Most walleye anglers seem to have a preferred time of the year to pursue them. If their jig and minnow game is strong, then those anglers love fishing from the walleye opener into the early part of June. This is largely due to walleyes still being shallow after spawning rituals, but also because most of the food is also shallow at this time of the year. But once the bait and the fish move deeper, many anglers put their rods away as if the season closed.

Conversely, many anglers don’t really start fishing for walleyes until they move out deeper, onto the reefs where they are accustomed to finding and catching them. It is not as puzzling as some might think. In the summer months, you can use traditional sonar to locate walleyes because they often occupy deeper water. Then you just need to adjust your techniques to get some bites.

Love it or hate it, forward facing sonar has helped answer a lot of questions for inquisitive anglers. It is truly amazing how much walleyes move as they are rarely stationary. Walleyes will stay in a general area, but can also cover a lot of water in a short amount of time, as if they constantly need to guard their territory.

For instance, if you are targeting a deep-water hump, the fish can and will cover the entire edge of the hump, over the top and suspend out in the deeper water—all in a matter of a few minutes. They move so much that you would think that they would always be hungry, but nothing could be further from the truth. Most times, they snub offerings—even the ones with bait dropped right in front of their noses.

Using slip floats is a fantastic way to get your offering down into the depths, especially when you are targeting 20 feet or deeper. When using floats for walleyes, there is simply no substitute for live bait, so get your leeches, ‘crawlers and minnows ready. Not all lakes are created equal, so it is always a good idea to be prepared with options. More times than not, though, leeches are the choice for anglers because they are so much easier to keep alive during the warm summer months. Leeches do become harder to find at the bait stores as the summer wanes on, however.

It is best to use a jig under a slip-bobber or float; a 1/8-ounce jig is usually all you will need. Popular color choices are chartreuse and orange, but you can improvise with whatever suits your fancy. In the depths, fish don’t really see colors, so the black VMC Moon Eye jig matches up perfectly with a black leech.

Savvy anglers have been using floats for walleyes for generations. It is a tactic that works great because you can keep your bait in the strike zone the entire time. Most of the time, this tactic was used for shallower-water fishing, but it need not be the sole application. Slip-bobber setups in deep water can and will produce similarly. It not only keeps the bait in the strike zone, but also keeps anglers from getting snagged up on the deep, rocky reefs. The key is setting the depth of your jig to be within a few feet off bottom. Cast it out there and be patient.

Of course, forward facing sonar will help you see what is happening, but it is not needed to be successful. Tournament anglers have for years pitched out slip-bobber setups behind the boat after marking walleyes on traditional sonar, particularly when walleyes were turning their noses to traditional techniques. In this case, the fish aren’t chasing something down; they are encountering it while they are swimming around.

During the summer months, there is plenty of food available to walleyes, so sometimes, the easy meal doesn’t work as well as you think it would. Sometimes, you need to provoke a strike or make fish do a little chasing.

So much has been said about Jigging Raps over the last few years, it is sometimes boring to bring them up, but they continue to work—and work well. During the summer months, it is never a bad idea to use them. In fact, using them becomes easier as the fish move deeper, because you don’t have to contend with weeds as much. Size 7 Jigging Raps or the new Jigging Rap Magnum, both at 2.75 inches, are about the perfect size profile to get the bites. The Jigging Rap Magnum comes with a built-in swivel to allow the treble hook to move freely to keep fish hooked up better.

Pitch these lures around the edges of deeper structure such as humps and points. Impart short jigging hops to the bait to fish them effectively. As it moves in front of a walleye, the fish needs to make a split-second decision.

Just because the jig and minnow isn’t working, doesn’t mean that you can’t catch any walleyes. Just make some adjustments to your presentation and fish a little deeper than normal. Once you start to become comfortable with floats and jigging Raps, you will start catching walleyes once again.

If you enjoy walleye fishing, you’ll find plenty of helpful walleye fishing insight in every issue of MidWest Outdoors. Subscribe on our website.