Wind, Waves, & Walleyes

Hailing from windy walleye country in Duluth, Minnesota, ol’ Bob was undoubtedly ahead of his time, as are many walleye anglers who’ve learned to sing the same tune. Wind: Bass anglers hate it, but walleye fishermen live by it, because in many cases, so do walleyes. Following an extended period of calm conditions, the leading edge of wind activates the lower end of the food chain. Building and sustained wind triggers larger predators to feed.

Wind blowing into the shallows disturbs the bottom, darkening the water and suspending tiny food particles for baitfish to feed on. Wind concentrates plankton along a shoreline, activates minnows, which in turn draws predators. Wave action diminishes light penetration, providing walleyes a feeding advantage over baitfish; schools of smaller fish typically live by eyesight, coordinating their movements as a unit until the water becomes too dark, dingy, and turbulent, whereupon they’re on their own, more vulnerable to predation. Walleyes, however, are able to see well in the dim setting and can navigate and locate prey through hearing and their lateral line, sensing vibrations amidst the turbulence.

Wind-generated current rings the dinner bell, akin to how changing tides activate ocean predators to forage in high-percentage feeding lanes created by current. During the peak of feeding activity, the action can be frantic and furious. Once it subsides, however, you’d hardly know the frenzy had ever occurred.

Locational Strategies

The basic principle when fishing wind is to fish spots receiving the brunt of the wind-generated current effect, providing you can do so safely. This primarily occurs in three types of areas: the downwind shoreline of the lake, the upwind ends of islands and shallow reefs, and the downwind side of current constrictions (narrows). These areas concentrate the effects of wind and waves and focus the impact of increased fish activity.

Waves pile up against a downwind shoreline, raising the water level, creating turbulence, and causing a reverse current flow along the bottom. This bosses and tosses around the local minnow and forage fish community. A short time after wind begins to build, walleyes are attracted into such areas— particularly on big windswept reservoirs where mudlines are created by wave action muddying a band of water along shore, and on prairie lakes where walleyes run baitfish up against shallow shoreline rocks.

On midlake reefs and islands, waves build against the upwind side of the obstruction, crashing into and washing over the top or around the sides. The primary impact is therefore felt atop the upwind crest of a reef, or upon prominent shallow (less than 7 or 8 feet, often as little as 3 or 4) points or boulders on the upwind side of a reef or island, which bears the brunt of the wind-generated current. That doesn’t suggest that fish never lie on the downwind end of a reef, because they occasionally do, perhaps relating to current flowing over the back end. But percentagewise, expect the primary focus of wind-generated activity to occur on the upwind side.

Wind blowing toward a narrows between two lake areas raises the water level as the constriction gathers and magnifies the force of the flow through the narrows. While some effect is seen on the upwind side, the rush of current flushing out the downcurrent end typically attracts the most walleyes. Fish appear to move up into the current from the downwind section of the lake, particularly at night. Interestingly, when the wind subsides or reverses direction, current generally flows back in the other direction, creating a similar effect at the opposite entrance to the narrows.