Fishing Break Lines

How do you determine when to fish the top of the break or the bottom of the break? Targeting mainly walleye or pike.

Would this be a decent place to start?

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RED line/top of the break: when you think they’ll be aggressive, like dawn/dusk, heavy clouds, low-pressure, or pre-frontal conditions. You can go past the line onto the top of the flat. If they’re up there feeding, they’ll spread out a bit as baitfish scatter.

BLUE line/bottom of the break: during bright times, mid day, overnight, high pressure.

I’ve found there’s little use in fishing the middle of a sharp break, where your red line currently is. The fish run the bottom or the top of the break usually.

EDIT: RED/BLUE were incorrectly labeled.

Yes thats a great spot. I always fish “the corner” rather than the point. Has paid dividends.

taking notes…

FWIW Bass Thumb has good advice but I think he reversed the depths of your drawn lines in his interpretation

I have found if a person just follows a break or certain depth you’re missing the boat, search in a zig-zag pattern, in your chosen place you’re attempting to find fish. DK.

moustachesteve wrote:

FWIW Bass Thumb has good advice but I think he reversed the depths of your drawn lines in his interpretation

LOL…I should’ve zoomed in on the depths. I just thought the blue was deep water. I’m all reveresed too.

Ahhh yes, the break line question.
Is that an inside or outside?

How many types of break lines are there?
Depth
Bottom
Temp

anymore?

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Ahhh yes, the break line question.
Is that an inside or outside?

How many types of break lines are there?
Depth
Bottom
Temp

anymore?

Yeah…what is an inside vs outside break???

Excellent info. Thanks, everyone!

moustachesteve wrote:

FWIW Bass Thumb has good advice but I think he reversed the depths of your drawn lines in his interpretation

I thought so too. i was very confused. Good info all the same

Rick wrote:

How do you determine when to fish the top of the break or the bottom of the break? Targeting mainly walleye or pike.

Cheat, run some tip ups at different depths and let the fish tell you.

I would start with Bass Thumbs advice(minus the color reference, I got the map wrong at first glance). If I have my shack at at the bottom then some tip ups on the way up. More people the better in this scenario.

A couple times we have seen mid-break be the ticket in that dusk prime-time window.

Sorry guys. I got the color reference wrong. I edited the original post.

Yep, inside turns are where I’d be.

ClownColor wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
Ahhh yes, the break line question.
Is that an inside or outside?

How many types of break lines are there?
Depth
Bottom
Temp

anymore?

Yeah…what is an inside vs outside break???

Here’s B-man’s interpretation of structure identification. It’s gospel….if you disagree…..you’re not my friend

There’s really no such thing as an “inside or outside” break (to me), but some guys use it to describe a lot of things: an inside turn (a cut into a relatively featureless breakline) or outside turn (point of a reef), a weed edge dropping off, or the top of the break or the bottom of a break.

The image at the start of the thread by Rick is a classic inside turn showing the top and bottom of a break, they are usually a better spot than the average edge around the lake. They’re like a little underwater bay. He even has a bonus saddle with a little flat mixed in. I’d start with a tip-up shallow in the saddle or on the edge of it, and jig around in the deeper water of the inside turn.

I’m bored and in a hotel for work, drinking some beers and watching a mismatch of a ball game, so here it goes for definitions

In the end, we all might call the same thing by a different name. They key is knowing what the other guy is talking about when he calls a feature out.

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Inside turn

Some guys might call it an inside break, they can hold fish all year.

Often times they’ll have a nice mid-depth flat mixed in too (the 25′-30′ area drawn), but it could be a flat of any depth.

It’s a big reason why they can be so good.

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Saddle (funnel)

An area of mid-depth water between two areas of shallower water, with deeper water perpendicular to the shallow water on one or two sides. Often times it’s simply a low spot in a reef (hump), or a deeper area with even deeper water to the sides between two reefs (humps).

Again, an area that has the possibility to be above average in all seasons.

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Transitions

Any time the bottom content changes. Sometimes they are literally a line in the sand, other times they might take a great distance to change composition (blending together).

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Good stuff, B-Man. Thanks for taking the time.

Great Post b-man. Hopefully you’ll be coming back with some ice around you. I need it.

Bass Thumb wrote:

Good stuff, B-Man. Thanks for taking the time.

You too sir

Eelpoutguy, another edge/break is water clarity.

On Lake Superior that can be the difference between a box full of fish and going 0/0.

Mudlines are especially important in the spring and early summer when run off is generally at it’s highest and the fish are high in the column (seeking warm water)

The fish (and smelt) don’t care how deep the water is, or what the bottom is like. They want to stay warm (high) and be able to see. When they run into a wall of chocolate milk, they run the edge just like a walleye feeding on an outside weed edge. The only difference is it could be over 200′ of water and you’re catching fish 2′ under the surface lol

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Rodwork wrote:

Great Post b-man. Hopefully you’ll be coming back with some ice around you. I need it.

Ha, I wish it was more.

We’re hoping to hit LOTW around New Year’s for the first big family trip.

Might take the boys out at home this weekend to watch for flags from the truck on shore though

B-man, that’s great info! Thank you.

What about for lakes that are basically just a shallow bowl, where would i go to target walleyes then?

Lol those are great B-Man, you should start another IDO/Fisherman’s translations thread with those.

BigWerm wrote:

Lol those are great B-Man, you should start another IDO/Fisherman’s translations thread with those.

there’s too many names to even try

Patrick Bennett wrote:

What about for lakes that are basically just a shallow bowl, where would i go to target walleyes then?

Those lakes can be tough or they can be easy, they seem to make up 90% of the lakes stocked for put-and-take walleyes.

What’s the water clarity like?

How deep is the lake?

Does it have a weed edge around it with a mud bottom in the basin?

Your best opportunity will probably be setting up on an outside weed edge at primetime (an hour or two on either side of sunrise/sunset). Some lakes the fish feed all night. Try to find an area with thick weeds a couple feet or more tall, then fish the edge (within a few feet) of where the wall stops.

If the clarity is good you might be able to look right down the hole and see the edge. If not, a camera definitely helps. A graph will get you close, but a visual is 100%.

If there’s some straggler weeds in the area try to find a small pocket to keep your minnow clean. Depending on the lake you might be in 3′ of water or 15′, but usually somewhere in between.

Some lakes don’t have defined weed edges with “walls.” If that’s the case just set some lines in areas with weeds where they begin to thin out, or if it’s a carpet of short weeds, fish right over them, or find the edge of the carpet.

Set lines will usually be the most productive.

I like a shiner or small/medium sucker set about 8″ off the bottom with an octopus hook or even a circle hook on a tip-up. Put a split shot about a foot above the minnow. I like using Seaguar Blue Label in 10-15lb for a leader. You can up it to 20lb if there is a lot of pike in the area, but 15lb Blue Label is very tooth resistant. Night and day from regular mono or fluorocarbon line.

When you get a flag, let the fish have it for a few minutes. If the lake has big fish, a slot, or you plan on C&R, use circle hooks.

B-Man

Well done.

Bowl lakes will have subtle in and outside turns with their weedlines, those become key.

Those with lower visibility I will drill holes 1′ apart if necessary to get within a foot or so of the weedlines.