SaugeenDrifter

Well Kijo, where to start?

Can walleye be taken from a dock, shoreline, pier....answer is yes. Do you need a boat? No. Is a boat handy? Yes. All shore fishing areas are targeted heavier by other shore anglers as there are more of them.

Best thing I can recommend is ask around. On a river near my hometown "Saugeen River" the walleye come in late spring in low numbers and are taken from boats trolling slowly with shallow to medium divers (redfins, rapalas, storms) or drifting worms and leeches from shore off the docks or rock piles and are taken on casting spinners/spinner baits from shore. Now understand that this is one river of thousands and only a few techniques.

In waters polluted with Eyes you can catch them in many ways. Best thing to do is internet search the water body and see if you can find any magazine articles produced for the lake or ask locals.

If fishing a new area perhaps get a guide to take you out and simply mimic his/her techniques for the specific water body you are on.

Remember that each water body differs and what works on one water body may or may not work on another.

Know what you are getting in to before you arrive. Research is key, ask the questions:

- what type of forage do they eat; perch / shinners / cisco's? This will give you an idea of what type of food source to match your lures to, I would not go to a lake and troll with perch coloured baits if the forage species in the lake was smelt.

- what season is it? In the spring walleyes move in to spawn in large schools, but will feed before they start to spawn and after the spawn but are reluctant to feed heavily during the spawn. Following the spawn they go on a feeding spree to make up for the non feeding they just went thru. In the summer they seem to have all kinds of food around and if you can find food you find them. In the fall they feed heavily again and river mouths become heavily active.

- what kind of water are you fishing? Is it a clear lake, or a mud bottom lake, or a turbid lake?

- what is the hatch? if the mayflies are hatching stay home... Walleye will eat them till they cant eat any more, the fish are there but they are full of bugs and hard to convince in to a minnow bite. I have caught Eyes with mouths full of cuts because they have eaten soooo many flies.

Best is to be prepared, I have fished lakes all over Ontario and versatility is key, some lakes will turn Eyes with live bait only (minnows / leeches / worms), some crank baits only, some deep divers only, some spinners only, some will hit anything you throw, some will hit a specific type on monday and then not on tuesday.

- what is the moon dooing? Moon phases affect fish

- what is the weather doing? Cold snaps slow the fishing down, clowdy skies can pick the fishing up, clear sunny days may slow the fishing on some waters and peak them on others.

Furthermore; do your homework and spend time getting to know your waters. Also make sure to know the Regulations you are faced with, not every lake in every fishing zone carries the same limits/slot sizes. You would hate to have a great day of fishing only to find out by the CO that you are fishing illegally. (Regs can be found free online at Ontario Fishing Regs)