Art Hamley shows off an open water walleye taken from Pymatuning Lake.

Perhaps better known for providing the best sport in spring and fall, when water temperatures are cooler, walleyes often provide good action during the summer period for anglers that focus on the open water basins of lakes and reservoirs, where many of the fish are at this time.

Walleyes are one of freshwater’s most adaptable species, willing and able to utilize a wide variety of habitats and food source options. Once summer is well-established, much of a lake’s walleye population will have moved to offshore areas far removed from the shallow, spawn-related areas that held them during the springtime.

Naturally, a lake or reservoir’s physical character and food supply will vary, conditions that must be considered when searching for summer walleyes. Fish that inhabit a 1,000 - acre lake or reservoir are not likely to behave like ones that call the vast waters of Lake Erie.

But in cases where pelagic baitfish are found, there’s an excellent chance a portion of the walleye population will be feeding on such.

Pelagic baitfish – emerald shiners, rainbow smelt, gizzard shad, alewife – are important walleye food sources in the walleye waters they inhabit. Largely feeding on plankton suspended in the water column, walleyes that key in on such forage tend to be nomadic, following the movements of their prey.

For instance, in Lake Erie walleyes make a west to east migration from spring through late summer, placing much of that lake’s walleye population off the shores of Pennsylvania by mid summer.

Given the scattered nature of walleyes relating to suspended baitfish, trolling is the most effective tactic.

Success in catching suspended walleyes calls for understanding a couple basic principles. For one, walleyes tend to hold beneath schools of baitfish and “feed up.” As such, as you target specific depths do so keeping this in mind, i.e. if schools of baitfish are showing up (on sonar) in the 20 to 30-foot range, be sure some of your presentations are running in the 15 to 20-foot zone. Also, walleyes tend to slide off to the side of boat movement, so an effective trolling program will include lures presented out away from the boat.

There are many means of spreading lures when targeting suspended walleyes. But for the typical small boat angler, one that fishes for variety of species and doesn’t care to dedicate a boatload of tackle for this scenario (as a Great Lakes charter boat would), two wonderful tools are directional trolling sinkers (example: Dipsey Diver) and inline planer boards (example: Offshore Tackle’s OR12).

Directional sinkers have the ability to both dive and plane off to the side, the latter via adjustments made by the angler. They couple up well with both flutter spoons and spinner rigs tipped with ‘crawlers. Such sinker can dig down into the 50-foot range. Adjusting the device to plane to the side will lessen its depth potential.

Inline planers, as their name suggests, fasten to the main line, pulling the presentation out to the side of the boat. The farther you let an inline planer out, the more to the side it runs. Inline planers work well with crankbaits and spinner rigs.

Another option to spreading out lures, particularly from a smaller boat, is to use long trolling rods. I often use 11-foot trolling rods planed in rod holders to carry lures out away from the boat, and find this effective, especially in dingy water reservoirs where walleyes are less spooky.

Books and apps such as that produced by Precision Trolling provide the dive curves of popular lures.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle