Now repeat the process with an inside line placed to either port or starboard. Same principle, just with more weight or deeper-diving lures. Run the line out behind the boat, get the lure trolling at the target depth, and add a planer board to the line. This time, however, only feed the board out perhaps two-thirds of the distance to the already existing outside board. Engage the reel and set the rod in a rod holder. That's three lines in gear. Repeat off the opposite side for a total of four. If you have your act together, trolling downwind at around 1 to 2 mph, you're now approaching the location of your target school. Time elapsed: about 7 to 10 minutes.

If you're lucky, you'll go only a few minutes before one or more of your boards lags, dips, or buries (big fish) in the waves. Fish on! No panic. No pumping of the rod, which would tear out the tiny hooks common to walleye crankbaits or spinners. Simply lift the rod out of the holder and slowly wind in line. Eventually the planer board will reach the boat. Unclip it and drop it in the boat. Continue reeling. Next, the sinker comes up the line. Unclip it and drop it in the boat. Continue slowly reeling, eventually bringing the hawg within netting distance off the transom. Reach out with a long-handled landing net and scoop up your prize. Unhook the fish and reset your line.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Chances are, however, that you'll first have to make a couple trolling passes to establish a productive speed, depth, lure type, and color pattern. Or perhaps troll downwind using a slight S-pattern to speed up lures on one side of the boat while slowing those on the other side, in order to quickly determine a speed preference. Or pick up and reset lines to troll several parallel trolling passes, perhaps 1/8 to 1/4 mile to either side of your first pass, to ensure you encountered the school. Or try several additional areas to encounter active fish.

Or incorporate some of the many additional tricks veteran anglers use to trigger strikes from midlake walleyes, like surging and pausing your trolling speed to make lures dive and rise. Or experiment with different actions of crankbaits. Or change blade size, shape, and color on your crawler harnesses. Or really speed up those spoons to trigger strikes. Or read the motion of your boards to detect hits and misses, the hookups of perch or small walleyes, or fouling with weeds. What separates veterans from tyros is only gained over vast hours of trolling practice and interpreting conditions.

But to proceed to that stage, first apply the basics or fundamentals of open-water presentation -- trolling downwind with lines spread to the sides, straining the depths in search of active fish. If you can do that without tangling, you're in the right neighborhood. Now all you need do is knock on their doors long enough, loudly enough, until they answer. Fish on!