Finding walleye

I finally got my new boat and tool it out last weekend for its maiden voyage. Mostly a test run and just getting out.
I stopped at Kelley's island shoal toward the southern part (Northern part was full of boats) tried jigging with a purple jig and white jig for a little while. Got zero takers on the jig. Did see three fished netted near me. About 6 people aboard. Also tried throwing a plastic bouncing it off the bottom.

I am curious how the veteran walleye anglers decide where to fish and how to find fish? I was watching the sonar and really didn't see what I think a walleye would look like. Did see a large "ball" of fish go by. Seemed like a ton of smaller fish. With Lake Erie being so massive how do you zone on where to search?

Like Capt Porkchop and Juls always know how to find the fish and I am sure years of experience pays off. I realize there are seasonal patterns and the walleye stack up on the reefs but now they are probably moving on post spawn.

Looking for some Lake Erie pointers and some knowledge. Next time out I want to do some trolling but where to start... 35 fow, 45 fow, east of Kelley's, straight north of Huron, west of the bass islands... etc...
I dock in Huron.

Thanks

The charters and others that fish a lot have a network of other fishermen they talk to get current info as to where the current bite is.Myself,and others keep a journal as to where they have fished at certain times of the year and caught fish.Then go to those areas related to where they have caught past seasons.
You can look at all the fishing posts and sometimes find a current location where people are catching.Capt Sam posted he recently headed east out of Huron to catch his fish.Most posts don't tell where they fished though.
If your transducer is placed correctly,you can mark fish moving at cruising speed.So that would greatly help finding fish in open water.Others like to chase the pack of boats they see.Sometimes that works,but can turn off what was once a good bite.Try and avoid the middle of pack and troll on the edges.

When your trolling its actually important to catch fish if they are there.So keep informed on how to troll with all the different techniques there are to catch.Know how to correctly fish with boards and cranks,dipseys and spoons/harnesses divers and weights.Know how your electronics work and use it properly.Have enough tackle and colors to keep changing things till you start catching.Cover the water column with your spear of rods till you find the active fish.You are hunting for them and that is part of the challenge.Luckily there are a record number of walleye in Erie now,so your chances are good catching walleye.Not so much with perch though.

I don't own a boat now but had one for around 30yrs in our family.I go out with 7 different buddies.Some of them are just casual fishermen.Boat not really set up to fish or have the proper gear.I show them how to properly set up their boat and how to use electronics better.Hoping it will help them catch more when they fish on their own.But they inevitably don't do what will help them catch more for one reason or another.But they have gotten alot better over the years.
Another great way to improve your success is to go out with a charter.They can teach you a lot on how to troll properly.Several are regularly on this website.Capt Sam,Juls and Capt Eric with the pirate clipper.They could teach you a lot on setup and technique.If you go yearly with them,and get to know them,they may even help you with location of current bite.I've gotten to know several charters fishing with them over the years and they often help me with location of current bite.

Thanks for the reply. I plan to keep a journal once I get catching. I have been reading lots and watching videos to learn technique. Tons of great educational info out there. I do appreciate the posts from the charter captains.

You really have to dial in your sonar and learn to recognize fish and bait while cruising or on plane. Some of my favorite times are when I am going to "the spot" and somewhere along the way I see great marks. Setup to fish them and have some success. Usually I'm the only boat around too. Then also take good notes, or mark your spots with dates on electronic map.

Sometimes, you will not mark fish and you can catch them. Learn the limitations of sonar like the size of the cone as you get deeper. Any fish you mark in the upper 15 feet, is more important than the deep marks. Those fish are feeding and you just ran over top of it. How many other might be around. Learn that fish on the bottom, might not show up if there is shallower bottom in the cone. The sonar will register the shallowest spot in your cone. If deeper all around, the fish can hide below this level. Also note that a fish appears as a distance from your transducer. So a fish on the side of cone, at bottom, will not show because the bottom in the middle is closer to the transducer.

Learn to mark bait on your sonar. I've had days in Central basin where we see bait and maybe one fish mark or two. Yet we figure eight over that area for a few hours picking off one or two walleye each time. Learning to find bait is as important as marking fish.
Rickerd

I went out yesterday in spite of the wind and slowed down once i hit 35fow, seen a few decent marks (or what i think are decent marks) so I stopped and set up to troll. I was alone so I only set two lines (too hard to fight the wind and waves even trolling with the wind). 15 minutes later heard one reel start clicking as drag was being pulled (i set clicker on and backed the drag off). Reeled in a 21" walleye. Kept going for awhile and got no more takers. Got tired of fighting the waves and headed back in.

While on plane i see some small marks but no way to equate those to fish or bait yet. My transducer is a factory installed SS60 thru hall. Cruising along at 25mph i would expect a walleye to look like a tiny line or speck on screen.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rickerd

You really have to dial in your sonar and learn to recognize fish and bait while cruising or on plane. Some of my favorite times are when I am going to "the spot" and somewhere along the way I see great marks. Setup to fish them and have some success. Usually I'm the only boat around too. Then also take good notes, or mark your spots with dates on electronic map.

Sometimes, you will not mark fish and you can catch them. Learn the limitations of sonar like the size of the cone as you get deeper. Any fish you mark in the upper 15 feet, is more important than the deep marks. Those fish are feeding and you just ran over top of it. How many other might be around. Learn that fish on the bottom, might not show up if there is shallower bottom in the cone. The sonar will register the shallowest spot in your cone. If deeper all around, the fish can hide below this level. Also note that a fish appears as a distance from your transducer. So a fish on the side of cone, at bottom, will not show because the bottom in the middle is closer to the transducer.

Learn to mark bait on your sonar. I've had days in Central basin where we see bait and maybe one fish mark or two. Yet we figure eight over that area for a few hours picking off one or two walleye each time. Learning to find bait is as important as marking fish.
Rickerd

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Yes when you are cruising above 15 mph, the fish appear as a line up and down or a spec. I have mine set to show yellow as strongest returns. So when I see yellow lines on screen, I might slow down to 10mph or less to check them out. The faster you go, the more water you are marking, so even at 5mph instead of drifting at 1 or trolling at 2, the fish might seem to be more, but when you slow down they dissapear or break up.
Rickerd

That makes perfect sense. I seen some lines at cruising speed and that stands to reason, since the return enters and exits the cone edge (longest distance from transducer) to form a vertical line. I believe my simrad evo3s is set to pallet 4, which has yellow or red as the strongest return signals. Very helpful information and I appreciate the reply.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rickerd

Yes when you are cruising above 15 mph, the fish appear as a line up and down or a spec. I have mine set to show yellow as strongest returns. So when I see yellow lines on screen, I might slow down to 10mph or less to check them out. The faster you go, the more water you are marking, so even at 5mph instead of drifting at 1 or trolling at 2, the fish might seem to be more, but when you slow down they dissapear or break up.
Rickerd

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I get too much interference on my screen when running at any speed to see fish marks. Is there a solution for that? I have an older boat with older Matrix 97. I'm sure the wiring isn't great, but I'm not up for rewiring the whole thing. Any suggestions appreciated.

Seems I post this little sonar education every year about this time.

Sonar technology is advancing rapidly, so some of this may have changed, but the principles are the same.

Determining what you are seeing on your screen is all important. Many people think they know, but unless you understand how sonar works, you won't be certain.

The marks on your screen are determined by the strength of the return sonar (sound). The sonar transducer sends out an acostic (sound) wave through the water column in a "cone" shape (think like a flashlight beam). Any object that sound wave hits bounces back a return signal to the transducer. The transducer then sends that return signal to the fish finder and the software "makes sense" of or translates it into a mark on the screen. Your screen is two dimentional, but it's displaying three dimentional data. In most cases your screen is not showing where around your boat that mark is, just what depth it is at and how strong the signal was.

Return signals can vary and can create the same mark on your screen. Example: in 30 feet of water a small fish directly under the boat at 10 feet depth will send back the same signal strength as a large fish at 25 feet depth way out at the fringe of the signal cone. Those two signals will show up as the same kind of mark on your screen. But they are not the same size fish and in some cases one may be a fish and the other a clump of free floating vegetation.

Another thing to know is once an object comes into the sonar cone, it will continue to be marked as long as it stays in the cone. A fish swiming through the cone at the same depth will mark as a continuous line or the same mark moving from left to right until it leaves the cone. It may change it's mark as it moves from the edge of the cone to the center and back to to other side edge. If you are staying still in the boat (say at anchor) and a fish just hangs under the boat, it will appear as a solid line across the screen. The screen displays the new data in a left to right moving format. Newer units may recreate the entire screen each time it updates, but it's still working the same way. Newer units also have the ability to show a more three dimentional view. It depends which setting you have it on.

Generally what you want to look for is consistancy. Same type and size marks at the same depth zone, over say a minute or so time length. That's how schools of walleye should look.

Believe me when I say a lot of what people think they are seeing is not what is down there. I've seen things on fish finders that we through were fish only to scuba dive that spot and find out it wasn't. There is a lot of "stuff" out there that can show up as fish or fish schools. Or you think you are looking at one fish species marks when it's actually another. I will be putting out underwater cameras this season to match up what a fish finder is showing with what is actually there. I should know alot more by September.

There is a lot more to this to tell here. Look up some online videos or articles on fish finder sonar to learn all the details.

Thanks West Basin for the great info on how our sonar works.

Thx