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Up until last week we had no snow cover on the ice , found a willing school to play in the middle of the day in 25 fow and within a foot 2 off bottom.Now we have some snow cover , and now the bite is at dusk until about 6-630pm and suspended 3-5 off 20 fow Vex still marking fish , but just shut right off , switched and switched but nothing. Seems to be a slity flat they move up on , after fileting some I inspected what they could be eating and found no bait fish , but what looks like insects of some sort. Where would I try to find them again during the day like before? I've fished that area of 25 fow before finding them for the late afternoon early night bite.Just wondering what to look for on the flasher or if one of my friends bring a camera out?? And the water is tea colored. Thanks for any insight.
Sounds like you may be intercepting a daily movement and not necessarily a major feeding area. The bite probably happens as the school moves thru.If you pulled your baits away from the few remaining nonbiters, they will leave. Sounds like you may have figured out where/ how they are feeding and just don't realize it yet. That evening bite should last at least 3 hours or more after dark if you find where the main school is.As far as the day location, hard to say, here in the N.E. we find the fish on our night bite lakes drop to the bottom, spread out and become neutral to negative. We have confirmed this with cameras just before ice up. Look further up on that flat in the evening , try to find a bottom composition change with your sonar, use that as an edge and try to find out where they are crossing that line ( dip, steep drop, turn, point); the change should be near the base of the drop off, but it depends on the lake. . You seem to be very close to hitting the mother load.
In my experience, for walleye, the day bite or night bite is directly related to the water clarity.
In my experience, for walleye, the day bite or night bite is directly related to the water clarity. Clear water will have an almost nonexistent day bite with a great sunset bite (hungry from not eating all day) and then a decent night bite. Murky water will have a great morning bite (hungry from not eating all night) with a decent day bite, a little flurry at sunset, and a nonexistent night bite. The lake I fish normally is extremely clear. Experience has taught me to not even target walleye until about an hour before sunset. I may be off base and missing out but I stopped fishing for walleye during the day and fish other species (pike) or surrounding smaller lakes morning and midday (perch, pike, and eyes). Too many hours of trying to force fish to bite that have no interest in biting lead me to this routine.