One of the main ingredients to finding and catching big summer walleyes is quite often found along a change in depth or drop off (a.k.a. break line). Breaks can help concentrate fish, like where shallow water flat drops into deep, op along the top or bottom edge of a big main lake hump, or even the bottom edge of a deep weedline can all be considered break lines. Break lines can concentrate fish, and concentrations Are exactly what you’re looking for just about 100 percent of the time.
The idea is to keep your bait in front of as many walleyes as you can for as long as you can. The end result should be more fish in the boat by the end of the day, and more walleyes is what it’s all about. By getting a bait in front of the heaviest concentrations of fish you can greatly improve your odds of finding the willing.
Within a large school of walleyes there will almost always be a few that will be active enough to take a bait, even if the rest are not. The fact is; they don’t always do the same things at the same time, even when they’re stacked up. Finding said concentrations often starts at the break line, wherever that may be.
You can refine the activity along a break line even further and try to determine whether the walleyes riding the top edge, or on the side of the break, are the ones holding on the bottom edge are the biters.
Quite often you’ll find a group of fish spread out up and down a break line but only certain ones are actively feeding at any given time. A good rule of thumb includes the shallowest being the most likely to take a bait.
A deep to shallow feeding movement is a classic one and occurs both in deep water as well as shallow. For example; walleyes holding on a deep off shore hump will often hold along the break line of the edge and move up on top during peak times of maximum activity. The same thing happens on shallow rocky bars and reefs where walleyes hold along an edge which could be five feet deep or shallower. They’ll move up even shallower when the timing is right and can be a lot of fun if you happen to be there when it happens In either case the break line is where you’re likely to find the heaviest concentrations, but not necessarily where you’ll locate the heavy feeders.
Break lines by themselves are not enough to pull in active walleyes, but a break line combined with a good feeding opportunity certainly is. Break lines or drop offs that lie next to a big feeding shelf is the stuff that quality time on the water is made of. Breaks next to shelves, rocky bars, or even flats are what you’re looking for and where and when will depend on the characteristics of the lake system you happen to be on, and time of the year.
A break line next to a big deep hump might be holding absolutely nothing if you get there too early, or if the water is too dark, or if it’s below the thermocline. Time spent where they’re not is time wasted and a situation to try and avoid. The thing is there will be some time wasted in your search for the mother of all schools of walleyes but you can try and keep it to a minimum.
Finding likely break lines begins by gathering a little basic knowledge about a system and then taking a hard look at a good map. With a G.P.S. and a big screen chart plotter like the Humminbird 1197 can keep your search time to a bare minimum, which allows for more time spent with a line in the water. The 1197 has the ability to display today’s new electronic maps and do justice to all of the detail with the giant screen. It also has Side Imaging which is an incredible feature that allows the user to take a 150 foot swath to either side of the boat and produce a picture of exactly what all that structure looks like, and where the concentrations of fish are. You can also drop a waypoint on those concentrations from your current position which will allow you to get back over the top of them and hopefully do some damage.
Once you’ve settled on a starting spot take a good look with your depth finder and see if anything is around before you drop them a line. If you’re marking fish try to find the tightest groups or concentrations, and take note of exactly where they’re located. Try looking up and down the break line and even up directly on top of the accompanying structure. A good plan of action would include going back and working the shallowest fish first and heading deeper from there. And don’t let the first fish you mark stop you from investigating thoroughly before you get a line in the water. Even if you mark what looks like the mother load take a little more time and check it all out before trying to put a few in the boat.
It requires a good deal of self control but can pay big dividends in the long run.
How you work a break line will depend on the time of the year, the type of structure, and just how tight the fish are bunched up. Fish that are spread out require a different presentation than those that are piled into a tight area. Tight schools likely call for rigging and jigging techniques while loose groups
may be more efficiently worked with much quicker trolling methods like bottom bouncers and spinners combinations or maybe lead core and crank baits.
The thing is; the more fish you find the better your chances are for getting your pole bent. See you on the water.
Ron AnlaufBy: Ron Anlauf
