When the subject of reservoirs is on the table, all ears listen to what PWT pro Dan Stier has to say. Most of his 200 fishing days per year are spent on western reservoirs, and he has seen them through their low-water moods (like now) as well as 20 to 30 feet higher.

Spring, summer, fall, and winter, reservoirs are constant teachers. One reservoir truth is that flats attract walleyes. Perhaps Stier does so well during reservoir tournaments because he knows about flats. He also has followed subtle breaklines on flats as far as they take him. Thousands of days fishing under 110 degrees F scorching sun to 22 degrees F late-fall trips has taught him one rule.

Dan Stier's Reservoir Flats Rule: Little differences make big differences. "You must first locate walleyes, and flats are the place to do it," he says. He starts every trip by checking transition zones. For him, that means rock to gravel (the first break closest to shore), followed by the next deepest transition of gravel to sand. Moving deeper, he runs the sand to muck transition. These three transition zones can be found on most walleye waters.

"Know how to read your electronics," Stier says. "Today's units all do a good job. Play with your electronics, go to electronics seminars, watch videos, even read the manuals, and then tune the unit and watch it. Pay attention to where the bottom changes from soft to hard. This is a transition, and the unit will show it. Most units show a smaller gray band on hard bottom than soft bottoms. If your unit can do this, and you recognize it, you're in business."

Stier suggests that you watch your unit while dragging a lure or bait on the bottom. He likes a Lindy slipsinker and a big chub. A bottom bouncer or jig also will "feel" whether rocks or gravel (tick-tick-tick) are present, or the lure sticks in the muck. This combination of feel and interpreting the electronics picture will teach like nothing else. Once Stier locates a likely transition, he uses his electronics to determine exactly where walleyes are in relation to the transition. Which side are they on? How high are they? Are they tight to the bottom? Are they over muck, but off the bottom?

Following the spawn, he feels walleyes "retire" to the muck, but make feeding forays shallower over sand and gravel. "They're always more aggressive if they're over harder bottom. On the other hand, don't ignore fish 6 inches above the muck," he says. He looks for key depths that hold the most fish.

Stier prefers the shallowest depths holding fish, since he feels they're the most active. But if he has to go deeper, he seeks any variable on or along the transition. He cited these typical spots along transitions on flats that attract walleyes:

• Corners, points or knobs
• Any break in an otherwise straight line
• Any ledges that could hold fish when they're moving shallower or deeper
• Sudden breaks that differ from the rest of the terrain
• Weeds on the transition (or meeting the transition)

"I know one flat that has a three-mile transition, yet I've fished only two spots along it for a total of 40 years. The bottom drops only a foot more than anywhere else along this break, and this is where the fish hold," he says.

Back to his shallow theories. "In a reservoir, anglers can never fish too shallow, even on a hot, sunny day. This is particularly true when the water level is rising," Stier says. Many times he's been catching fish in the 8- to 16-foot range, only to have the fish quit. "From all my guiding days and tournaments, the best advice I can give reservoir fishermen is to check shallow first when their fish disappear," Stier says.

Flats hold walleyes even when the water is dropping. That's when Stier trolls crankbaits along ledges adjoining the flats for suspended walleyes. His trolling plan may occur anywhere from the Great Lakes to gigantic manmade reservoirs like Oahe, Fort Peck, or Sakakawea.

But when walleyes are on bottom, Stier likes to troll the biggest live minnows he can find, and he's learned that lively minnows tell him much about the walleyes below. Larger bait attracts larger walleyes.

Follow Stier on the tour or join him and other legendary pros by fishing as an amateur during a PWT tournament. To enter (openings still exist), download an entry form from the PWT section of this Web site.