Top Tactics for Impoundments

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For trolling riprap, stagger your lines and lures to cover different depths along the slope of the rock face. Use shallow-runnin

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The entire length of leadcore line acts as a sinker. Speed up to get a subtle rise. Slow down to get a subtle sink.

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Summer—Summer becomes a game of hide-and-seek. With many potential spots to check, eliminate unproductive areas with electronics, focusing on areas where you see fish. Once walleyes are located, select a presentation method that matches their orientation to the structure.

Are they schooled on the deep tip of a long point? Holding on the edge of an offshore hump? At the top of the drop-off? Or down near the base where it meets the surrounding basin? Classic livebait rigging between 20 and 35 feet deep should work. Hover over the fish, dangling a leech, minnow, or crawler in front of their noses. Precision fishing for concentrated fish should nail a few before they spook and scatter.

Do they appear to be spread across the top of a point or along a large shoreline flat? This is a great time to drift or troll bottom bouncers-spinners-nightcrawlers. The flashing, wobbling blade attracts and triggers walleyes. The wire leg of the bouncer minimizes snags, yet follows contour changes as the bouncer alternately crawls up one side of a slope and skips down the other. More reservoir fish have probably been caught on this single mode of presentation than on all other methods combined. It works best in less than 15 feet of water, though a bouncer can also be vertically fished in deeper water, much like a livebait rig.

Are walleyes tucked tight to shore, as under a wind-generated mudline, along flooded shoreline cover, or simply up so shallow that you’d spook them by trolling over their heads? Try casting a jig, crankbait, or jigging spoon right up to the bank, skipping or swimming it back. Shallow walleyes often are tiger-aggressive, slashing anything that comes near.

Casting’s the way to go when they’re concentrated in limited areas, such as on the downwind side of a point where a mudline wraps around the tip, concentrating baitfish in a prime feeding location. Where extremely shallow fish are spread out along a shoreline, however, consider drifting with bouncers, or using planer boards to troll shallow minnow imitators or shad lures right up along the bank.

Are walleyes suspended off the tip? Might be better to troll a crankbait through them, at or just above their depth level. Select a deep diver that will reach the fish on a long line, and troll between 1 and 2 mph. If they’re too deep to reach with unweighted lines, add a snap weight, or switch to leadcore line. Experiment with different combinations of lures, weights, and line length until you achieve a productive combination. When fish are on the move and scattered, miles of potential shoreline can be covered quickly with a crankbait trolling approach.

A variety of tactics catch reservoir walleyes. Think efficiency. The general rule is to use drifting or trolling tactics until you locate walleyes. At that point, switch to precision tactics like jigging or livebait rigging if that’s what it takes to catch the most fish. Keep moving, noting productive combinations, finding and catching more fish in similar locations. That’s pattern fishing. Tomorrow, or the whole next week, today’s wonder spots may be a big empty nothin’, requiring different locations and tactics to stay on the fish.

Exceptions

Every rule has exceptions, and reservoir walleyes certainly are no exception. In shallow reservoirs with little water level fluctuation, such as lowland and flatland impoundments, walleyes may take up residence on the flats, in weed or wood cover, for much of summer. In essence, large portions of these reservoirs function as natural lakes. Approach them as such, focusing on the outer edges of cover. If that doesn’t produce, move up inside.

Edge tactics like livebait rigging, vertical jigging jigs or spoons, bottom bouncer-spinner-crawler rigs, or crankbait trolling excel along timber edges, particularly where they meet a distinct drop-off formed by a river or creek channel. Probe the edges, particularly at channel bends and intersections. If fish are in or along the channel edge, they’re catchable.

When walleyes are up inside cover, they present a more time-consuming challenge. It’s necessary to locate fish you can’t see on your electronics, chiefly by fishing different areas until you get a response. Initially, try coverage tactics like longline trolling crankbaits over the tops of cover. Or use planer boards to spread your lures to the sides of the boat, covering more water while minimizing spooking. If potential areas are small, try fancasting to establish depth and types of cover that concentrate walleyes.

If coverage tactics don’t produce, it’s necessary to probe for walleyes. Switch to weedless jigs, perhaps tipped with a minnow or half-crawler, and begin pitching up into the weeds or wood, slithering the jig back over branches or stalks, down into pockets, and along edges. If you think walleyes are in an area but not responding, switch to a slip-bobber rig and dangle a leech or minnow on their noses, above, through or on the edges of cover, depending on conditions. It’s slow going, but ultra-effective.

Reservoirs with dark water and cover mean shallow walleyes. These types of impoundments, often called flowages in northern states, are known for producing fish in the 2- to 6-foot zone, on timber or stump flats, along shoreline weed clumps or floating bogs, or atop shallow rock structure. Behavior of walleyes in flowages contrasts with their behavior in big, deep, clear impoundments, but it’s merely a local adaptation to the environment, based on what it offers walleyes and how they function best. Thus, all reservoirs aren’t equal; each has its own charm and challenge.

Want to tackle walleyes in manmade lakes? Bring all your usual walleye gear, but be prepared to apply it a bit differently. Do lots of lookin’, be versatile, and adapt to conditions. Walleyes do. So should you.