Bringing a fish finder for the first time ever this year! Excited to use it. I'm looking for trolling techniques and baits (Type, Size and Color) to use to get down to that 20-25ft depth for those July Walleye. In the past my group and I use leeches on jig heads and have great success with the smallmouth, but we are really trying to get more walleye this year.

Rsbuck13: "Bringing a fish finder for the first time ever this year! Excited to use it. I'm looking for trolling techniques and baits (Type, Size and Color) to use to get down to that 20-25ft depth for those July Walleye. In the past my group and I use leeches on jig heads and have great success with the smallmouth, but we are really trying to get more walleye this year. "

FWIW, below is the link to our 'best walleye trip ever' report from last year, early August. Should apply to mid-July. This doesn't address your request for 'trolling techniques'. But maybe of interest. If you can find the deep reefs, hang on.

If I might ask, what lakes are you targeting?

http://bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=forum.thread&threadId=1035788&forumID=14&confID=1

Thanks for the info. Entry on Mudro and exiting through Moose. We will spend most of our time on Basswood up near Washington Island.

Rsbuck13: "Thanks for the info. Entry on Mudro and exiting through Moose. We will spend most of our time on Basswood up near Washington Island. "

Please post trip report!

I regularly go in August and have found that walleye generally school by depth. Smallish eater size walleye might be found in weeds or rock generally around 8' if weeds are present and around 14' if on rock.

Bigger walleye, those averaging 5lbs and 25/26" are usually at 25 to 28ft. My method of choice is to troll quickly (catch me if you can) with a deep diving crank always trying to keep my bait within 3ft of the bottom. Walleye have a marked preference towards banana shaped cranks and a large Tail dancer will hit the magic 28 ft mark if fished on 10lb line or less. Lately I have been using 20lb braid with 10' fluorocarbon leaders connected via an FG knot.

I find a rod holder as indespensable tool as well as the depth finder. Off shore reefs can be key. Off the reef over deeper water is also worth a look as occasionally fish will merely move horizontally off a reef instead of vertically and I have found them 30ft down over 70ft of water.

Do not give them a good long look at your presentation. You are looking for reaction bites. Rip a crank into a big walleyes domain and she might just smack it out of meanness even if it isn't hungry. You cannot paddle faster than a walleye can swim and if it wants your lure it will get it. Plus you cover lots of ground gaining clues.

I understand that a walleyes reputation is one of laziness but that isn't always true. I have destroyed the back trollers who barely inch along by speed trolling throwing a huge wake with rods bent double and lures which would continually wash out but come back to center for a brief period before washing out again off to the side.

Don’t necessarily have to go deep. Have caught some monster eyes fishing mid lake reefs with a slip bobber rig in 7 to 15 feet of water . Many in the middle of the day . Granted there is deep water close by.

We are heading into Knife, SAK, and Seagull in mid-September. Anyone who has gone then, would you say the above advice holds? Or is the walleye bite 'different' that late in the year?
We usually go in mid-june or last week in August into Kawnipi in Quetico, but trying out a new route & time of year this time around.

mastertangler ... what are your favorite trolling lures? More specific the better. Or if anyone has specific lure choices for trolling. I'm not experienced very well in trolling and this will be my first year with the depth finder.

Thanks for the thoughts on trolling fast. I was already thinking about slow because I have read that they are slow and lazy in the warm months. Does the fast trolling also apply to the eater size Walleyes or just those big ones that want to be territorial? Catching big ones is of course fun but we want to make sure we get some fish the for pan.

For consistent success, try to find mid-lake structure (reefs, sunken islands, etc.) and get a Jigging Rap, Ripping Rap, big spoon, 5'' grub on a 1 oz. jighead, big swimbait, etc. Using big lures and fishing them aggressively is definitely the way to go.

Some good advice here. Find those midlake sunken humps and there will be fish around. Pulling a little joe-style spinner with live bait works at any depth. Use an ounce or two for deep water and less for shallower water. Slip bobber, too. Start shallow.

Sometimes deep in mid summer is not right.
A friend and I were on the Agnes/ LLC route. It had been hot and we were fishing deep. In frustration after going 10-15 then 15-20 then 20-25 foot levels with not even a bite, we started pitching spinner baits into sparse weeds at 2 to 5 ft depths for bass. Wham, wham, the two lb eyes were onto them and we had supper in short order.

Last summer we camped on a smaller bog stained walleye lake about mid July. There, walleyes from 14-18 in were plentiful in 5 to 8 ft of water. The point is warmer weather and water increases a fish's metabolism and it eats more. And a fish goes where its lunch is served. Bog stain lakes may be a key though.

Thanks! very good input. We will spend a lot of time on basswood.

Lots of good advice and I agree with pretty much everything which has been expressed. I also agree with the weed walleye pattern provided the water doesn't get real warm. They can be hit or miss though as I believe they bury up and stay dormant until night. A chatterbait lifted and dropped in deep weeds has the vibration to wake these fish up.

I like big lakes during summer which have ciscos. Basswood fits the bill nicely. My experience on Basswood, while not extensive is still substantial enough to render an informed opinion. All of my time on Basswood has been in July and August and has focused primarily on walleye and lake trout.

Quality walleye going 5lbs (most common) to 6 and 7lbs on a boga grip (certified scale not guesstimated). Every one of these fish were caught at 20ft or deeper.

While mid lake reefs are often a mid summer fish magnet trolling the shoreline in 20, 25 and 28 ft should not be neglected. I did not buy into the "walleye come shallow in the evening during the warmer months" and still caught quality fish in 20 ft. Do they come shallow? Probably, but much later during the summer months at least from what I have seen.

To consistently get to 20 and 30 ft you must have the right tools. And that is big billed banana shaped lures. Remember line diameter will determine wether you plumb the depths or not. Braid is nice because of the small diameter to strength ratio. But race along with to light of line and have the wrong drag setting, knot and rod and a break off is assured.

I like 20lb suffix 832 braid and attach a 12 lb fluorocarbon leader of 10 ft in length with an FG knot ( utube> salt strong video FG knot). This is heavy enough to handle the several mid 30" pike you will catch while targeting the walleye ( yes the pike are deep as well). Avoid using wire, you will land most of the pike you connect with BTW.

As per specifics concerning lures........I like bigger lures and the large tail dancer is good, Cabelas real image walleye runner is good, and lucky craft makes a model which is hard to find but deadly........3 segmented body parts with a big bill > sexy shad is the hot color"............lastly I really like the Mega Bass Deep six which absolutely crushed the walleye last trip and blew all other offerings out of the water.

Rod holders are key for me in being able to set my "trap". Everything is really tight with zero slop or give in my set up. I whisk along challenging bigger fish to try and catch my offering. If they react they will catch if if they decide to strike. It's hard to tempt walleye who are fat and happy into eating crank baits during summer but challenge them with a small fish which has the nerve to dart and try and get away and you get bites from bigger fish who nail it out of pure meanness.

Try and troll within 5ft of the bottom, closer occasionally is good, bounce bottom is OK. If you get hung go back and get it. Find a mid lake reef and troll back and forth across the top. Make a wide slow turn off the reef over deeper water to set up another run.......don't be surprised to catch big walleye out and off the reef over deep water.

Masterangler, do you need a heavy weight to get that meg six down to 30ft?

mastertangler: "...
I like big lakes during summer which have ciscos. Basswood fits the bill nicely. My experience on Basswood, while not extensive is still substantial enough to render an informed opinion. All of my time on Basswood has been in July and August and has focused primarily on walleye and lake trout.
...
While mid lake reefs are often a mid summer fish magnet trolling the shoreline in 20, 25 and 28 ft should not be neglected. I did not buy into the "walleye come shallow in the evening during the warmer months" and still caught quality fish in 20 ft. Do they come shallow? Probably, but much later during the summer months at least from what I have seen.

"

MT, I think you may not be seeing the shallow movement because you are on big, clear, trout water. On more stained water, the shallow movement happens throughout July and August. Some of the best walleye fishermen I've seen regularly caught 28"+ walleyes in July and August in the Witch Bay area of Lake of the Woods, which is stained water. Their preferred pattern was casting #9 shad raps to the tops of shallow mid-lake reefs (5' or less). The middle of sunny days was their best time. Meanwhile, everyone (including me) pulling bottom bouncers in 20-40' of water caught plenty of smaller walleyes, but those guys fishing shallow really had the trophy walleye pattern nailed. I've caught enough really big walleyes casting Suicks and other muskie lures to mid-lake reefs to know they are there. On crystal-clear water like Whitefish Bay of Lake of the Woods, the shallow pattern seems non-existent.

Ripke.........I can't argue with what you have put forth. Different lakes, different patterns. Fish do what they want. Just relating my experiences on the shield. in the early years of trips going in August I promised myself I would never canoe trip in August again. I did terrible, especially on smaller bodies of water.

But, you go when you can. I started recalling my August experiences on lake Minnitaki (big lake > Sioux lookout) where we used to spend a week every August at a fish camp. Fun times. We caught big walleye (trophy size) as deep as 40 ft and would speed troll over 40fr far from any structure and whop real dandy fish. We would also drift mid lake reefs with chubs and bait runner reels but the size was smaller overall.

With that in mind I changed up my approach. Precision speed trolling in water deeper than 20ft and things took off from that point. I typically don't catch big numbers but rather quality which is what I prefer. Although I have had exceptions on suspended walleye just off a reef over 70ft of water.......that evening was one after another for 2 hours including my personal best in canoe country.

I stopped fishing shallow even at dark and continued catching quality fish fishing at least 20ft. This was when I started taking a liking towards Lake Trout as well when I accidentally caught one and it hooked me on those fish for life.......the big ones can really pull on walleye tackle.

CityFisher I have not tried the Deep Six in the Quetico and ran it without additional weight in WCPP. It was absolutely deadly and I see no reason why it wouldn't excel in BWCA. It runs about 20 to 22 ft on a troll with 20 suffix braid and 10' 15lb fluorocarbon leader. I would imagine squeezing a couple more feet out of it with lighter line........maybe 10lb braid and 12lb fluorocarbon leader might get you to 24 or 25ft which is a nice depth and you wouldn't have to mess with snap weights etc. Get the FG knot down pat and throw 10ft of fluorocarbon on and you have a pro type set up. I have not lost any deep sixes to pike yet but I suppose it will happen sooner or later.

Despite the steep price I believe in the lure so much that I have 5 of them packed for my upcoming WCPP trip. A few taildancers but the deep six will carry the fish fry mode. Tough lure to cast and retrieve on spinning gear however as it really digs. Trolling is fine however. Get some and don't forget to send me a Christmas Card ;-)

Thanks, good stuff. Heading out in 10 days ;-)

Find a lake that holds a quality population of Walleye. Fish with Leeches and slip bobbers or spinners. The depth you want is 8-18 feet. Find a bay that has access to deeper water nearby. The bays hold baitfish and that’s where the Walleye with feed and return to the depths.

Rsbuck13: "Thanks for the info. Entry on Mudro and exiting through Moose. We will spend most of our time on Basswood up near Washington Island. "
If your fishing around Washington Is. you must fish Frog Bay. You may not have to fish anywhere else. Weeds and reefs are always a good place to start. I don't think you can beat leeches this time of year. 10 to 16 fow. Just my opinion

Thanks! We enter on Friday!

I agree with the previous posters, but sometimes fish just can't be figured out.

I apologize because I've posted this picture before, but in late July 2016 this 27" walleye was caught by my son, from shore, 2:00 in the afternoon on a bright sunny day in about 6 feet of water on Red Rock Lake.

Still can't figure that one out.

Blutofish1 : I'm having trouble finding Frog Bay on a map.

johndku: "I agree with the previous posters, but sometimes fish just can't be figured out.


I apologize because I've posted this picture before, but in late July 2016 this 27" walleye was caught by my son, from shore, 2:00 in the afternoon on a bright sunny day in about 6 feet of water on Red Rock Lake.


Still can't figure that one out.
"

If you were trying to catch me, a slice of pie in the garage or TV room will be your definite best bet. However, every now and again you'd get me in the dining room or in the laundry room. Sometimes you just never know where they'll be and all it takes is a tiny moment in time to get a lunker like this. As we all know - better to be lucky than good.

Edit: what did he catch this with?

Leech and slip bobber. We had a nice little spot where smb were hanging out right in front of our campsite, and our campsite had a nice flat rock area to fish from.

If all goes as planned my group (same son and now 16 year old daughter on her first trip) should be paddling right past that same sight about 8:30 this coming Sunday morning. Entering on Sunday and plan on spending a week going through Alpine, Jasper, Ogish, and either SAK or Kek, or maybe both weather permitting.

Awesome!!

johndku: "I agree with the previous posters, but sometimes fish just can't be figured out.


I apologize because I've posted this picture before, but in late July 2016 this 27" walleye was caught by my son, from shore, 2:00 in the afternoon on a bright sunny day in about 6 feet of water on Red Rock Lake.


Still can't figure that one out.
"

Yes fish do what they want. My biggest walleye ever hit a 8" Grandma lure on a bright sunny day trolling mid summer right in the middle of the day in the crystal clear waters of the middle channel of the St Clair river in about 15 ft. At that time I preferred to gaff fish and I tried to gaff the monster 3 times and all 3 times the fish literally bounced off a high grade salt water gaff. On the third attempt the fish "bounced" off and flopped free. A homeowner on the shoreline witnessed the entire debacle and asked if I had just lost a Muskie.

I've seen several posts saying Wally Divers are crap. I've used them in the past and have had pretty good luck with them actually better than Rapalas. What's the reason for their bad rap? Just curious.

I fished for years without a locator and couldn't even get snagged let alone catch fish. My first locator was a Heath Kit I built myself from a kit many many many years ago when I was stationed in Germany, I still have it. As soon as I started using it I started catching fish. There may be guys out there that don't use them but I'm not good enough to go fishing without one. Have fun.

Quacker1: "I've seen several posts saying Wally Divers are crap. I've used them in the past and have had pretty good luck with them actually better than Rapalas. What's the reason for their bad rap? Just curious."

Wally Divers have a solid following in the walleye community. Not my lure of choice but I have fished with friends who used them to good effect. They were very popular on Lake Erie for a time, before the water was cleared via zebra mussels and the walleye were suspended.

Like any other crank bait they are a tool. Not a particularly deep diving bait and a bit on the smallish side. But when walleye are at 10 to 14 ft and targeting smaller baits they would be hard to beat. I put Wiggle Warts in a similar category being of similar size (but different profile) and diving depth.

There is a certain delight in proving the naysayers wrong. Bring your Wally divers and catch the afternoons shore lunch for the detractors. ;-)

Quacker1: "I fished for years without a locator and couldn't even get snagged let alone catch fish. My first locator was a Heath Kit I built myself from a kit many many many years ago when I was stationed in Germany, I still have it. As soon as I started using it I started catching fish. There may be guys out there that don't use them but I'm not good enough to go fishing without one. Have fun. "

A fellow might get by without a depth finder early in the year or drifting and fishing jigs or live bait if he (or she ;-) were good at gleaning clues from the shoreline and islands, but later in the year when the quality fish go deep and tend to school up a depth finder is a requirement IMO especially for my style of fishing, that being precision trolling during August........what could be more fun? Paddling around, seeing the sights, enjoying the act of paddle and water, all while catching some nice fish. My turn is coming up, hurrah!