This is a lost episode I wrote on July 19th, 2023. I can't find it anywhere, if it's out there, so I will reshare it because it's a thought I can't let go of.

If you paid attention to anglers that have become super proficient with live sonar you have heard that walleye aren't always on the bottom like we were told.

When I was a kid I remember bait shop intel told us walleye were on the bottom so you've got to have your bait down there if you want to catch them. At that point it was true or so we thought! I heard those bigger and older than me talk about downsizing. "You've got to use the tiniest jig, the smallest hook, use 6 lb. mono and back troll so you can troll as slow as possible.

Well that was back in the late70's early and early 80's when the number of lakes that had fish in them weren't as numerous as they are today.

They found that more than 10,000 lakes in Minnesota and lakes in North Dakota and South Dakota seem to have tripled. So with all that water it makes sense to start stocking it with fish.

Stocked walleye grown in tanks. These itty bitty little walleye were born in concrete, steel or even plastic tanks. Think about it: a tiny walleye growing up with no rocks, gravel, sand, weeds or trees just a smooth shiny bottom. No need to hide, no need to hunt for food. a few times a day it just seems to drop out of the sky. Most of them got their food from the upper portion of the water column. So it was eat, swim, sleep, repeat. Then one day they were pulled from the pool and dropped into their new home with rocks, gravel, sand, weeds and big fish that wanted to eat them.

No wonder walleye act differently, their instincts are different. If you aren't catching them on the bottom chances are you will catch them somewhere else.

⏯So What Up, Walleye?