Man holding walleye Caption: Mark Leadens looked a little
deeper for this late summer walleye.
Late summer walleyes seem to get an attitude and can be hard
to find, and even harder to catch. It’s not that they give
up eating, to the contrary. It’s a time of the year when they
chow down big time, and make their annual growth gains. So
what’s the problem? If they’re not fasting, and there’s still
a few left in the lake; Why are they so hard to catch? Part
of the problem is that the amount of available food is at
a seasonal high. Huge schools of young of the year perch,
white bass, etc., start to show up and it gets a little tough
trying to compete with all of that available forage. Even
with that the good news is the fact that there are fish to
be caught and good late summer catches can still be made,
you just need to know where and when. Fortunately for us late
summer walleyes aren’t all that hard to find if you know where
to look and readily show up on good electronics. Good electronics
aren’t all that hard to find either, and there is plenty available
to today’s walleye angler and includes units from Marcum,
Lowrance, Humminbird, Garmin, and Raymarine to name a few,
and there’s more. Marcum makes a three color flasher type
depth finder that may seem old fashioned to some, but definitely
has it’s time and place. For example; The Marcum provides
instantaneous information and will show exactly what’s below
you right now while the liquid crystal graphs have a slight
delay. The advantage is being able to stay on the slightest
break line because it will show a change in depth immediately.
The downside is the information is here and gone immediately
while the LCG’s will give you some time to study what you’ve
passed over. They can also do an excellent job of showing
fish that are holding tight to the bottom, as well as reveal
transition lines where hard bottom meets soft.
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The reason summer walleyes show up so well on good electronics
is because in most cases they can be found holding in
deeper water. “Deeper” is a relative term and will depend
on the type of lake your on and what all is available,
which could mean fifteen to twenty feet deep, or even
eighty to a hundred. Good structure in deeper water can
hold plenty of late summer walleyes as long as you have
decent water clarity. In a situation like that look for
fish during the day to hold off of the sides or even right
over the top of a deep point or hump, if the top is deep
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At dusk and dawn look for deeper holding fish to move up
on top of shallower flats and shelves and is an excellent
situation to take advantage of. If you’ve been marking fish
on a deeper break and it’s getting late in the day and the
action slows up don’t be afraid to move right up on top. On
the other hand if you’ve been working the top and they disappear
or slow up head for deeper water and take a look. Transition
areas where hard bottom meets soft are often overlooked and
can produce some real monsters. Areas where a hard rock or
gravel bottom meets mud or silt, or where gravel meets sand,
creates an edge or concentration point and can hold decent
numbers of late summer walleyes. The downside is the fact
the fish are often spread out and you may have to spend extra
time between hookups, but that’s the price you’ll have to
pay for a shot at a genuine trophy. If you’re marking fish
here and there you might want to put down a crankbait and
cover some ground. If you’ve found a concentration; a bottom
bouncer and spinner may be in order, or even a live bait rig
and a crawler or minnow like a red tail chub. Basin areas
are another late summer hot spot, especially if there really
isn’t any suitable structure in deeper water. Look for fish
to be holding from belly to the bottom to riding high, way
up off the bottom. Clearer lakes are more apt to have active
schools of high riding walleyes. If you’re seeing fish on
the depth finder well off the bottom there’s a good chance
at least a few of them are walleyes. A crank bait or spinner
and crawler combination trolled right over the top of them
can produce remarkable late summer catches. The darker lakes
are more likely to have fish holding tight, and you may have
to keep your presentations within a foot of the bottom to
be effective. Darker lakes like Lake of the Woods hold plenty
of basin fish which are regularly caught by anglers speed
trolling crankbaits right next to the bottom. They’ll run
baits along the bottom at speeds up to five miles per hour
or more, which is really moving but the technique does produce!
The basin pattern exists just about anywhere you find walleyes
and has been relatively unknown and under fished, up to now.
The key to good late summer catches is sticking with it and
not giving up, especially if you’re not seeing or catching
fish right away. Learning to catch walleyes when they’re not
supposed to be biting can be extremely rewarding, you just
have to keep an open mind and get back on the water.
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