It is very easy for anglers to make the claim that they “are on the fish” or “know what they want” or any other connotation we hear when out of the water. Patterns are developed, techniques are mastered, and fish are ultimately put in the boat. Yes, this is the nature of the most successful walleye anglers.
However, do these anglers truly understand the fish? Walleyes, just like us, are unique specimens that feature their own biological elements. They live within an environment in which humans do not, and physically cannot, reside. They are impacted by dozens of environmental factors, and have adapted their bodies to reside within these environments over millions of years.
Modern fishes emerged from the Devonian Period, which took place upwards of 360 to 420 million years ago. Considering a lifelong angler likely can enjoy 60-70 years pursuing these fish, the best of which learn each and every year, it’s safe to say anglers are at the disadvantage in understanding their quarry.
The most successful anglers are able to recognize these disadvantages, but utilize the knowledge they do have of their preferred species, to enjoy success as often as possible. Today, we’ll break down the various aspects the savviest anglers understand, and put into practice, when pursuing their favorite species.
Metabolic Considerations
The first factor I consider is essentially the thermodynamics of the fish themselves. Walleye, unlike humans, are ectothermic. This means that walleye’s basal metabolic rates are going to be dictated by the conditions in which they persist.
When water temperatures are low, walleyes are going to have a lower metabolic rate. They are going to need less forage to sustain themselves, are less likely to make significant migrations, and will have less energy to pursue calories as a whole. Simply put, fish are sluggish. They also are relying on environmental factors, such as sunlight penetration and in turn the heat and energy captured by abiotic features such as rocks, timber, and bottom substrates from this sunlight, to find the warmest possible water temperatures to allow themselves the most energy.
The opposite is true in the summer months. When water temperatures are warm, metabolic rates in walleye are going to be cranking. They are going to be actively looking for food, and a lot of food! Fortunately, the summer months are when the entire ecosystem is in high gear and everything from photosynthesis, phytoplankton, zooplankton, young-of-the-year forage and game fish, and other fish species are all operating at peak performance. Simply put, the fish are hungry and there is no shortage of food from the top to bottom of the food web.
This impacts how I approach these fish. If the water temperatures are cold and conditions are not conducive to generating heat to energize fish, I’m going to fish very, very slowly. I’ll slowly drag a jig and minnow or hang jigs in their face vertically. If water temperatures are warm, I’m likely to troll crankbaits or crawler harnesses at high speeds as fish are likely to be willing to chase larger presentations.
The ability for fish to see these presentations then leads into my next consideration, water turbidity and light penetration.
Turbidity and Turbulence
As discussed above, walleye are at the mercy of the environment in which they reside. While the water temperatures, and accompanying weather patterns, dictate the ultimate energy a walleye has, their ability to forage within this environment is also something that requires consideration. The two factors that have the greatest ramifications for a walleyes’ ability to forage are water turbidity and light penetration.
The first factor to consider is the water itself, particularly the presence of particulate matter within the water column. Clear water is going to foster abundant light penetration, which will often coincide with the presence of deep, submerged vegetation as photosynthesis can take place at greater depths. In water that has an abundance of particulate matter, or high turbidity, the amount of sunlight that can penetrate to depths will be greatly reduced.
The best thing about water turbidity is it can be easily characterized by anglers. When anglers see clear water, they can expect submerged weed beds, pronounced bite windows, and a greater impact of wave action. We’ll get to that shortly. When anglers see dirty water, they can expect emergent vegetation-essentially vegetation that needs to emerge through the water column to obtain enough sunlight to conduct photosynthesis, a combination of mud and hard bottoms, and less pronounced bite windows.
While water turbidity plays into the long term characteristics of a waterbody, a short term impact on light penetration is the presence, or lack thereof, of wave action. Waves have a major impact on light refraction. When sunlight hits calm water, it penetrates directly through. When sunlight hits waves, it essentially bounces back and is unable to penetrate as deep into the water column as it would should conditions be stable. This is where the term “walleye chop” emerges.
Anglers understand that waves means walleyes are often willing to bite, but why? This has to do with the nature of the walleye’s eye. The walleye’s eye has more rods than cones, this means that what walleye lose in color vision, they gain in low light vision. A walleye is unable to dissect specific colors and details, but is able to see better than other organisms when conditions are darker. Additionally, the tapetum lucidum, an organ within the eye, gives walleyes the ability to capture all available light within their environment and utilize this light to further enhance their low-light vision.
These biological adaptations give walleye the advantage of their prey, but only when the lights are dim! When light penetration is powerful, walleyes are forced to deeper water to maintain their comfort. When darkness prevails, their ability to hunt in these conditions exceeds their prey’s ability to hide and avoid them, flipping the tables from the prey’s favor to the predator’s.
Once able to grasp how the physical environment will impact a walleye’s physical attributes, it’s time to understand how other factors, such as the food web, can impact fishing.
Forage Factors
As with any predator and prey dynamic, walleyes are ultimately at the mercy of their prey. This seems backwards, but it’s similar to a vehicle running out of gas. When there are no gas stations, the tank ultimately empties and the vehicle is not able to drive any further. When there is an abundance of gas stations, the necessity to stop whenever one is seen is alleviated.
When there is an abundance of forage, walleyes are going to be thriving. This makes sense, but is important to consider. From a lifespan perspective, the presence of sufficient forage is going to lead to increased growth rates and in turn, healthier populations within the fishery. Recruitment, growth, and mortality are the three most important aspects of a fishery. The presence of forage directly ties into the growth of gamefish, such as walleyes, and also reduces the likelihood of untimely mortality as they will be in better relative condition.
From an angler’s perspective, the more forage in the system, the harder it is to catch fish. This brings us back to the gas station analogy, your bait is viewed by walleyes as a gas station. If there is a long stretch of highway with one gas station, vehicles are going to be stopping at it frequently. If there are 10 gas stations within 10 miles, odds are high travelers won’t be making 10 stops. The same is true, when an abundance of forage is present making your bait standout from the rest of the buffet table is difficult. When forage is sparse, such as after winter mortality in gizzard shad in a Missouri River reservoir, it’s going to be easy to convince a walleye to take your presentation.
Anglers need to also consider the forage that is present in the system: what does it look like, where does it reside, and what environmental factors does it prefer? It’s easy to deep-dive into all aspects of this, ranging from general location of fish to the specific profile of baits fish may be keying on, but we’re already quite in-depth already.
Now let’s move into the seasonal nature of fish. Fish don’t follow the 12-month calendar year that we do and savvy anglers will understand this.
Seasonal Sensations
The simplest aspect of how seasonality can impact fishing is the spawn. Many anglers understand this, walleyes spawn in the spring. The females lay their eggs and the males deposit their contribution to fertilize these eggs. A fraction of these eggs will hatch, fraction will survive as fry, fraction will survive as juveniles, and ultimately reach sexual maturity to keep the system operating. Now is not the time to breakdown the dynamics of the walleye spawn, and I’ve already done that in Understanding Walleye Spawn, but it is time to think about how the time of the year impacts anglers.
In the spring, the focus is on spawning rituals. Walleyes will go through the pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn stages of their year and little else will be considered. When Mother Nature decides it’s time for fish to do their thing, fish do their thing!
Once this concludes, the focal point of a walleye’s existence shifts to eating. The spawn handles the recruitment aspect of a walleyes population dynamics, it’s now time to focus on growth. Growth means eating, and eating is what life is about. Water temperatures warm as summer progresses, metabolisms crank, and forage becomes abundant. Summer is about eating, eating, and eating.
This leads into the fall, which leads to an even greater need to eat. Females will begin egg development, diverting calories to gonad development. This diversion of resources means that to accumulate both fat reserves for the impending winter months and continue this development, an even greater quantity of calories need to be consumed. The reduction of forage from the summer months sets up for an exceptional fall bite.
After many months of doing nothing but eating, the winter months set in and everything slows down. Metabolisms decrease, forage is much less available, and winter becomes about utilizing fat reserves and feeding when applicable in order to reach the next spring’s spawn, when the cycle will begin again.
Anglers need to know what walleyes are ultimately focused on in a certain time of year. Fortunately, for many of the months when angling pressure is at its peak, the answer is eating. However, throughout the winter months, and certainly in the spring, the ultimate desire is to both survive and spawn, respectively.
Dissecting Dynamics
How does an angler implement all of this information? There is already so much to understand-boat control, presentation techniques, the hot color, what the boat next to them is doing, where do you draw the line!?!? This is why it is critical for anglers to understand…that they don’t understand. Anglers pursue an organism that resides in an environment the angler could literally not survive in. It is extremely difficult to pursue Mother Nature’s creatures, when we don’t even feature the physiological features to live within the world in which they reside.
This is why I don’t consider myself an expert in fish…because I’m not a fish. I’m also not an expert in humans…which is a noted flaw…but the point is there. We’ll never know exactly what makes a fish tick, we’ll never know exactly what a fish is feeling, and we certainly will never feel what a fish can feel-we never even got into atmospheric implications! What makes the most successful anglers is the ability to utilize what they know, and recognize what they don’t, to piece together the most successful pattern and put the most fish in the boat throughout a given season. Good fishing!
