Can someone explain Walleye structure?

[Gopher on Ice]

I watch ice fishing shows and read articles in magazines and online. I also hear a lot about depth breaks, humps, etc in these articles and also see it on ice shanty. Can someone explain all the terms that go with the walleye fishing discussion. I am sure this won't help me but a lot of other members!

[appleye]

Structure is anything in the water that fish will relate too:
crappies and trees
pike and weeds

So walleyes would be anything they relate too, which is everything. The big structures are rocks, under water islands, points, where sand and gravel meet, rocks and mud, mud bays, river channels, creek channels, trees, where a steep break goes flat. Then there are fish that just suspend and that's another story. Hope that helps.

[Redneck Fishfinder]

Walleyes will also relate to sandbars and humps/holes. There's another school of thought though for walleye/trout: find the baitfish and you find the walleye/trout. Walleye and trout aren't like bass, who relate heavily to structure. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. Trout even less so. They are a lot less predictable than fish like bass!

[cold_feet]

Many Lakes I fish during summer months the Structure of choice for Eyes is Weeds. They use the weeds for shade from sunlight burying themselves in it. Weed edges and weed points, pockets, inside turns all can hold Eyes. They use weeds like any predator as ambush points and simply smaller baitfish use weeds to hide from predators. Even in winter weed areas will hold Eyes if the weed is standing and baitfish are using those weeds.    Best thing to do if you look for Eyes on any lake you never fished is talk with locals who fish them and also if maps are available get one and look for areas of steep drops from shallow to deeper water humps, points neck down areas between islands (current areas).   Did this make things simpler?  It isn't trust me.  There is no simple sure fire spots Eyes use all the time.  They move  with the food.  So basically what I am saying is find food sources and keep plugging away at it  you will find them but you also need to study them and listen to others and fish with others who have success.

[WildOutdoorAddict]

It really depends on the body of water itself...structure can be trees, weeds, rock rubble, bridge pilings to even bottom contour changes like a ledge, and bottom types like sand to pebbles. Some lakes are loaded with different structure while others are nothing more than a big mudhole.

[Walleye_Slayer]

Definatly depends on the body of water and time or year.. Any sharp break is always going to hold walleyes.. Any hump or series of humps.. Where I fish I look more at depth for structure than anything else.. Bottom type doesn't seem to matter.. Any sharp break that comes up from 30+ feet to a shelf or flat that is 5-10 feet deep is prime. I fish Green Bay so it can get complicated but for the most part I look for a sharp break from 30+ to 5 feet and fish are there.. Especially if it's close to a river mouth.. Slot of the bigger females will use these areas near river mouths all winter as a staging area..
On inland lakes it depends a lot on time of the season. Early ice I've found slot of walleyes in shallow wee flats say10-15 feet deep. Seems like once the weeds die the fish are gone though and moving to more "classic" structure like I mentioned earlier, humps breaks ect..
One of the best places to find is an inside turn.. Anywhere you have a sharp break that turns in a u type pattern will always hold fish..
On lakes with little depth change or structure it seems like they are constantly roaming, but any small pile of rocks or logs ect will always hold fish

[fishinjohn]

On lakes i fish, just like these other guys have stated, i hone in on river channels, inside turns, transition from sand/rock to mud, rock piles, stumps (a favorite) or even just a big rock, eyes are predators, anything they can hide under,in,around that ll give them the edge.. thats where theyll be. The hard thing with eyes is, just because you caught them here today doesnt mean you ll get them there tomorrow! Persistance,maps,knowlege,experience, and a little luck will catch you fish

[PERCHIN101]

In my area we have a lot of rock humps and shoals.  I find the eyes like to hang at particular depths.  One shoal for example runs from 13 to 30 foot depths.  The majority of the fish we catch seem to swim right around the 18 to 20 foot range all the way around the shoal.  But like everyone said, each body of water has its differences.