SPECIFIC AREAS -- BREAKS ON THE BREAK

Once walleyes are attracted to general areas of a lake or reservoir, they tend to relate to specific structures meeting their seasonal needs. As they gather on such spots, irregularities along their edges tend to concentrate fish, particularly in deep water. Short points extending off a hump are excellent. Often missed by anglers, however, are the inside corners or cups formed at the intersection of a point and the main structure, where the point first swings out toward deep water. These corners often are the steepest-dropping sections of a structure, and they intercept and hold walleyes along their wall-like sides.

While moving walleyes can traverse long, straight sections of a drop-off, they more likely hold for extended periods along any twists and turns along the edge. These may be formed by an actual physical change in the shape of the bar, point, or hump, such as a section where the drop-off is more precipitous. Or perhaps by a change in bottom type, like a rock deposit, indicated on electronics by a stronger return of the transducer signal. Some feature usually tends to concentrate fish somewhere along the edge.

Often, you can simply cruise along the drop-off, weaving your boat slightly deeper and shallower than the primary fish zone, using electronics to spot fish, or at least areas of higher potential. It's quicker and easier to look for them than to actually fish every bit of potential deep water. Once you determine a high-percentage area, go back to the spot and fish it thoroughly.

DEPTH

It seems an apparent contradiction: trophy fishing becomes better in fall even though the fish are able to use more lake areas and greater depths compared to summer. In fall, however, walleyes typically school heavier and concentrate more in classic spots. As weedcover diminishes, fish are less able to hide from electronics. Once you find 'em, catching multiple trophies is common. Yet location is more than just finding good spots. Establishing productive depths is paramount to success.

Since no temperature or oxygen barrier deters fish movement, walleyes can be at almost any depth, including quite deep. The transition to soft basin at the base of a structure is particularly attractive, even if it's as deep as 40 to 70 feet (if available) -- and in some cases, even more. Every lake tends to establish a productive depth range based on water clarity, forage, available depth, and other local conditions.

Example: walleye behavior on large, clear plateau reservoirs of the Missouri River in the Northern Plains states. During bright, calm midday conditions, walleyes might lie at the 35- to 70-foot level at the tips of points, in perfect position for vertical jigging jigs or spoons, or precision livebait rigging. Spot fish on your electronics, hover above them, and drop a lure or bait right on their noses.

Add a sudden strong wind, however, and wind-generated mudlines along shore might draw aggressively feeding fish up into as little as 3 or 4 feet of water. Switch to casting or longline trolling jigs or crankbaits in the shallows. In essence, the steepness of the structure enables fish to move only a short distance vertically without covering much distance laterally. Hence, the importance of steep structures in fall.

Take another example: a deep, clear northern natural lake. During calm conditions, walleyes might lie at the 35- to 55-foot levels, often along the transition from hard to soft bottom at the base of the drop-off rimming a point or hump. When they're deep, it's rigging and jigging territory. But at night, walleyes might rise up to cruise an adjacent sand and gravel flat, where fall-spawning ciscoes spawn in the shallows once water temperatures dip below 40F. After nightfall, longline trolling minnow-imitating crankbaits or casting neutrally buoyant minnowbaits might tear 'em up in less than 10 feet of water. Once again, the steepness of the structures permits quick vertical depth change with little horizontal movement -- a classic fall condition.

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In fall, steeper structures on the west half of the lake are more attractive to walleyes than the sloping structures on the east half. Expect walleyes to concentrate along portions of the western points or humps that plunge into deep water. Area A has potential along its eastern edge; Area B has better potential along its western side. Probe along the edges, particularly at the tips of points or inside corners as the contour turns outward to form the point. The deep hump in Area E has a faster drop-off on its northern side. Fish it. On all fast-breaking structures, pay special attention to the transition from hard to soft bottom at the base of the drop-off, where the slope bottoms out into the basin. When walleyes are deep, such areas are fish magnets. Current Area C has more potential than Current Area D due to its close proximity to deep water. During the day, walleyes likely suspend or inhabit the adjacent deep-water points to either side of the river mouth. At night, they move a short distance up into the current to feed.