishing the wind. In the South Dakota Governor's Cup in 1987, Bob Propst, Sr., and I led the tournament the first day by just a few ounces. We knew we had a shot to win because the forecast on the second day called for calm winds in the morning and a strong wind by noon.

We motored over the flat surface to the same area where we had caught fish the first day. By mid-afternoon we had only boated three fish and were beginning to wonder if that wind was ever going to blow. Then looking to the west, Bob remarked about the black, dusty haze on the horizon. A big wind was coming! Within a few minutes the wind hit the opposite side of the reservoir. With the forecast calling for 50 mile per hour winds, the other boats immediately headed for the landing 20 miles away. Bob and I pulled our lines in also, but we aimed for a huge school of fish we knew was in front of the tournament weigh-in site. These fish had been off-bite earlier because of the calm conditions. By the time we arrived at the launch, the waves had reached six to eight feet in height. Most of the other anglers were calling it a day and weighing in their fish.

Bob and I agreed to try one pass on the long point in view of all the other contestants. In one pass, we caught seven fish in an area two hundred feet long. They all came within 15 minutes. We struggled up wind to make one more pass. We now needed only two more fish to complete our limit. When we hit six feet of water, all four rods hooked fish. We kept two for a tournament limit and a great win right in front of everybody! Who could have asked for more?

There's a basic commandment in walleye fishing which says: "Fish the wind." If there's no wind, be prepared for a long day.