 WALLEYE, THE ANIMALBy Mark Romanack Walleyes are complex fish. Adaptable to a wide range of water types and environmental habitats, the walleye is at home in natural lakes, rivers, impoundments and even the wide open waters of the Great Lakes. Not surprisingly, walleyes conduct themselves differently in each of these unique types of fisheries. Walleyes are like a fish with several distinctive split personalities. Those who fish regularly for these members of the perch family are often frustrated when they apply methods that have worked in one area into a completely different angling situation. Few other fish are as adaptable as walleyes or as consistently difficult to locate and catch. It's not that walleyes are smart, especially elusive, reluctant to feed or even that their numbers are few. What makes walleyes such a constant angling challenge is the fact that these fish rarely fit into the stereotyped mold anglers insist on putting then in. In the early days of organized walleye fishing much of the information being published on this species came from anglers who concentrated mostly on clear water natural lakes in the Upper Midwest and Canada. In this region the majority of the natural lakes are rather deep, clear and only support limited amounts of weed growth. Walleyes living in these lakes tend to hunt along reefs, fast sloping breaks, sunken islands, points and other classic bottom structure. Angling techniques that became popular during this era such as slip sinker rigging and deep water jigging were especially well suited to fishing these specific walleye hunts. Unfortunately, anglers in other parts of the country who read about these methods tried to apply them to completely different water types. Many met with frustration when they discovered that the blanket approach to walleye fishing rarely works. Natural lakes and the techniques that work there are only a small piece of the walleye puzzle. Other water types require vastly different angling approaches. To become a versatile and consistently successful walleye angler requires a more broad based approach to the sport. Anglers who simply concentrate on one or two favorite angling techniques are never going to enjoy the full rewards walleye angling has to offer. This human tendency to stick with what has worked in the past or what works for other anglers, runs deep in walleye country. Even many of the nation's leading walleye tournament professionals suffer from tunnel vision when it comes to walleye angling. While most of these men realize the importance of being versatile on the water, often they ignore the obvious signs in favor of fishing with a favorite technique. This is the very reason you often see big names in walleye fishing at the bottom of the standings when a tournament is over. The only way to routinely stay on top of the walleye game is to master as many fishing methods as possible and to learn when and where to best apply them. Don't be satisfied with learning just one or two fishing methods. Expand your horizons and discover all that walleye fishing has to offer. Once you begin to understand that walleyes are likely to behave differently in different waters, you're on the fast track to consistently locating and catching your share. Another insight will both focus and shorten the learning curve. In order to understand walleyes you need to get a handle on their primary food preferences and behavioral characteristics. In other words, you need to know what they prefer to eat and where this food is most likely to be found. Many anglers and early fish biologists considered walleyes to be a benthic or bottom loving species. Actually walleyes are pelagic or free roaming fish that can live at any level in the water column. The location of their primary food source typically dictates where in the water column you're most likely to find them. In a natural lake for example, where the primary walleye forage consists of small yellow perch and spottail shiners, walleyes are going to be located close to the bottom most of the time. These forage fish live on the bottom and therefore walleyes turn up here to hunt for them. In river environments it's also safe to say that walleyes are going to be found on or near the bottom most of the time. The effects of current force walleyes and other fish to seek out the bottom where the current is somewhat slower. Friction caused by the water flowing over the bottom causes a narrow ribbon of water near the bottom to move slower than that in the upper water column. Walleyes instinctively know to seek out this slower current. It's here they can maintain their position while using the least amount of energy possible. This bottom hugging rule doesn't hold true in all natural lakes. Lakes that have a population of pelagic forage fish such as ciscoes, smelt, emerald shiners, alewives or shad are more likely to produce suspended schools of walleye than walleye on the bottom. Even though a body of water may contain both benthic and pelagic forage types, walleyes will normally favor pelagic forage types. This is in part because walleyes are built for hunting in open water. Their torpedo shaped body and large fins allow them to swim quickly and maneuver with amazing agility. Catching a meal in open water is no challenge for a walleye. These fish often hunt in packs, herding the baitfish to the surface where their escape route is cut off. What follows next explains why open water walleye often have rolls of fat built up in their body. Walleyes also prefer pelagic forages because these tend to be the kinds of fish that are soft rayed, with a high fat and protein content. In other words, they are easy to catch, abundant, they taste good, they are easy to digest and they are loaded with the nutrition walleyes need to grow rapidly. Natural lakes and the Great Lakes that provide a pelagic forage base routinely produce the fastest growing populations of walleye and also some of the largest fish taken each year. The puzzle is coming together, but there are several pieces still missing. It's not as simple as looking on the bottom or for suspended schools of fish. Walleyes often inhabit completely different habitat types such as aquatic weeds and submerged wood or timber. It's safe to say that if a lake has a good population of walleyes and there are substantial areas of weed growth found in 2-10 feet of water, plenty of walleyes will be using the weeds. Even if a lake has lots of classic bottom structure, more walleyes are likely to take up residence in the weeds because this habitat type can better support more forage fish. It's that simple. At times submerged timber, stumps or brush can be a walleye magnet. Often trees that topple into the water provide the ideal mix of cover and food for forage fish. Walleyes won't look a gift horse like this in the mouth. When reservoirs are formed, there are often large areas of flooded timber, downed logs and stumps that provide class "A" walleye habitat. If the trees are standing, chances are the fish will suspend right up in the flooded branches. If the timber has been cut, the logs and stumps near the bottom are just as good a place to hide and hunt. Moving water is also an important allure to walleyes. Walleyes seem to thrive in current, often migrating many miles to spawn in specific tributary streams. Even when walleyes aren't using rivers for spawning, they are often attracted to the moving water and the constant flow of food it provides. Moving water doesn't have to be in the form of a river either. Necked down areas in lakes can create a situation where water moved by wind flows through a specific area. Often this situation attracts walleyes that know moving water favors their on-the-prowl hunting style. Putting together these important facts about walleyes helps anglers to figure out what makes this popular species tick. It's also important to apply this knowledge on the best possible waters. Too often anglers are more interested in fishing a particular water than they are in finding and catching fish. The best advice for any budding walleye angler is to go fishing where there are lots of walleyes. Don't try to learn the walleye game on a body of water that has few fish and the promise of even fewer bites. By concentrating on lakes that produce large numbers of fish it's easier to build confidence in angling techniques and also to refine these presentations. It sounds elementary, but lots of anglers try to force the issue by fishing primarily on a favorite lake or stream. Often they have a cabin on the lake or go to the same lake each year for an annual camping trip. These folks want to know how to catch more walleyes. The answer is to fish where there are more fish. The walleye is a complex fish. This species has humbled the best of anglers and will continue to do so in the future. The more we learn about walleyes, the more we realize there's much we don't understand. Still, finding and catching a mess of these bug eyed beauties is one of the most satisfying accomplishments an angler can have. |