Reading water color for more crankbait walleyes

[fishhawk2700]

Well I have learned something new. I will stay out of the clear water. I have only trolled a few times and just got lucky and caught a couple. I plan on trolling a lot more this year so I enjoy your article

Don't ever be afraid to fish "clear" water. Just because the water doesn't have the "correct" stain to doesn't mean that you can't catch a walleye on a crankbait. A walleyes pea brain tells them to do two things, eat, make little walleyes. Walleyes, when hungry, can and will leave their prefered temp, oxygen level, light level to feed. Trust your eletronics. If there are fish there, try it, before you drive X amount of miles the find the "correct" stain. This forum has some great info, just be sure to make decisions based on more than one source. I would suggest that maybe you book a trip with a captain that runs the type of program you want to run, get out there and question the **** out of him.

[slimshady]

Don't ever be afraid to fish "clear" water. Just because the water doesn't have the "correct" stain to doesn't mean that you can't catch a walleye on a crankbait. A walleyes pea brain tells them to do two things, eat, make little walleyes. Walleyes, when hungry, can and will leave their prefered temp, oxygen level, light level to feed. Trust your eletronics. If there are fish there, try it, before you drive X amount of miles the find the "correct" stain. This forum has some great info, just be sure to make decisions based on more than one source. I would suggest that maybe you book a trip with a captain that runs the type of program you want to run, get out there and question the **** out of him.

To be clear, nothing in fishing is ever absolute. There are always caveats and exceptions. Like I said in the article, the Central basin is one of those exceptions. I have caught tons of big walleyes in clear water in the Central basin. Mostly on spoons, but that's because that's what we generally run when fishing for Steelies.

I also said that there are times when we can't find any stained water, and we are forced to fish in the clean. In those situations, I go very natural and fish my boards really far from the boat. We can usually scratch out a few doing that.

I also mentioned low light conditions. This could be early or late, or even just dark dreary days. That said, on most days, if I have the choice to fish muddy, clear or stained, I will always try the stained water first and it rarely ever fails.

Example: Last year over by Fermi, we were marking fish like crazy, but we could not buy a bite. A few junk fish here and there, but no walleyes. With all of the marks I was seeing, it was hard to leave, however, the water was just too clean for my liking. I decided to pull lines and run South. After a few miles, I could see the color changing. I told my crew that we were about to catch them. There was zero doubt in my mind based on the water color. I went a couple miles into the greenish water and set up. Within a couple minutes we had a 4 lb'er on and it never stopped the rest of the day. That was just one example of many over the 40+ years I have been fishing this system.

[Fishing Tiger]

Like Coho we watch our Fish Hawk for temp changes. Surface temp is good most of the time in the Spring. We also have found the wind pushing warm waters, bait, and fish shallow. But the Fish Hawk helps when the opposite occurs also (even more so). That is a cold wind can chill the surface temps but there is a band of warm water between the top and the colder bottom.

Like has been said many times, trust your electronics, this includes temp gauges. It is amazing what the newer stuff does. I sometimes feel like I am on a floating computer. It takes study and experience but the new electronics really work. They can't catch fish but they can give you an edge!

BTW if you follow the warmer water shallow, don't be surprised if you pick up some Brown Leapers. Some still consider them trash, but times sure have changed in that regard. We look at them as bonuses. We always catch several Fish Ohio smallies every March when we chase the warm water and Walleye shallow.

[Fishing Tiger]

Try this link for satellite pics of the lake. Like Bob mentioned clouds are often an issue.

Lake Erie MODIS Imagery

BTW: You can also use the satellite to monitor the ice. Handy in the Spring for those of us waiting on ice out.

[slimshady]

Try this link for satellite pics of the lake. Like Bob mentioned clouds are often an issue.

Lake Erie MODIS Imagery

BTW: You can also use the satellite to monitor the ice. Handy in the Spring for those of us waiting on ice out.

I used to use the MODIS site all the time, and it is pretty good. However, the HUGE thing that you are missing with the MODIS site is the GPS coordinates. With the NASA Worldview site, you get the same satellite images, but you get much more control on zooming in and out, taking measurements, and the GPS coordinates are the bomb! I can move my cursor to a transition line where it goes from mud to clear and know exactly where that is on the lake. You can't do that with MODIS.

Here's a screenshot of what I am talking about:



These are the GPS coordinates that are in the bottom right as you move your cursor around.

[itsbob]

Have heard similar success early in season catching later in the day.Think the sun warms up that dirty water near the surface and makes the fish more active.I will have to start using that website Slimshady recommended too, regarding using satellite photos and GPS position to find the preferred water color.

[West Basin]

I wondered when someone would point that out.

Yes, I did focus on how color changes with depth. I forgot to add how water clairy effects color. It does. I don't have the info at hand, but there is a "chart" that tells what colors are better in different clarities / colors of water. I do remember that fish don't see greens and blues very well in algae filled water, so when there is an algae bloom in Lake Erie, lures wtth a lot of green and blue don't show up well. Or, fish don't see them very well, at least the colors on the lure. Assuming the lure is at a depth where the algae is present in significant enough concentrations.

If I remember I'll find that "chart" and put the info here.

[cohoho]

All good stuff. I’ll throw one last thing in… Throw a fish hawk or depth raider down to the depth you mark (and get bit)most fish then just target those temps as best you can. Killed them last April doing that. Never really paid too much attention to anything else.

Last week of March is the trip this year for the Crooked Hook. I can’t wait! February and March have got to be the slowest months of the year!!!

Thanks to everyone for the great reading!

[Fishing Tiger]

You need light for color to show up. For those who dive you will see that some colors fade faster the deeper you dive (deeper means less light). Red seems the first to go for people, it quickly looks brown.

That said fish and people have different eyes and see colors differently, so I too would like to see a chart of what colors Walleye see best and worse.

Also, the dirtier/muddy the water the less light so it also effects colors as mentioned earlier in this thread.

[West Basin]

Another thing I mention on this site once or twice a year when I give a "scuba diving" response to questions posted on here. The surface water visibility is not always an indication of the visibility of the rest of the water column.

I'm seen a variety of conditions while scuba diving the Lake. I've seen clear surface water (15 foot+ vis) that turned to 6-8 foot mid depth and was only 3-4 near the bottom. I've seen surface vis at 6-8 that cleared up to 12+ mid depth and near the bottom. I've seen 4-5 vis at the surface and 10+ at the bottom. 6-8 at the surface, 4-6 mid-depth, and near zero at the bottom. And consistent visibility from surface to bottom. There is a lot of variety throughout the season and location.

Remember that surface visibility is not always a tell tale of what the rest of the water column visibility is.

That being said, if you can link surface visibility to catch success, then there is a connection and that helps put walleye in the box.