Walleyes tricky test for anglers
Various gamefish species have their unique qualities that draw anglers to them.
Smallmouth bass, my favorite, offer their unrelenting scrappiness, particularly when they live in flowing water. Muskies boast sheer size, coupled with an air spookiness, as they often appear so unexpectedly. Trout provide awesome beauty, not just of themselves, but also of the places where they live.
With walleyes, most folks would list the species’ attributes as table fare at the top of the list. I’d counter with walleyes’ ability, as a predator, to thrive in so many types of environments, ones that tax an angler’s ability to consistently catch them. Consider a handful of experiences from a one week period earlier this month.
Despite the threat of heavy weather, my friend Art Hamley and I met for an evening walleye venture on Keystone Lake, one intended to extend a few hours after nightfall, when we planned to troll crankbaits under a cloak of darkness. In clear lakes like Keystone, walleyes typically feed most heavily during low light periods, when they have a decided sight advantage.
Getting on the lake a couple hours before dark, our plan was to fish ‘crawler harnesses along the outside edge of the weedgrowth. Now, in most lakes, weeds grow out to 8 to 12 feet of water. But Keystone’s exceptional clarity, coupled with years (like last one) where gradual drawdowns allow the weeds to creep in to deeper water, and you’ll find submergent growth out in 20 to 22-foot depths.
Keeping an eye on the sonar unit to keep the boat close, but not in the weedy cover, we began slow-trolling ‘crawler harnesses behind two-ounce bottom bouncer sinkers. We hadn’t gone 100 feet when one of the rods swept into a deep bend.
A few minutes later, a thick, 24-inch golden-olive walleye was in the net. Soon a line of strong thunderstorms chased us from the water, postponing the after-hours foray.
A couple days later, I was guiding some regular clients on the Allegheny River near Parker. While the main focus was on smallmouth bass, they mentioned a desire to target walleyes part of the day.
On the free-flowing section of the Allegheny, walleyes often feed on streamlined chubs, nicknamed riffle runners by the locals since they prefer that kind of water during the warmer months. With baitfish in shallow, fast-moving water, walleyes are often there, too.
As the boat drifted through a heavy riffle, featuring one-foot standing waves, I suggested to my guys to cast their three-inch minnow imitating plugs into the pockets of softer water, close to the bank, just out of the heavy flow. During the short drift, they both nailed quality walleyes in the 20-inch range, by working their lures in a steady, easy-to-track pace that walleyes tend to respond best to.
Fast forward another few days and Art Hamley and I were on Pymatuning Lake, again looking for walleyes. During a guide trip a week earlier, I’d scored on some nice-sized ‘eyes by fishing ‘crawler harnesses around shallow humps that topped off in the five-foot range, so that was our initial plan
A couple hours effort, however, only came up with a bunch of yellow perch, channel cats, bluegills and some tiny walleyes. A change in tactics was in order.
We moved out over deeper water and set up a couple trolling rods with leadcore line to pull our crankbaits down to the bottom in the 20 to 22-foot depths of the basin. Earlier trips this year hadn’t produced anything in deeper water, but we were encouraged by the presence of fish targets on the sonar screen, something absent on previous outings.
As an afterthought. we also let out a long-lined crankbait, set back about 120 feet, one that would dive down approximately 12 feet.
An hour of trolling, and the leadcore lures, fished within a couple feet of the bottom, produced nothing. But as the boat made a wide-sweeping turn, the long-line rod hooked up. Art carefully wound the 18-inch walleye in and I scooped it up in the net.
After taking the first suspended walleye, we set up a second long line rod that duplicated the first; same set-back, same lure type, a two-inch Hot-n-Tot. Some more time passed, and the long-line rod went off again. This time the fish stayed down, typical of a bigger walleye. But Pymatuning has lots of big channel cats that are willing to hit a crankbait, so I kept my fingers crossed as I held the net at the ready.
Foot by foot, Art worked the fish in, keeping the line tight so no slack developed. When fish are hooked far behind the boat, the hooks often loosen as they expand the holes in the fish’s mouth. Any slack and the hooks can fall out. It’s not a situation to pump the fish in, but rather winch it in with the reel, keeping a constant tension. We were in luck, and soon a 25- inch walleye was in the net.
Within a seven-day span, walleyes were taken from three distinctly different kinds of areas. On Keystone, small perch were likely the lure of the weedline-holding walleye. With the Allegheny, the aforementioned riffle runner chubs were the draw. The Pymatuning walleyes were probably eating gizzard shad suspended in open water.
So, while walleyes taste great on the table, they challenge an angler’s versatility to get them there.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle
