Author Topic: Best depth for walleyes (Read 25627 times)

matt · « **on:** May 03, 2002, 01:05 PM »

I fish quite a bit and the only fish that seems to skunk me time and time again is the walleye. as a general rule of thumb what does everyone think that best depth is to set the bait and what type of bait is most commonly used. Any help would be apreicated. Ohh and if location matters I fish the watters of upstate New York from Albany North

Greg Gustum · « **Reply #1 on:** May 05, 2002, 07:38 AM »

Hi, when I fish for walleye here in Wisconsin, i fish any where from 1 to 12 inches of the bottom, ocasionaly you will find them suspended like crappies, but your best bet will be near the bottom, hope this helps good luck.

Norm LeBlanc · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2002, 07:38 AM »

Matt. I fish Ontario Canada and I also find app. 3-12 inches from the bottom works best,Eyes also like to spend the winter in shallow waters. App. 8-15 feet.

Hope this helps. norm

Ben · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2002, 07:41 AM »

matt,
you must find a shallow hump about 3'-6' deep with 10'-20' of water near by. the best bite time is a hour before sunset to a hour after sunset. set tip-ups on the hump about 6"-8" off bottem with bass minnows for bait. fish the deep water just off the shallow hump during the day and early evening with a minnow 4" off bottem with one pole and a sthingy or jig tipped with a minnow on your second pole. it all comes down to how well you know the bottem structure of the lake your fishing and being able to pick an area which holds walleye. I've wasted alot of days just finding a good area on a lake I was not familiar with.

Karl S · « **Reply #4 on:** Jul 21, 2002, 12:23 PM »

Matt,

I'm an ex-Minnesotan from California now. It's sometimes difficult to find good ice fishing spots for Walleye because daytime spots are often different than where you want to set up for the evening bite. If you can find a spot that has a deeper basin or trough in close proximity to a larger flat then you may be in business. I don't like skinny points that drop off. I like a big flat with depth of 8 to 20 feet with a deeper cut that drops down to 30 or 40 feet. I want to be next to a large food shelf that has a sand/gravel/clay bottom (relatively hard). A few rock piles are nice, but if that's the predominant feature of the shallows-you are in the wrong spot. Nice to have some weeds in the shallower sections too. On bright/sunny days, I like to drill some holes out in that 30 to 40 foot water and jig with those minnow looking Rapala ice jigs that have a single hook on both ends and a little treble hook in the middle. Tip that jig with a perch eye/eurolarva/wax worm or small strip of fish on the little hanging treble hook. I like perch eyes best. I like the medium or larger size for the deep water. Drop that jig to the bottom and snap jig it up and down. Use about a 3 foot medium/fast snap up followed by a relatively slow settle back. You want to maintain contact with the lure on the way back down. That jig will work a lot of water down there. The second you feel anything - quick jerk it. They will often hit on the drop and you'll just feel a mushy sensation. Nail em now! Try moving your depth up at 3 foot increments if nothing bites. Sometimes the daytime Walleyes will be suspended below baitfish or crappies etc. that you see on your sonar. The walleyes can be surprisingly aggressive. I'll set up a second pole (tip up) maybe in the 20 to 25 foot range where the basin rises fast to the shallow flat. You might get a Walleye or Pike here during the day. This technique works for me on those sunny days. If it's cloudy or snowing - move your operation shallower with the jigging on the 20 to 25 feet break and your tip-up on the flats. Switch to a smaller Rapala or use a regular jig tipped with a lip-hooked minnow and fish it a little softer with less hard jigging.

Good luck.

walleye4 · « **Reply #5 on:** Aug 17, 2002, 07:34 AM »

Would the tactics mentioned in prior threads work for Saugeye? I have problems catching Saugeye on tip-ups! Don't know what I am doing wrong! I keep the bait near the bottom and use different sizes of minnows! I have only managed 1 saugeye on a tip-up in 2 years! I can catch them on artificials though! I target the eyes in 15-32 ft of water. I can pull a tip-up out and 10 min later hit the same hole with a Nils-Master and catch eyes! Can't figure it out! What am I doing wrong? Hope to get it figured out before the ice gets here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Esox · « **Reply #6 on:** Oct 20, 2002, 01:50 PM »

I generally fish about 12-18" off the bottom during the day. As said before the drop offs near deep water are key. However, when night fishing for walleye I will run my bait 4-8' off of the bottom. The reason for doing this is simple...at night walleye will silhouette the bait against the light that comes through the ice at night (yes even dark nights). If you run your baits 12" off the bottom, the walleye will be much less likely to see you bait. If fishing at night you will get many more hits if you run your baits up off of the bottom.

Bigjoe · « **Reply #7 on:** Nov 24, 2002, 09:27 AM »

8)

up here in northern ontario, 6 to 9 feet of water, bait is about 1 to 1.5 feet off bottom, using shinners. Now in deeper lakes like nippising, 20 to 35 feet of water and just off bootom. good luck bro

blazen36 · « **Reply #8 on:** Nov 26, 2002, 07:03 PM »

Depends on the bait you are using. In lakes where shiners are the natural forage I fish a foot or more off the bottom. If suckers minnows are muds are the natural forage I fish sucker minnows 3" lor less off the bottom. Old timer once told me if they are looking for forage on the bottom you better put in there. My catches tripled once I started fishing that close to the bottom.

bluecaddisfly · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 29, 2002, 06:12 AM »

Hey Walleye4, sounds to me like the fish you are not catching on tip-ups but catch on lures are probably more aggressive and are not being triggered by your tip-up bait.
If you are using a Polar tip-up or other conventional tip-up, try a Windlass tip-up that will impart a jigging action to your bait, that could help, plus it's good to have a Windlass kicking around for Lakers and Northerns. Good luck.

JT · « **Reply #10 on:** Dec 11, 2002, 04:12 PM »

Shallow-Medium-Deep don't get stuck in a rut. Last year all my BIG eyes were in 20+ 20 in. off the deck! Experiment!

fishingking · « **Reply #11 on:** Dec 30, 2002, 09:11 PM »

I have found walleye at the shallow ends of drop offs and also on the deep end of drop offs during the night anywhere from 8' to 20' of water have caught walleye at both extremes on the same night. ussually if you find one walleye there are more so if your only catching a couple in a well known eye lake try soemthing different in that spot because maybe your doing something wrong if u get frustrated try finding a better spot.

mnfishman · « **Reply #12 on:** Dec 31, 2002, 10:48 AM »

Early ice the eyes will be up close to shore in 4-8' of water. As the ice gets thicker move out deeper. I typically jig them anywhere from bottom to 2' off. Of course I use a Colorpoint so I can see if they are suspended or not. Before I got the graph I was always following the old rule of thumb 12" off bottom. There were many days/nights that I went home with nothing. With a graph there is no "Best depth" you will be able to see them where ever they are....

Good luck.

Ice_Dog · « **Reply #13 on:** Dec 31, 2002, 01:26 PM »

A guy up here in Vermont fishes for walleye like crazy and catches them just about every time. I thought his fishing tactics were a joke but they work for him and they will probably work for you. He drills his holes in only about a foot to three feet of water. Most of the time his auger hit mud on the bottom. He suspends his bait about 8 inches below the ice and waits. Walleye are a cuiser fish and they scan along the ice for single minnows and small fish that would make an easy tasty snack.

iceintheveins · « **Reply #14 on:** Dec 15, 2003, 08:46 PM »

I would fish in 10 to 25 feet most of the time, sometimes shallower, sometimes deeper. I would use mostly smaller 3, 5, or 7 jigging rapalas tipped with a small minnow head. As your second line, I would use a small live minnow rigged on a tipup with a quickstrike rig and fluorocarbon.

Tyler

Rusty Hook · « **Reply #15 on:** Dec 16, 2003, 01:36 PM »

If your going to set tip ups do you rig them so the sinker is a foot off the bottom so the bait swims around that or do you set them so the actual minnow at its lowest point is about 1 ft off the bottom?

grumpymoe · « **Reply #16 on:** Dec 24, 2003, 06:29 AM »

rustyhook if i am fishing a sandy/light gravel bottom, i would use a lindy rig right on bottom as long as you have active minnows. you likely will catch more on a soft bite this way. now, with a heavy boulder/rocky bottom, i like to rig with one 1/8 oz split shot no more than 1 foot off bottom. its gotta get em!!! merry christmas grumpymoe

powderburns · « **Reply #17 on:** Dec 25, 2003, 10:26 PM »

Here in Manitoba, I've been catching walleye in5 ft of water. We R not allowed live minnows in the northern part of the province. So frozen or salted minnows are used. I prefer salted minnows. A rocky bottom makes a big difference.

Streckfish6 · « **Reply #18 on:** Jan 02, 2004, 10:43 PM »

My favorite depth for walleys is 12-24 ft, I usually fish with 4 lines (i bring my 10 year old little brother along and he sits by the heater and playes his game boy) I set my lines for all different depths. One is 6 in. off the bottom the other 1ft off the bottom the other 2 ft and so on. That usually picks up the fish passing by.

TroutFishingBear · « **Reply #19 on:** Jan 03, 2004, 08:39 PM »

I bar is usually the best, they rarely suspend on a bar. 10-25 ft is the best depth for a bar.

News:

Author Topic: Best depth for walleyes (Read 25627 times)

matt

Greg Gustum

Norm LeBlanc

Ben

Karl S

Esox

Bigjoe

blazen36

Ice_Dog

Rusty Hook

grumpymoe

Streckfish6