The afternoon is usually the worst time to fish for walleye. You can still catch plenty of walleye during the afternoon, but it usually requires much more skill and patience. The big problem with the mid day bite is that walleye usually move to deeper water and become inactive. There are obviously exceptions to this, but for the most part, the middle of the day is the toughest time to fish for walleye.
Fish Murky Water
The lakes and rivers that have murky water will usually be easier to fish during the day than the clear water ones. For anglers that want to fish during the middle of the day on their fishing vacation, you are almost always better off by going somewhere with murky colored water.
Slow Down
If you are on a school of fish and they aren’t biting, try using live bait and keep your bait in the strike zone longer with your favorite live bait presentation.
Troll to Cover Water
Trolling is a good way to cover deeper water quickly. You really can’t cover a lot of water by casting or drifting when we are talking about depths of 25 to 35 feet of water. By trolling, you can keep your baits in the strike zone and cover a lot of good looking spots until you find some feeding fish.
Drift Live Bait Over Deeper Water
When the bite slows and the fish go deep, drifting can be a great technique for covering some water while still presenting your bait in a natural manner.
Find Current
If you’re on a body of water that has some current, try fishing the deeper water in these spots during the day. You may not catch a lot of fish, but the current tends to keep some fish feeding throughout the day.
Fish Deeper
Sometimes, you just have to fish deeper. Find a drop-off near your best shallow water spots and you’ll probably find some of those walleye that were in the shallows in the morning, but have disappeared. Some of your deep water spots that held them in 20 feet of water in the morning might not hold them in the afternoon. Try moving out into water from 25 to 35 feet deep and you’ll usually have more success. Walleye don’t like the sun, so as that sun gets higher in the sky, fish deeper water until you find them.
Use Your Electronics
Using your electronics to find drop-offs and the drop-offs that actually hold fish is a great way to find bass once they go deeper.
