What depths do walleye favor?

[Jbone]

Thought I might try to narrow down the trial and error portion of my searching for em
Any input would be great.

[TROLLER]

Originally Posted by Jbone

Thought I might try to narrow down the trial and error portion of my searching for em
Any input would be great.

20 t0 25 FOW is usually the kill zone for walleye In the spring they mostly are found in the shallows till June sometime then back to the 25 ft range and deeper. But do not target walleye in the deep water.

[BIZJAY]

Theres so much to consider when looking for the "best" depth for walleye as to lake size depth bottom composition type of structure food available water source and on and on, but basicly what I do is look for the structure on reefs humps and points try the deeper sides during the day when sun is high and up shallow an hour around dawn/dusk. If its a relatively flat bottom with little structure youll have to move around a lot until you find a difference in bottom structure that holds bait fish. I have yet to find a ubiversal depth where to find walleye cosistantly on different lakes, ive had good luck ob one lake in 3_5 fow summer/winter fishing and another where 18-21 was the key depth.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by BIZJAY

Theres so much to consider when looking for the "best" depth for walleye as to lake size depth bottom composition type of structure food available water source and on and on, but basicly what I do is look for the structure on reefs humps and points try the deeper sides during the day when sun is high and up shallow an hour around dawn/dusk. If its a relatively flat bottom with little structure youll have to move around a lot until you find a difference in bottom structure that holds bait fish. I have yet to find a ubiversal depth where to find walleye cosistantly on different lakes, ive had good luck ob one lake in 3_5 fow summer/winter fishing and another where 18-21 was the key depth.

100% agree.

Allot of variables to consider.

Here's another few thoughts to add to BIZJAY's excellent advice.

Walleye will, generally, be "on top of" structure or to the shallow side early in the year and move deeper as the water warms up. By the end of June they are typically holding bottom at the "base of the structure".

The weird August and September time, when everyone complains about the walleyes not being around, look in open water, troll suspended presentations like plugs.

Then the pattern does the reverse as the water cools off again.

Again, these are just "general thoughts" - if there is nothing to eat there, the walleye won't be there, no matter how perfect the structure and water temp is.

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by EZM

if there is nothing to eat there, the walleye won't be there, no matter how perfect the structure and water temp is.

truth.

Best depth is a hard thing to judge as it is different in each body of water. Structure and forage are what you want to find when targeting walleye.

[Cal]

Originally Posted by EZM

100% agree.

Allot of variables to consider.

Here's another few thoughts to add to BIZJAY's excellent advice.

Walleye will, generally, be "on top of" structure or to the shallow side early in the year and move deeper as the water warms up. By the end of June they are typically holding bottom at the "base of the structure".

The weird August and September time, when everyone complains about the walleyes not being around, look in open water, troll suspended presentations like plugs.

Then the pattern does the reverse as the water cools off again.

Again, these are just "general thoughts" - if there is nothing to eat there, the walleye won't be there, no matter how perfect the structure and water temp is.

I'd like to add that even throughout the day the depth may change, quite often when fishing a drop off they will be at the deep end of the drop throughout the day. But at dusk and dawn the more agressive fish will often be moving in shallower. I've seen this too while fishing the flats near a drop, throughout the day the usual catch is pike and whitefish but getting near dark you will often start picking up some walleye.

[huntsfurfish]

Spring - Look shallow

Summer - Look shallow

Fall - Look shallow

Winter - Run and gun, but also look shallow

Fish(Walleye) are shallow alot more than people think!

[BIZJAY]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

Spring - Look shallow

Summer - Look shallow

Fall - Look shallow

Winter - Run and gun, but also look shallow

Fish(Walleye) are shallow alot more than people think!

This is very true throughout the summer I was constantly catching them in 3-5 fow or suspended in the top 3 ft of water over8-15 feet, these areas are always over looked as people always assume walleye are on the bottom or in the deeper parts of the lake, when all else fails use the top of the water column, I even had a guest figure 8, walleyes it was purdy neat

[Buckhead]

Look for their food (minnows) and you will find the walleyes.

Depth varies.

[Jbone]

Great advice, thanks all. Will try and put it to work next time

[Big Red 250]

I used to icefish walleye alot in Manitoba & saskatchewan when I still had my health and I always caught more walleye in water 10 feet deep thereabouts including 2.5 to 3 feet of ice. It seemed to me that rocky points falling off into 20, 30 even 40 feet of water was the ticket. With snow cover on the ice, I was catching walleye off and on all day. Slow jiggin with a jig & shiner minnow worked for me.

[Cal]

Lots of good advice here, often I think you can find walleye in both deep and shallow water at the same time. Usualy the ones in shallow water will be more aggressive and easyer to catch.

I remember one time fishing a deep hole on the outside of a river bend in the middle of the day. I was marking fish but the bite was slow and any fish I caught was too small to keep. I beached my boat and fished the bar on the inside of the bend, about 3-4 feet of water, and had my limit in under a hour.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by Cal

Lots of good advice here, often I think you can find walleye in both deep and shallow water at the same time. Usualy the ones in shallow water will be more aggressive and easyer to catch.

I remember one time fishing a deep hole on the outside of a river bend in the middle of the day. I was marking fish but the bite was slow and any fish I caught was too small to keep. I beached my boat and fished the bar on the inside of the bend, about 3-4 feet of water, and had my limit in under a hour.

Yup, they are there to eat, thats why they are aggressive and easier to catch.

Start shallow, then go deeper if need be.