The idea of fishing for walleyes in cover is hard enough for many structure-fishing purists to swallow. Now, we ask them to go one step farther and consider the possibility of fishing for suspended fish far from shore, unrelated to any structural entity.

Bad dream—or untapped potential? Depends on your point of view.

Fact: Anglers cling to structure fishing patterns firmer than walleyes cling to structure. ‘Eyes aren’t rooted to the bottom, limited to drop-offs, assigned to distinct points and turns in the contour. They roam, searching for food. Sometimes, it’s in areas of structure or cover. Other times, far from it.

Bodies of water with suspended forage populations and patterns break the mold of structure fishing. The baitfish roam in open water, following the whims of wind, currents, water temperature, plankton, insect hatches from the basin, and other environmental factors we can only begin to guess. The interaction of these elements is often bewildering, but through it all, open-water walleyes somehow manage to follow their food and obtain regular meals. In fact, they often grow to be the largest, fattest, sassiest fish in the lake. Conclusion: They must be doing something right.

Primary Principles of Suspension

Walleyes begin their year as structural devotees, gathering in shallow, rocky areas to spawn. After doing so, they disperse, since no shallow rocky spot on earth can sustain an entire walleye population—foodwise, temperaturewise, coverwise—for long. Where they go and how rapidly they move depends on local environmental options.

In many waters, shallow cover and primary structure play a large part in walleye location. But not always. Where sufficient food sources are lacking in such areas, walleyes must look elsewhere. Even in lakes with obvious structure, if food is scarce in traditional areas in late spring, walleyes may move out across shallow open basins in search of emerging insect larvae. Mayflies or other insects rising from soft bottoms provide a short-term wealth of food at this time. Later, the walleyes may abandon such areas—or switch to a suspended baitfish forage, if available.

Walleyes in the Great Lakes provide a valuable lesson to understanding suspended fish behavior. Structure is available, and sometimes the fish use it. But most of the time, in most areas, most of the larger fish suspend in open water, following schools of suspended shad, smelt, ciscoes, alewives, shiners, or other available forage. Their close relationship with and dependence on this forage can cause larger postspawn walleyes to immediately desert spawning sites and take up feeding positions in the adjacent open basin, unrelated to structure. Small males may remain on traditional reefs and points, falling prey to jigging presentations. Yet the big catches of big females usually come on multiline trolling presentations across the adjacent basin.

Many inland waters exhibit at least some of this open-water walleye behavior, often simultaneously with traditional structural and cover patterns. All of the fish do not do the same thing at the same time. While open-water trolling may be the primary pattern in many Great Lakes areas, it may be just one of many patterns on an inland lake or reservoir, and not necessarily the major one. But it’s almost always an option worth checking.

As summer arrives, many locational patterns come into bloom. In traditional inland lakes, walleyes inhabit points, weedflats, humps—structure. On big reservoirs, they roam and make alternate use of many different points, humps, and other structural elements. And many walleyes use open water. Where a summer thermocline develops, it often serves almost as an artificial bottom to the lake; walleyes seldom go deeper than the level of thermocline, although they may briefly dip into it if coldwater baitfish are present at those levels. In many cases, however, temperature and oxygen levels are more conducive to walleyes above the thermocline during summer.

In early summer, many lakes have considerable suspended fish. But as summer progresses, weeds flourish in the shallows, oxygen reaches uncomfortable levels in the depths, and walleyes largely shift back into shallow habitat. Weed and wood patterns may dominate from midsummer until the fall turnover. In other waters—typically huge lakes and reservoirs and the Great Lakes—suspended fish patterns may continue throughout summer. It all depends on local habitat.

After the thermocline breaks and disappears in early fall, comfortable temperature and oxygen levels are available throughout all depths, and walleyes can be almost anywhere. Anything goes. Classic structure patterns typically abound. Yet ask yourself, where’s the food? If it’s suspended forage, chances are that many of the largest walleyes are still out there somewhere, or at least using the deep edges of major structural elements meeting the main basin, where schools of suspended baitfish occasionally pass within ambush distance. Walleyes often pin such passing schools against the steep-dropping portions of major structures, feasting on the bounty before they dissipate back out into the great unknown.

In essence, many opportunities exist for exploring open-water basins throughout the year. Sometimes, fish may be riding close to the basin, typically if the basin is relatively shallow, with no thermocline. Other times, they may suspend nearly anywhere in the water column, depending on light penetration, water temperature, depth of forage, and walleye activity. As walleyes become active, they tend to rise in the water column. Fish that begin the morning as bottom huggers may rise nearly to the surface by the time they’ve finished chowing down on suspended forage.

Thus, open-water anglers are faced with a unique three-dimensional challenge: fish cannot only move laterally, but up and down as well. In essence, every cubic inch of the open-water basin becomes fair game, top to bottom. It’s therefore necessary to be well versed in the use of multiline trolling systems, teamed with electronics, to systematically eliminate unproductive areas, zero in on fish location, present lures or baits at appropriate depths—which can change hourly—and fine-tune presentations to trigger the most big fish. That’s a mouthful, and perhaps even more challenging to put into practice. But armed with a basic understanding of open-water walleye behavior, teamed with a growing amount of experience and practice, it can be achieved quite successfully.

Open-Water Trolling Systems

Planer board trolling—On-line planer boards have in the past fifteen years emerged as the preeminent presentation for open-water walleyes, working equally well for fish suspended or near the basin, typically at depths down to about 40 to 45 feet. Planers attach to your line via a release mechanism, although most walleye anglers opt to clamp them tightly on the line and remove them by hand as they fight in their fish. They work well with a variety of lures, ranging from spoons to crankbaits to spinner-crawler harnesses, at a range of trolling speeds from 3 or 4 down to slightly less than 1 mph.

As you slowly troll forward, let out your lure and line—typically 10-pound monofilament—a desired distance. If fish are relatively shallow—less than 25 feet—unweighted or diving lures should reach them. If they’re deeper, let out about 50 feet of line and pinch a snapweight ranging from about 1/2 to 3 ounces onto the line. Then let out sufficient additional line to position your lure at a target depth, in conjunction with trolling speed. A metered trolling reel and a 71⁄2- to 9-foot long-handled trolling rod provide the best combination of repeatable accuracy and control.

Now attach the planer board to your line via a set of pinch pads, lower it into the water, and feed it out under line tension, or reel clicker tension, to send it out a desired distance (typically 50 to 125 feet) to the side of the boat, spreading and trailing your line and lure out behind it. When it reaches the desired spread distance, engage your reel and place the rod in a holder.

Proceed to set out additional setups, forming a wedge-shaped array spread to either side of the boat. Target a specific known productive depth or spread lures throughout the depths until you locate fish. Troll forward, typically downwind, incorporating lazy turns to impart speed changes to lures. Note the presence and depth of suspended fish on your electronics, and reset lines as necessary to reach them.

Upon the strike, the board drops back. Pick the rod out of the holder, gingerly begin reeling the fish in, and sequentially detach first the planer board, then the snapweight, from the line. Eventually net the fish over the transom, then reset the line. Multiple strikes are common when a school of active fish is located. Punch in their location with an icon on your GPS. When you troll past a school of fish, pick up lines, move back upwind of the school, reset lines while approaching them, and catch even more.

Bottom bouncers—Heavy 3-ounce bottom bouncers, big-bladed spinners, and nightcrawlers are excellent options when walleyes are near or right on bottom, down to around 40 feet. Fish ‘em handheld in traditional fashion, or spread them to the sides a bit with on-line planer boards, and set the rods in a holder. (Can be used simultaneously in conjunction with planer boards and spinners or crankbaits.) The wire leg of the bouncer defeats the line-nicking capacity of zebra mussels should you troll over a colony in the Great Lakes. Where breakoffs are not a problem, as in most inland basins, substitute a heavy three-way rig for the bouncer.

Leadcore trolling—Leadcore line takes lures down deep. But it’s heavy—often too heavy to use with planer boards. Thus leadcore presentations tend to be done with long (8- to 10-foot), heavy casting rods placed in rod holders, and the path of the lure closely follows that of the boat. Use a rod-length mono leader between the leadcore line and the lure. If the fish are deep, fine. If they’re shallow and susceptible to spooking by the boat, planers are usually a better option.

Diving planers—Diving planers attach in-line between the line and the lure. Their angled faces dive deep, pulling the lure along with it. Some planers also can be set to run at different angles out to the side, allowing for a spread of lures at different depths and distances from the boat. Changing line length adjusts lure depth without having to retrieve the rig. A strike trips a trigger, de-angling the face of the diver, thereby reducing water resistance and allowing you to fight the fish. Use a rubber snubber between the diving planer and leader to absorb shock. Use a 4- to 6-foot heavy mono leader to the lure.

Due to the extreme water resistance of diving planers, heavy 8-foot, long-handled trolling rods placed in rod holders and 20-plus-pound line are necessary. But divers take lures deep, to 50 feet with mono, deeper with superline or wire, and can be used at speeds exceeding 4 mph for spoons or some crankbaits. Avoid deep-diving lures; spoons, crawler harnesses, and shallow cranks run fairly level behind the planer, but deep-diving cranks dip below it, pulling down the back of the diver, resulting in a loss of diving depth.

Downriggers—Commonly used for trout and salmon but typically reserved for extremely deep or fast walleye presentations, downriggers incorporate a heavy lead weight suspended on a wire cable to plumb the depths. Run lures out anywhere from as little as 6 feet in dirty water to 100 feet in clear water, and attach your line into a release clip on the downrigger cable or ball. Put the rod in a holder; back off on reel tension; and use the downrigger spool assembly to simultaneously lower the weight, line, and lure to the target depth. Reset (tighten) your drag. Can be trolled rapidly for spoons or cranks or slow enough for spinners. On the strike, the release pops, allowing you to fight the fish unfettered by weight. Outside the Great Lakes, limited pockets of dowrigging popularity exist for walleyes, such as at Lake of the Woods.

Open Season

In smaller waters with limited areas of open basin, open-water trolling opportunities aren’t difficult to explore. A fair amount of experimentation should tell you if it’s worth your time. If not, switch back to fishing traditional structure.

In larger waters with huge open basins, seasonal migrations take the fish through annual journeys covering many miles, and the number of area to be checked can be imposing at best. The answer is to familiarize yourself with basic seasonal movements, note areas that tend to be productive during certain time frames, talk to bait shop personnel or other anglers, note fishing reports, listen to marine band radio chatter, note the locations of other boats, and just plain put your time in on the water. There’s no substitute for effort, and even during the best of bites, you seldom catch fish consistently all day long. But when you tap into an active school and fine-tune your presentation to the right depth, speed, lure style, and color patterns, it’s lights out. Fish after fish, often all big, are your potential rewards.

In effect, it pays to keep your options open.