Movements

Early in the season, walleye locations can be easy to find, even though their mood may not be a cooperative one. In middle-aged lakes, most of the available food sources will be shallow with perch and many minnow species on the spawn. Shallow cover such as wood and emerging weeds will provide enough protection for recuperating females. As well, these areas provide cover for vulnerable baitfish also fulfilling their spawning urge. But even with forage available in the shallows, food sources are still at an all-time low and are just now in the process of being replenished. Some groups of fish will make the move directly into deep-water mud flats in the 20- to 30-foot reaches. At this time of year insect hatches will form a major forage for walleyes, until minnow and perch populations develop.

The younger deep, clear lakes will also have walleyes following the same pattern. They will look for deep water near newly forming food sources. Ciscoes and herring, having spawned in the fall, can provide highprotein food sources, along with ready-to-spawn shiners suspended off hard bottom drop-offs. The major key to good angling in spring, therefore, is to find spawning areas, and then to find the closest available food source.

Approaching and during the summer, walleyes start to group into schools and their urge to reproduce has been replaced by their basic survival urge to seek food and comfort. It's a time when most fish start leading a more patterned existence, as they begin settling into summer locations. Early summer features a period of fish attitude that is more than favorable for the angler. Main lake waters have warmed and game fish metabolisms are increasing. Although the food chain is really beginning to blossom, forage supplies have not yet peaked. The fish are active and ready to do some growing for the first time since the previous fall. This period is preceded by the first really hot spells of summer and lasts approximately ten days.

Summer in the mesotrophic lakes finds a stable environment loaded with plenty of natural food sources for the walleyes, fully developed weedbeds, a great number of fish relating to the weed edges, and a concentration of baitfish that school around them. The perch, a major forage source, have now gone their separate ways and some of them will remain in the flourishing weeds while others will feed on the mud flats, sunken islands, and mid-lake humps of deeper waters. The thermocline has also stratified, restricting the depth that a walleye can go. But most important, because of increased supplies of food sources and direct overhead sunshine, walleyes will become less aggressive towards a lot of anglers' offerings, especially during the day.

Summer in oligotrophic lakes will see walleyes use deep-water structure, as greater light intensity coupled with even clearer waters spell daytime avoidance of shallow food shelves. The shallow tops of points and rocky reefs may only be used between dusk to dawn or on cloudy days. Deeper water around these areas, as well as sunken islands, will hold daytime fish with some relating to the thermocline. 

The tail end of summer starts to see a slowing down of the lake's biological life. Food sources are now beginning to dwindle and light penetration is a little more indirect. Fishing picks up. Late summer and early fall see the beginning of increased fish activity as far as the angler is concerned. Feeding movements may now increase in duration as light conditions become more favorable, especially during the day, and food sources continue to dwindle. (Figure 3-3.)

Fall's cooling waters cause a lot of temperature instability and start to push walleyes out of shallow weedbeds into deep edges adjacent to deeper water of more stable temperatures. This is because shallow bodies of water will cool faster than deep ones. The lakes now begin a turning-over process as cooling surface water becomes more dense and sinks, while the now comparatively warmer, deeper layers rise. This inverse stratification process scatters fish until conditions stabilize. Walleyes now disperse to various depths as the environment works itself toward a common temperature from top to bottom. Once temperatures stabilize, fish start relating to steeper breaks and access points to deep water. Fish now prefer to make vertical movements to feed, in contrast to their horizontal movements during the warm-water periods. Baitfish, too, will have moved to deeper areas to seek a more stable environment. Once things do stabilize, fish again group together and make forages of greater duration, since now-favorable light conditions allow longer activity periods. Unlike the summer period, sunny days will see increased fish activity and walleyes in dark water will become increasingly inactive as temperatures drop. But in most lakes, with food supplies at a real low, the urge to feed and put on fat for egg development and for the leaner times of winter increases. This is the angler's time to really cash in.

In late fall, walleyes will also gather at their spring spawning areas, especially current areas, and take advantage of the fall spawning minnow species that move into these areas at night in order to spawn. Night fishing the mouths of these inlets can be very rewarding for the persistent and prepared angler, while day fishing can be spent working nearby holding areas in deeper water. But in cisco-based lakes, anglers should work rock and gravel shoals used by ciscoes and tullibee for spawning during the night. (Figure 3-4.)

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