ice fishing walleye

I live in Alberta canada my problem is that the lakes i fish in the summer i can catch a 100 + walleye but when it comes to ice fishing i can only get 15 to 20 walleye were do walleye go in the winter

Welcome to IDO…. I believe most of them are on a beach in Florida sunbathing for the winter….

I know, I could not resist being a Smart A** It just seemed like you opened that door for a fun comment

Where I live 15-20 walleyes is a good problem.

Just curious, how many daylight hours are there in the summer when you catch 100 fish versus the winter?

Another thing is that where I live most lakes only have a short window when they bite. Low light hours like morning and evening. That could very well be the case where you are as well.

I guess one more thing is that you’re able to cover so much more water than in the winter. Combine that with less daylight and you’ve really cut down on your time actually fishing.

If you really want to catch big numbers, you’re probably best off fishing a large basin lake like lake of the woods or Winnipeg. The fish there will bite all day long thus increasing you’re overall catch.

Another thing to consider is that the lakes you fish in the summer, with the warmer water temps, the walleye’s metabolism is higher than at any other time of the year. Therefore, they would be actively feeding for a far greater time period each day and perhaps all night too. Winter is when their metabolism would be at it’s lowest, add to that oxygen levels are also at the lowest. The result would be fewer fish actively feeding at any given time, basically just laying around being lazy. Like a lot of people do in the winter as well.

Could not agree more with Walleyestudent Andy Cox, In Minnesota during summer I can fish a lake and catch walleyes about 10+ per day and in the winter lucky if we can get 2-5 per night

You will cover ALOT less water on the ice-One cast could cover what 20 holes would cover-5 minutes of trolling would be what 100 holes? Yep metabolism is lower but so is the available forage, that one can be a break even; IMHO

I fish a couple lakes that I do pretty well on during open water for walleye. When it comes to ice fishing them I could not catch a walleye if my life depended on it. ???????????

tim hurley wrote:

You will cover ALOT less water on the ice-One cast could cover what 20 holes would cover-5 minutes of trolling would be what 100 holes? Yep metabolism is lower but so is the available forage, that one can be a break even; IMHO

Funny that I did forget about this, but yes probably the most significant factor is that you are fishing just a small fraction of water through the ice that you would cover in open water. Great observation Tim!

The reason I don’t Ice fish anymore is because I can use my boat year around, and in my boat I can find fish like no ice fishermen can.

Less aggressive fish
Less mobile
Less fish finding abilities

Remind me what is good about ice fishing again

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

The reason I don’t Ice fish anymore is because I can use my boat year around, and in my boat I can find fish like no ice fishermen can.

Less aggressive fish
Less mobile
Less fish finding abilities

Remind me what is good about <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing again

Perhaps fishing with kids and grandkids in the winter? At 10 degrees out, the kids, particularly the little grandson wouldn’t last an hour in a boat.
Far more rewarding times spent with family, than how many fish I could catch out of a boat in winter!

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I respectfully disagree

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
The reason I don’t Ice fish anymore is because I can use my boat year around, and in my boat I can find fish like no ice fishermen can.

Less aggressive fish
Less mobile
Less fish finding abilities

Remind me what is good about <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing again

Perhaps fishing with kids and grandkids in the winter? At 10 degrees out, the kids, particularly the little grandson wouldn’t last an hour in a boat.
Far more rewarding times spent with family, than how many fish I could catch out of a boat in winter!