Sometimes looks can be deceiving. When my mother returned from a scenic cruise of the Lake Erie islands, she was quick to ask how I find, and fish for, walleyes on such a monstrous body of water. From her vantage point atop the upper deck of the 90-foot cruise ship, the big lake’s expanse seemed impossible for an angler to master, bobbing around in a 20-foot fishing boat.

But the truth is exactly the opposite, I said. Just like the old adage about eating an elephant one bite at a time, striking walleye gold on the Great Lakes is a matter of breaking down the big-water experience into manageable portions. Understanding the following five factors—electronics, current, boat control, lure presentation, and fish migration—have allowed me to solve the location and patterning riddles of these walleye-rich inland seas; and that’s what I told her.

Quality Electronics

A quick poll of Great Lakes charter captains and tournament pros is sure to reveal that the equipment they’re least likely to part with are their electronics. These anglers rely heavily on their global positioning systems (GPS) for trolling speed, safe navigation, and returning to small pods of active fish miles from the shoreline.

Advancements in GPS that Great Lakes anglers make use of are similar to what their counterparts find valuable for fishing inland lakes. For big-water fishing, the most important advancement is in sonar. While you’re probably well aware of the benefits a top-shelf color fishfinder can yield in determining bottom composition, marking bait, and monitoring fish movements in the water column, the biggest advantage of cutting-edge sonar technology is its ability to put you on fish fast, crucial on the Great Lakes and its huge expanses.

Using sonar to scan for fish while running at 15 to 20 mph is without question the most efficient way to locate walleyes on the Great Lakes. I run an LCX-113C HD Lowrance on my boat, and with sensitivity, colorline, and ping speed bumped up, speeds up to 20 mph are no problem. Just make sure your transducer is rigged right or cavitation (turbulence-induced air bubbles flowing over the transducer) will cause interference (see “Speed Reading,” April 2008 Walleye In-Sider, for additional advice).

Another often-overlooked sonar benefit is the ability to stay on migratory fish once a school is located. Case in point, last fall I was scheduled to take an outdoor writer out of Huron, Ohio, to demonstrate that walleyes can still be caught after Christmas on trolling presentations.

We spent nearly two hours graphing a sizeable area at 20 mph until—finally—a few hooks showed up on the sonar. We duly proceeded to catch a couple dozen walleyes in a few hours in an area the size of a football field, but even in those few hours, the fish moved nearly a half mile. And this same process would be required to locate the same pod the following day. Point: Take advantage of modern electronics and go to the fish, rather than waiting for them to come to you.

Current Affairs

Water current is a factor in most walleye fisheries, and the Great Lakes are no exception. Current impacts the location of baitfish and walleyes, in open water and in relation to structural elements. My advice to anyone heading for big water is to study the types and general patterns of current in the area you’re planning to fish. This simply can’t be overstated, because current is likely the most misunderstood factor in Great Lakes fishing, and probably the most important.

It’s a huge deal on my home waters of Lake Erie. As Ohio fishery biologist, Jeff Tyson, explains, “Lake Erie, being the shallowest of the Great Lakes, is more like a large river system than a lake, in that water generally flows—in this case west to east. This creates complex patterns within a general circular flow that can enhance fishery production, as well as fishing success.”

Currents can be broken down into three types: surface, pocket, and bottom. Surface current is the easiest to adjust to, as you can literally see it. Have you ever dropped a spinner into the water and had the blade not turn, even though the boat speed was 1.5 mph? The reason is surface current. The driving force behind surface currents is wind direction, which changes quickly and constantly. Fortunately, these surface changes are fairly easy to react to.

One point on surface currents. Due to the Coriolis force—a product of Earth’s rotation that affects the direction of moving objects—currents don’t mirror wind direction, but are bent up to 45 degrees to the right in the northern hemisphere. The degree of deflection increases with current speed, which is affected by wind speeds up to 14 to 18 mph.

By contrast, pocket current is more difficult to identify. Most anglers have experienced its effect, when trolling one direction over a huge basin or flat produces fish nonstop, while the return trip yields nothing. Also referred to as circular gyre, pocket current is sandwiched between surface and bottom currents, often on the upper edge of a thermocline. It comes into play in the summer months, when we’re targeting walleyes suspended in deep water. Look for tip-offs such as planer boards that track differently on one side of the boat, or dipsy divers pulling harder on one side than the other. These slight differences can indicate the presence of pocket currents.

Any river rat worth his salt could write a book on bottom current, but many Great Lakes anglers fail to realize its presence. It occurs as the surface current washes against the shore and forces the returning flow downward in the opposite direction. Observing the action of a bottom-bouncer is often the best indicator of bottom current. When a flat-lined bouncer drags during a straight troll, you could be moving in the same direction as a bottom current, while a swimming bouncer indicates the opposite.

Anglers need to be cognizant of these currents and pay close attention to how the flow affects their trolling spreads and fish location.

Boat Control

Several years ago, In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail pro and longtime friend Bruce “Doc” Samson created a DVD on boat control. Why a boat-control video from an electronics expert? The answer is simple: In his time on tour and on the seminar circuit, Samson has observed that most anglers are ineffective at controlling their boats under difficult conditions.

Given the rough stuff we face on the Great Lakes, boat control is critical to success. A simple tip: Troll with the wind—it makes reading and adjusting to current easier. Also, invest in—and learn to use—as many boat-control tools as possible.

For example, most anglers are familiar with bowmount trolling motors and kicker outboards, but relatively few know that Minn Kota’s Engine Mount trolling motor is a handy source of thrust that lets you fine-tune speed and direction quickly and easily, right from the cockpit. Driftsocks, too, often sneak under the radar—and don’t stop at one or two. It can take five at the same time to achieve the right speed and angle of attack. Also, by mixing and matching different-sized bags on each side of the boat, you can quarter or cover most any breakline or other spot you want to fish.

Presentations

Through the years, it would be difficult to count the number of pages and opinions on lure presentations that have graced the pages of In-Fisherman publications, but the two best bets on the Great Lakes, to me, are crankbaits and spinners. Whether you’re fishing Michigan’s Big Bay de Noc in July or Ohio’s portion of Lake Erie in October, these two baits are always found in the tackle boxes of Great Lakes guides and tournament anglers alike. The difference is in how they’re using them.

The recent trend with all lures has been toward bigger baits. Reef Runner’s new 900 series, for example, looks better suited for muskies—yet it crushes walleyes. Another new bait that has promise is Sebile’s Koolie Minnow LL (long lip) models, which can dive to depths exceeding 40 feet, opening many new avenues for Great Lakes walleye hunters. As for spinners, Silver Streak cannot keep in stock their monster #6 to #8 Colorado and Indiana blades. Last spring alone, these blades won more than $200,000 in tournament checks. While big is good, so is going slow. The trend with both of these presentations has been to slow it down—in many cases, this means less than 1 mph. And it works.

Migrations

The best looking spinner or wildly painted crankbait, however, will have a hard time catching fish where there aren’t any. Sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed at how much time is spent fishing where no self-respecting fish would think of going, when the best indicator for predicting Great Lakes walleye location is also the easiest: Water temperature. At one glance, water temperature can tell us both where the fish are, and what kind of mood they’re in. And fish mood largely determines presentation. Salmon fishermen are keenly aware that water temperature has an effect on fish, both vertically in the water column as well as horizontally in their geographic location. Lake Erie guides and charter captains can usually predict where walleyes are with near-pinpoint accuracy by just looking at a calendar, regardless of the lake, because walleyes all seem to possess a similar migration pattern.

During spring, when the fish are in their prespawn phase, they’ve migrated back from the deeper basins and wintered in the shallower basins and/or bays. This annual migration takes place from Lake Ontario’s Bay of Quinte to Lake Michigan’s Bays de Noc, to the Western Basin of Lake Erie; and while not all walleyes in a system partake of this migratory process, most do.

Look for walleyes in rivers, back bays, reefs, or other spawning grounds when the water temperature approaches 40°F. It’s at this time that the larger walleyes begin their spawning process. From an angling standpoint, prespawn fish are holding not far from the spawning grounds—on Lake Erie, for instance, this is the time to jig the Camp Perry firing range or the Maumee and Detroit rivers. At the same time, there can be a terrific pre- and postspawn trolling bite adjacent to the spawning grounds, typically on mudflats. On Lake Huron, fish have filtered back into Saginaw Bay and rivers such as the Titabawasee and Saginaw.

As the water temperatures hit the mid-50°F range, walleyes seem to disappear from these same rivers, bays, and spawning grounds. While many of these locations hold fish year-round in small numbers, now the majority move to deeper waters as they recover from spawning and are on the chase for food. At this opportune time, many patterns and locations will work, as fish have on the feedbag. A great place to begin is where enormous schools of baitfish have congregated over large basins and flats. And walleyes are constantly following the bait, which on a majority of the Great Lakes means they’re heading out to deeper water at this time of year.

When spring ends and summer approaches, oxygen levels in the water change as water temperatures increase. Walleyes now tend to favor shallow reefs or deep basins. On Lake Erie, they make a nearly 200-mile migration, chasing giant schools of bait into the deeper, cooler water; yet millions of walleyes remain in the Western Basin, often frequenting shallow reefs. This is when temperatures have peaked in the 70°F range, and the lake starts to cool off as fall approaches. Then the whole migration process goes into reverse.

You Can Do It

So, no need to be intimidated by the Great Lakes: Just remind yourself that 90 percent of the fish are in 10 percent of the water. And by understanding these five key factors, you’ll be in an excellent position to catch fish next time you head out. Do your homework, make your own fish calendar for your stretch of the Great Lakes, get the right equipment, and you’ll carve big waters into manageable bites in no time.

Capt. Ross Robertson operates Bigwater Guide Service on Lake Erie’s Western and Central basins, 419/ 283-7069, bigwaterfishing.com.