Walleye Vision

Drop a jig and livebait on the nose of one of those lethargic fish and you may feel your bait sucked in. But miss the walleye’s nose by a foot or two, or run a crankbait over its head, and chances are you won’t get a bite. Now, hit that fish at dawn or dusk, when the rate of light is changing rapidly, and chances are much better that you’ll feel salt and pepper being sprinkled on your Shad Rap before it’s gobbled up.

River rats have long contended that their fish react differently than walleyes in still water. Ryder proved that to be the case. He found that walleyes living in current are more likely active at midday than fish in noncurrent locations. This means rivers are great daytime walleye equalizers. So, too, are riverlike sections in lakes and reservoirs—channels, slots, neck-down areas, constrictions, and bottlenecks where wind-induced currents have a chance to set up.

While Ryder showed us that walleyes are most active at dawn and dusk, it’s important to remember that he carried out his work during the brightest days. He intentionally and specifically ruled out the effect of local weather changes—like an advancing midafternoon storm system or an increase in wind. These conditions could speed up the period of rapid light change to **** the walleye’s feeding trigger earlier.

Ironically, keen walleye anglers have long thought that an approaching storm system, following several days of progressively hotter and more humid conditions, create the spark for an intense flurry of walleye feeding. As Ryder has shown, though, the storm system itself has little to do with the great fishing. Instead, the dark, menacing clouds accompanying its advance intensify the timing of an intense twilight trigger of rapid light change.

To a lesser degree, that’s probably also what happens in naturally turbid, muddy, or algae-stained walleye waters. (Remember, Ryder worked on clear and moderately clear lakes and rivers.) In murkier waters, walleyes are found shallower than normal, and their dawn and dusk feeding clocks likely are set for much earlier in the day.

At the other end of the spectrum are those tough-as-nails clear-water walleye lakes, rivers, reservoirs, pits, and ponds. Make them shallow and devoid of structure and cover, and fish them only during the day, and you’ll leave the water most times wondering if there’s a walleye in the drink. Almost as difficult are the deep transparent lakes and reservoirs where walleyes swim with lake trout, ciscoes, and whitefish. Here they can use deep water to retreat from the light, but daytime fishing still can be dreadful.

When that’s the case, the lessons from Burkhardt and Ryder are conclusive. Slow your presentation. Be absolutely precise. Pick apart every piece of structure and cover you can find. Search for current areas and sections of the lake or river with the dingiest water. Fish on the bottom. And experiment with the colors orange, red, green, and yellow that walleyes find attractive.

Of course, the other key message is that nighttime is the right time. It’s the great equalizer. Nothing—not current, not cloud cover, not water clarity, not structure, nor cover—triggers walleyes more than the magical transition from day to night (and from night to day.)

Of course, the onset of rapid light change varies depending on the depth of the water you’re fishing. Once you find it, though, you should be able to follow it—and the walleyes—ever shallower as evening progresses. These are the kinds of strategies you can put together anywhere on the continent when you understand that the walleye comes by its name so honestly.

* Gord Pyzer, a resource manager in Kenora, Ontario, is a long-time In-Fisherman contributor and a superb walleye angler.