So… Tonight was my daughter’s dance class… an hour and a half of nothing to do. So I prepared and purchased the FLW Walleye May-June mag. I enjoy reading the articles because, like most, my most valuable lure is knowledge. But an article in this edition had me scratching my head… so I thought I would post here and get your opinions and see what you think regarding the following:
The Article I am specifically referring to is titled “Disappearing Act”… By Paul Meleen as told to Dave Csanda. The article is based around using slip bobbers for walleyes. About 4 pages into the arcticle, Paul notes that when a bobber goes down, he notes which way the bobber moves… This, in effect, tells him which way the school is moving. After land or not on that cast, he will try the same spot… if without luck, he will move on to cast in the direction the bobber was moving… as this was the direction of the school. Sound advice I guess.
On the SAME page… there is one of those short articles. This one referring to tactics by Greg Bohn. In this article, Greg also mentions to take note of which direction a bobber is moving after a walleye strikes. But, it seems that Paul and Greg have differing views of what to make of this mental note. Greg goes on to say to take note of the direction, and on subsequent casts, throw your lure in the OPPOSITE direction that the bobber was moving. Greg goes on to explain that the hooked fish will want to move away from the competitive school where another fish would want to steal the bait.
In this same article, the last paragraph goes on to admit that Greg and Paul’s techinques do contrast, but so does the size, shapes, and geography of the lakes they fish.
Now, on to my opinion. First, I personally do not beleive that many walleye have a “school” mentality. I think that many lakes have limited structure, and walleyes adhere to that structure. I believe that do to this, the walleyes, though competitive, will be found in similar structures. They also know when it is feeding time and are all bred with the knowledge of where to find the fish. So, rather than following the school at dinner time, they instinctively know where to go and usually do so at similar times of other walleye. Again, this is only my opinions and I could be WAY off… but this seems to be my experience. I DO think that as walleyes age, the younger walleyes may tend to hang out with other younger class walleyes… but as they age, become a little more nomadic without needing the “protection of the herd”.
Now, with my thoughts above… I tend to agree with Greg’s assumption that, upon a strike, a walleye will tend to avoid other competitive fish and will lead AWAY from other fish. Funny enough, if we WERE dealing with a “school” of eyes, if you hit on in the middle, you are pretty much 
out of luck with EITHER Greg or Paul’s theroies. 
Either way, I don’t believe you can effectively judge a current migration patterns to the eyes based upon which direction a bobber goes when a walleye hits it. I personally prefer to use my experience and knowledge as well as lake conditions, time of day, and lake structure to determine where the fish are at and where and when they will be moving.
Curious to know other people’s thoughts on this as well. Am I WAY off base? Do you agree/disagree with my assesment? Or would you take Paul or Greg’s side in this? Thoughts?
