Early Ice Walleyes in Northern Ab?

[timsesink]

Hey Guys,
I'm used to fishing mid & late season walleye in Northern Ab but never early. I'm taking my boys for an overnight on Dec 12th and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on depth and target locations? No lake names are neccasary.
Thanks!

[Gbuss]

Originally Posted by timsesink

Hey Guys,
I'm used to fishing mid & late season walleye in Northern Ab but never early. I'm taking my boys for an overnight on Dec 12th and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on depth and target locations? No lake names are neccasary.
Thanks!

For early ice walleyes I would be looking for weed lines in about 10ft of water. Next to a drop. They will slink up and down the weeds to feed all day long.

Gbuss

[Mohawklax8]

Get it down there they’ll eat! Haha

[highwood]

I often do better first light this time of year. Don't be afraid to use cranks with no bait and be aggressive. It doesn't alway work but some of my largest walleye have been on various jigging cranks, typically low light conditions. A flasher can be helpful to see if you're getting interest, and of course, a camera can add to the fun as well. As for depth, it really depends on the lake. Drops are always a good place to start, but it is really variable depending on adjacent available structure and forage base.

[pikeman06]

Fish big structure like major points and inlets outlets and typical drop-offs that come up to a 12 ft or so depth, down to 18 or 20 feet jig aggressive they'll be biting, but more so in the last hour or hour and a half before sunset.