the most frustrating….

OK, i’m a bit of a….. perfectionist I guess, I get very frustrated when I can’t figure something out. I’ve been trying to catch a walleye on my hometown lake that I’ve lived on for years….. I normally slay the walleye on this lake, since November 1st I cant buy a walleye out there. I fish hard and often, i’m bull headed so this is ticking me off! I’ve tried nearly everything i can think of. NEED HELP HERE before i go insane!!!! attached is a map of the lake…. i’ve literally covered the hole north half. jigging, casting rapalas, live minnows…. everything. This lake has a lot of walleye! I don’t have electronics yet but man you’d think covering as much water as i have i’d find them… any help is much obliged.

Attachments:

1. OTSEGO_LAKE.pdf

How many times have you fished at night?

honestly i usually fish until about an hour after dark, never really night fish

Have you tried banjo minnow yet?

Never been a fan of full out dropoffs, if there’s not a feeding shelf, with adequate weeds, rocks, mussel beds, gravel, etc to attract baitfish that might filter down to an ambush point it’s useless. This is where your sonar, or good scouting beforehand comes into play.

This is where going to all the redlines I’ve drawn, putting on a heavy jig with some big shiners or minnows attached(piggybacking fatheads can be just as effective as larger minnows), and feeling out that bottom to see what exactly your fishing is detrimental to success. Pulling weeds? What kind? Are they green? Do they have any kind of microorganisms attached?

The north end is a non starter for me seeing your map. That eastern, Ne shore will see alot more sunshine with possible structure IMO. I’d Hammer all those possible funnels into the shallows which will contain the best possible chances of holding fish.

Good luck, and if it don’t work out there’s lots of other species, and lakes to fish that won’t get ya frustrated!

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_20151212_231336.jpg
   

Jigging raps?

thanks so much for the advice, I have tried, (actually yesterday just before i posted this) several of your red marks. the weird thing is I ran three lines, one rigged like a lindy rig with a big shiner, one with a perch rig with a smaller minnow and a crawler, and one i was jigging with a jig head and large minnow. the point of the perch rig was to try and see if there were any bait fish (this lake is natorious for having gobs of 3-5 inch perch that drive you nuts while pulling crawler harness’s all spring, summer, and early fall) I did not get one nibble anywhere i fished by any bait fish… not even on the crawler. thats whats got me most baffled. i think if i can find where the bait fish went (the small perch) i will find the walleye. surprisingly i jigged the weed beds that i normally pull crawler harness’s over, and pulled up green vegetaion but nothing in the way of bait fish. this was very weird to me. anybody else see this in your own favorite lakes?

How are you presenting your baits? Trolling? Drifting? Anchoring and casting?

Yesterday I tried anchoring and jigging, and also drift jigging very slowly

There are times when a ton of baitfish are present that snap jigging will seal the deal. With snap jigging the fish just react and they will slam baits. Been on river and lakes to many times when conditions are screaming a slow presentation, change up to a very aggressive approach has paid off.