If you ask walleye pro Sheldon Meidinger his opinions on summer reservoir walleyes, he’s quick to fire back an answer that many would expect to hear: “Give me a jig on the rod and weeds adjacent to deep water. That’s all I want and need to find walleyes in July in reservoirs.” Then he adds a twist that most of us would not expect: “I also want calm conditions.” This is not the common thought for midsummer reservoir walleyes.

Meidinger has his own method of locating summer ‘eyes in large impoundments. It might not follow all common reservoir guidelines to the tee, but this method is worth its weight in walleyes.

Meidinger is quick to point out, though, that in summer, reservoir walleyes do follow a predictable pattern of “here today, gone tomorrow.” The key is to cover lots of water, eliminate unproductive stretches, and key on productive spots.

“Remember that a reservoir is simply a flooded river bottom. Structures you see on land tend to keep right on running down into the flooded waters. When you’re looking for flats, find flats on the shoreline. If you’re looking for points, find points on the land and they’ll extend into the lake. You can learn a lot about the water by observing the surrounding land,” Meidinger commented.

With that in mind, the main location Meidinger looks for are flats in the bays of reservoirs. Specifically, he looks for weeds on flats at the 5- to 8-foot levels with deep water adjacent to them. Through trial and error, he has come to the conclusion that if deep water isn’t nearby, you won’t have walleyes in the weeds.

Meidinger works the weeds with 1/8- to 1/16-ounce jigs tipped with minnows or leeches. He begins on the outside weededge and works his way around the weeds. Next, he works right into the weeds and pockets, and he finishes by working the inside weedline. Meidinger, at times, also likes to cast cranks onto the weededges.

The interesting fact of this technique is that Meidinger does not like wind when he’s fishing weeds. He wants it calm. Meidinger feels you can fish more weeds effectively in calm conditions. It’s a visual style of fishing for walleyes. You can see the weedlines, pockets, and areas you need to key on without waves breaking up your underwater visibility. It’s Meidinger’s first choice for summertime reservoir walleyes.

Meidinger is quick to point out, though, that other opportunities exist at this time year. If the wind blows and churns up mudlines on main reservoir points, which is a classic summertime condition, do not pass them up. Many presentation styles excel on windblown points—notably pitching jigs, livebait rigging, and casting cranks. The main thing is to find out at what depths the fish are feeding and to key on that zone.

The other option is a deep trolling bite on secondary structures in the main-lake portion of the reservoir. Find deep structures—20 feet or deeper—and get out the leadcore to troll crankbaits in deep water, either following contours or moving out across the basin for suspended ‘eyes, depending on where fish are located. This can be a real hit-and-miss bite, though. Meidinger points out that the most common mistake in this method is trolling too fast. Slow down and get your trolling speed around 1.2 to 1.8 mph.

The last thing Meidinger points out is one of the most overlooked techniques on reservoirs. He has a rod rigged with a slipbobber at all times. “I can use slipbobbers in the weeds, on the weededge, even on windblown points.” Meidinger has a deciding factor on when to switch to bobbers. “Whenever I find a location in a weedbed, on windblown points, or other pieces of structure that are consistently holding fish—meaning every time you make a pass through the area, you catch fish—this is the time to pull out the bobber. Nothing creates a more precise presentation on an active pod of fish than a bobber. Drop the anchor, pitch out the bobber, and you have bait in the strike zone one hundred percent of time.”

It’s time to step out of the accepted norms for reservoir walleyes. Meidinger’s methods work well, unconventional as they may sometimes appear. So the next time the wind goes out of your sail, find flats with weeds, get out the jigs or bobbers, and see for yourself what a calming influence alternative strategies can be.