LOCALadk Magazine

Winter Walleye By Drew Zeilander During ice season, walleye can be one of the most rewarding fish to target in upstate New York and the Adirondacks. ey get their name from their unique, pearlescent eyes that allow them to absorb light in dark-water conditions. Walleye can be more difficult than other hard-water species, but by understanding their feeding habits and winter locations, you will be catching them in no time. One of the biggest issues ice anglers have is not knowing when and where to target walleye. Walleye actively feed at night and during low light conditions where they have the upper hand on their prey. So, to give yourself the best chance of catching them, you want to be fishing during the evening, overnight, and first- light hours. If you want to target them during the day, do so when it's overcast. e bite windows on these fish can be extremely narrow, so your action will happen in a flurry. You can go hours without catching anything, but as soon as it gets dark, the bite could turn on. First ice is one of the best times to catch walleye because they will generally be holding on predictable walleye structure where they were found in the fall. ese areas are shallow rock flats, isolated rock humps surrounded by deep water, and weed beds near sharp drop-offs. In low light conditions, these are the areas walleye will move in to feed. Finding these areas can be difficult, especially if you are on a lake that you've never fished before. To help with this, you can download an application for your phone called Navionics: Boating Marine & Lakes, which will show you the contour of most lakes in New York. Once you find the lake you are going to fish, you can pinpoint those humps and drop-offs to provide a good starting point on where to fish. I also use Navionics throughout the year to mark places where I caught walleye during the open-water season, because later on in the winter I can fish those exact GPS coordinate spots. Walleye can be finicky, so it's good to have different, strategic bait presentations to up your odds. Setting tip-ups with live bait in areas of differing depths is a productive technique that allows you to identify where the fish are feeding. Some days they can be in less than 5 feet of water, other times 15-25. Once you find a depth area that is producing, you can move more baits there to really pinpoint the fish. Good tip-up bait choices include fatheads, medium shiners, hunts, and small suckers. Jigging can also be a great complement to tip-ups, as the erratic action of a spoon or jigging rap can draw fish in. Wherever you choose to jig, always have a tip-up or automatic hook setter with live bait close by. Oentimes, walleye will be drawn in by the jig, and if they lose interest in it, they may still fall for the live bait. Tipping lures with minnow heads and dead sticking can also trigger more bites. Dead sticking is a method where you keep your jig motionless aer some jigging movements. e subtle stop can sometimes tempt a finicky walleye to bite. ere are many good lakes in the Adirondacks and upstate New York to catch walleye. Worth noting in particular are the Great Sacandaga Lake, Tupper Lake, Harris Lake, and Saratoga Lake. e New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) continues to do a tremendous job stocking the lakes and ensuring fish survival. Walleye present a challenge to even the most seasoned anglers, but there is nothing more satisfying than catching them aer putting in the research and time. To help create trophy walleye waters in our area (23 inches or larger), attempt CPR: Catch, Picture, Release. Friends on the Ice Moving to Saratoga County upon retirement, I learned that finding new friends wasn't as easy as it was in the workplace; luckily, the ice works for finding interesting people. Camaraderie somehow seems to come more naturally on hard water, where making new friends can be a daily experience. e first guy who took me on a trip to teach me ice tactics was Rich Ortiz. His intuition for when and where big fish are going to be present based on real time conditions is uncanny. Rich has been fishing North Country waters since childhood. He really loves promoting all types of fishing, but especially to young anglers. Rich made a fantastic ice fishing YouTube video with Mike Iaconelli (of bass fishing fame) last year; it can be viewed on YouTube @MikeIaconellifishing. LOCALadk 38 Drew Zeilander

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