Getting The Best Of Your Walleye Fishing Trips

Posted by fishinghelper

March 31, 2008

Successful walleye fishing trips begin with knowledge of the fish itself and how it functions in daily life. Much like hunting, fishing requires an understanding of the target species, and with walleye, this means learning their daily and seasonal patterns so that your walleye fishing trips are more productive and you come away with an abundance of fish.

First of all, you must understand that most of a fish’s habits are formed through instinct rather than through intelligence. Fish do not have reasoning or rationalization ability that humans have and therefore must have some other means of motivating their actions. With walleye, as with most fish, actions are determined mostly by instinct with a little help from surrounding structure and weather patterns.

After you’ve made a few walleye fishing trips, you’ll begin to understand the migration pattern more thoroughly. Walleye are typically found on the bottom of the body of water they inhabit, and they put to good use any structures found on the bottom of their lake, river, reservoir, or other home. These structures can be something as small as a ditch, hole, bump, or bar, or they can be larger structures, including manmade structures, like sunken debris, old roadbeds, levees, or buildup of grass, weeds, and rocks.

Successful walleye fishing trips also depend on knowledge regarding why the walleye choose to move or migrate at a given time. On a daily basis, walleye will leave their sanctuary, usually a deep spot on the bottom of the lake or river, only to follow food. Often, they move to shallower areas of the water to feed and return to the darker depths to rest. However, because fish don’t observe “hunger”, they need a motivating factor to pull them out of their homes to feed. This usually comes in the form of a visual notice, when a school of baitfish passes by. At this point, the walleye has something visual to follow and will make the effort to catch the food it needs to survive. When taking part in walleye fishing trips, it is important to remember this fact, as you will never catch a walleye based on scent alone; they need to see your bait, which means that you have to present it to them where they are at to attract them.

Walleyes also use the underwater structures for protection against any kind of current or an overabundance of heat in the waters above. They can use the structure to guide themselves to and from their “homes”, since they can identify the difference in shape and navigate by instinct among these.

Dan Eggertsen is a fishing researcher and enthusiast who is commited to providing the best walleye fishing information possible. Go to http://www.askwalleyefishing.com/editorials/walleye-fishing-trips.html for more information on walleye fishing trips.

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