Dog Day Walleye – Fishing 411
Category: article
Sep 26th, 2022 by Keith Worrall
Modified Sep 26th, 2022 at 11:57 PM
Dog Days Walleye
By: Mark Romanack
In bodies of water that feature mid-lake structure, summer time is prime time to find adult fish hunting the edges of reefs and submerged islands. Throwing glide baits, swimbaits and also lipless crankbaits are three of the most effective ways to target walleye on mid-lake structure.
As summer wains on and the days get hotter, a lot of anglers have the misconception that walleye fishing slows down. On the contrary, when the water warms up, the metabolism rate of walleye speeds up. In the summer time walleye have a constant “need to feed” as they burn up food energy almost as quickly as they can stuff their stomachs.
Anglers who struggle on summer walleye are likely looking in the wrong places. Here are a few “sure fire” places and presentations for targeting mid-summer walleye.
WEED WALLEYE
In the summer time when aquatic weed growth is exploding, walleye will often take advantage of weed cover to hunt for minnows, crayfish and young of the year perch that also invade the weeds to find shade, food and cover. In the world of aquatic weeds, there are “good weeds” and “not so good weeds” to consider.
Dense patches of weeds that form into impenetrable mats are usually not going to support much walleye activity. Weeds such as coontail, Eurasian milfoil and naiad are examples of weeds that often grow so thick they don’t allow walleye much room to cruise and hunt.
Other species of weeds such as curly leaf pondweed and common pondweed, typically grow in patches that leave open water pockets for walleye to cruise and ambush prey. Both of these weed types are anchored to the bottom by a single stem and they tend to grow up tall providing leafy cover and shade even in water as deep as 15-20 feet.
When fishing walleye in warm water, get the fish back into the water as quickly as possible. Hold the fish by the tail for a few seconds to let the fish recover before letting go. When the fish is ready it will kick and shoot off back to the depths unharmed.
