Walleyes

Shallow pivot points, forming the border between the food-producing flats and the open basin of the lake, are usually lips where the depth changes distinctly. Imagine you’re standing on the top edge of the Grand Canyon with your toes hanging out over nothing but a Wiley E. Coyote high dive. Get the picture? Life on the edge.

Other forms of pivot points are deep edges of cover like weeds or wood. So are top lips of humps or river channels—precipices that form a boundary between the shallows and the depths.

Many anglers fish pivot points; fewer fish deep water edges at the base of structural elements. These tend to be concave, like a cupped hand holding water; they cradle walleyes that drop to the bottom of the structure. The base of a drop-off, the transition to the soft bottom of a basin, or the bottom of a river channel form deep concentration edges that collect fish—usually schooled fish. If you stepped off the Grand Canyon, you’d go on a wild slide before bottoming out at the base of the drop-off. If there wasn’t a distinct cradle at bottom—more of a curve, like a playground slide—you’d always roll out across bottom before coming to rest, just like a walleye moving out to the transition between hard and soft bottom, without taking the plunge.

Concentration areas aren’t always depth changes or cover. The deepest penetration of sunlight forms an edge that fish can relate to. So does the top of a summer thermocline, an artificial bottom that fish remain above. Not a lip, but a cradle that fish encounter as they drop into the depths. Fish that suspend may move to open water at these levels, too.

Pivot points—edges where fish make the transition from schooling to scattering—can be the sites of aggressive feeding. Deep cradles are more conducive to schooled fish, which are often less aggressive. While we focus here on pivot points, locating and fishing deep cradles is similar. Pivot points tend to be areas of major activity during the warmwater season. Cradles tend to be better during coldwater periods of the year, but they’re always worth checking if pivot points don’t produce.