Fish Finding Methodology

[Island Runner]

This may be a great thread with lots of good posts or it may be a bust with people not wanting to give up too many of their secrets. I guess we will see.

My question is this: How do you go about searching for walleye out on the lake?

To me, finding the walleye in open water has been a challenge to say the least. I see the charter boats at my marina coming to the cleaning tables with more walleye in a day, everyday, than I can seem to bring in all year.

I would assume if you are out everyday, you could track their movement by going to the place you were the day before and if the fish are not there anymore, it gives you a good starting point to search from. Then again, I have no idea how far walleye can and will travel in a day. Maybe they can go from one side of the lake to the other in day. I don't know. But for us guys that can only get out on the weekends, that starting point of looking for the fish is elusive to say the least.

For the ones of you that are out everyday, say for example you boat needed major work and you lost 2 weeks on the water. How would you go about getting back on the fish again if you had no one to call ask? What are the thought processes and tactics used to get back on the fish?

Are there certain places that seem to harbor the fish at certain times of the year? Do they have a set movement or migration pattern that you follow? I know it cant be all just luck. I grew up on the fishing everyday with my great grandfather in the early 80's to the early 90's and can not ever remember NOT limiting out. We never trolled and his boat did not even have sonar. How he found the fish everyday will always be a mystery to me. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I should have paid way more attention but being young I didn't. So that's why I'm asking all of you. HOW DO YOU START FINDING THE FISH.

[ReelTime]

Heck that's simple. Before you go send Skipper9 a text and ask where to start. LOL!!! Funny but true.

I don't consider myself an old pro by any means but I do know a little. Yes there are definately migration patterns to the walleye. And yes there are always what I call resident walleye just about everywhere all year long that tend to stay in those areas. Take for instance right now in early spring the walleye will congregate on the reefs in the western basin around the Camp Perry range cans to spawn. Not uncommon in April to darn near be able to walk accross the boats around the reefs during the jig bite. After the fish spawn and the water cools they will start to migrate East for deeper cooler water.

Example, I live 200 miles away so normally make it up about once a month. March, April I will fish around the reefs of western basin. May, June is more that likely around the Islands somewhere. July, August I will more than likely fish around Vermillion to as far west as Lorain.

Something I wish I would have done from the start is to keep a log of every trip. Note the time of year, the water temp., the program you used to catch the fish, etc. and normally history will repeat itself. In years to come it will save lots of time.

Honestly, pay attention to the fishing reports on this forum and most of the time you will have a good idea of where to start.

[ebijack]

Like Reeltime mentions, there is a typical migration. There are alot of boats that just follow the charter boats as they are usually out everyday. But, there are plenty of times the charters are hunting and other are catching. Over the years I have lots and lots of waypoints. I use those and time of year. I watch my sonar like a hawk while running towards waypoints as I usually find pods and start to fish where I mark nice size marks while on the way to another spot. Once you build a network of friends you can cover alot more water and/or get upto date info and this really shortens finding the active fish. Site's like this help ALOT also!

[wakina]

Over the years (@ least 15), I have kept a log for where, when and how. Weather,wind speed and direction and numbers of fish caught. Those logs have proven to be the best piece of fishing equipment that I now own. I cannot stress the fact enough that a log will make you a much better fisherman over time. I keep it in one of those little calendars available at card shops and get a new calendar every year. After awhile patterns begin to emerge and that is when those logs really earn and pay for the time spent on keeping them. Are they always right? No they are not, but over time they will give you more than one location to fish on any given week or day. That is very important to me because if one spot is dead you will have at least one other that has produced for you in the past. I start by fishing or searching the area of the closest log entry for that week/day and work my way to the farther ones as the day progresses, but only if the closest don't produce. I mentioned week/day because over time days start to blend together and become weeks and the weeks over time start to blend together and you can follow the movement of fish from week to week to month by month. I don't like to keep 15 to 16 inch eyes but I will not just drag up and leave an area because of them, but will fish the fringe area around the smaller fish, there are usually larger fish present in the area but they seem to be in a scattered pattern rather than a tighter pod of fish, so the action may not be as fast but the quality usually goes up.

Right now you are probably thinking oh how am I ever going to get the number of logs and log entries that I would need to start seeing a pattern The first thing you do is actually start the log and keep it up to date with your actual time on the water. Next with a different colored ink you supplment your log with information that (trusted) members post here to help you. Before you know it you will have a whole weeks then months then years worth of daily logs for you to use. I just for the sake of knowing who is saying what jot down the posters name and use a different color of ink for those entries provided by other trusted members, that way I know for sure if it was me or a members information that I am reading in my log, enter all trusted posts on a given day from different posters and you will start to see a pattern of fish movement develope and you be able to check that log and go back for weeks or forward to the next year.

Disclaimer: The reason that I used the word trusted member is that a few years ago there was a member that was giving bogus/false reports and then laugh and make fun of those who would follow his reports and burn alot of fuel doing so. That member ended up getting banned from this site but the damage was done. I did not use his name because there is now another member by that name and I did not want to get him confused with the jerk who was banned. Fuel at that time was over 4 bucks a gallon in east harbor and at one point it was $4.59 at the marina where I docked. So that is the reason I used trusted poster.

[partsboy333]

Hi I'm new here but I always do good in june in between the islands will be there in may this year dose anyone have a info on where they will be in may

[DoubleD]

I remember the "untrusted source"... The elusive Walleye Wacker. What a jerk.
If you want a wealth of knowledge, including archived fishing reports from years past, check this out.
http://www.wbsa.us/index.php?page=denied
There was a guy named Dean that shared information before sharing information was cool. Tons of interesting things on these pages and links. Most of the things on this page came from Deans personal blog before he quit and I believe moved to Texas. There are maps, tricks, tips, techniques, reports, charts, and much more.

[LOWE LIFE]

We use the Gps and keep a written log of every trip we take..We found one spot 2 years ago the landed almost 50 fish throught the spring jiggin season... We try to fish everyday in the Bay area and keep on the fish.Last year was a bust this year will hopefully be good...I'm layed-off right now so hopefully I can fill the freezer this spring since I dont troll this is the only chance I have to get some fish..I'll start posting soon as we get out and on some fish..I alwayse try to give a accurate post to help everyone out, I've met in person some fishermen on here and they will tell you I'm legit...Good luck this season can't wait to get started..
LOWE LIFE... (Not the Wacker)..LOL

[ebijack]

There was a guy named Dean that shared information before sharing information was cool. Tons of interesting things on these pages and links. Most of the things on this page came from Deans personal blog before he quit and I believe moved to Texas. There are maps, tricks, tips, techniques, reports, charts, and much more.

Yep, I chatted with Dean many a time over the years. I did buy his cd he sold back before he retired with all his info on it. His didn't always match mine but still great stuff to have.

[bailey]

A thread just like this on the east end works so good luck on a west end thread. Of course we all chatt it up on there also. Its a big lake lots of fish shared info helps all.

[BAD KARMA]

Island runner this has turned out to be a very good post.I dont post a whole lot because i dont feel i have earned the right to tell peole how to fish yet unless i catch fish and can tell how i exactlly did it.
I have only been fishing the big lake for 3 years by myself now and have had alot and alot and alot of bad days. Here is my perspective. I started on a 26 ft cruiser with the wrong equipment. But have made some good friends up here that have realy helped out, and alot of changes like a new boat lol,12 trolling poles and better electronics. My biggest problem when i pull out of that channel is making a decision which way to go. like the other guys posted i have a lot of marks on my fishfinder of past catches. With the help from this site, confidence in what im doing and my favorite Captain Jim of www.eyehuntercharters.com (plug) and my experiences have refined my approach. I believe it comes with time on the water (were the metal meets the meat)and a good network of friends.Im a professonalfirefighter/paramedic and it took many years for me to feel comfortable at my job and i kind of relate it like that. I now feel good about what im doing on the water and the way im fishing.