Wind, Current and Walleyes

Walleye anglers understand the obvious importance of how current and wind affect fish location during the open water months but for some reason or another, seem to underestimate the importance of wind and current on the ice. Perhaps both wind and current is harder to comprehend because we are staring at a huge piece of ice.

Probably the least understood influence on walleye location under the ice is wind. I never gave wind serious credit for altering patterns until I spent time fishing with a good friend and phenomenal angler from northeastern South Dakota names Dennis Kessube. Kessube believed wind had a huge influence on fish below the ice. “How?” was my initial reaction to his ideas and theories that seemed pretty far fetched at first glance. The more Kessube described his experiences and ideas, the more sense he made.

Wind pushing on a frozen lake does cause turbulence in the water which might create sediment disturbance that clouds the water. How strong does the wind have to be to create or change patterns? It seems like when the wind gets strong enough to move the water up and down in the hole, things can start to happen. Debris often accumulates like a film under the ice and when the ice flexes or moves, this debris often clouds the water slightly. This effect seems to vary greatly from lake to lake. On some lakes that are clear, this extra clouding might just extend the bite longer in the morning. Where we really see a dramatic impact at times is on shallow reefs and shorelines where the wind is blowing into these spots hard.

The flexing on the ice seems to suspend a lot more particles in the water, particularly where the ice meets the shoreline. I have now gotten into the habit of spending some time poking around shallow structure and shorelines that are getting hit by strong wind much like I would during the open water months and coincidently when I look back at my journals, some of my strongest shallow water bites often were… spots that were getting hit by strong wind. Often to, these spots changed or dried up when the wind quit or switched. Some of this might be coincidence but over time, it has happened enough that there is something to wind and walleye location, even under the ice. Just like during the open water, finding walleyes usually isn’t as simple as just following wind as there are always other factors at play but understanding that wind is a factor can make you much more aware of why some patterns develop and quit.

Anglers fishing on the Great Lakes and rivers have long understood the importance of current to walleye locations. Current however is also a factor on natural lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water. Natural lakes in particular that might not be connected to a flowage might seem stagnant but there is always current in a lake. A good example of this is that no matter where you fish, if you are using a float, all of the floats generally drift over to the same side of the hole. Often, the current is barely noticeable and might not be strong enough to really force fish location but there are situations however where even on a natural lake, structure can bottleneck or create current and current can be a huge factor. Situations where this becomes extremely noticeable are bottle necks or funnels. Structural elements, causeways, bridges or neck down areas that force a tiny amount of current through a smaller area, thus making the current strong enough to attract fish and dictate fish locations and movements. I personally believe most of this movement is caused by the gravitational pull of the moon much like the tides of the ocean, just on a much smaller scale. This current as a result often comes and goes with an almost predictable fashion. A good example would be a small trough that might run between a point and a sunken hump causing a bottle neck or funnel or perhaps a bridge on a causeway or neck down area. There are times when the current can momentarily become so strong, the line is at an angle below the hole or you might loose the lure on the Vexilar because the lure is getting swung out of the cone angle.

When the current kicks up like this on most natural lakes, it doesn’t last long… maybe fifteen minutes. When this current suddenly stops, however watch out. Boy do fish seem to come in eating when that current stops. Most of the time, in my experiences, this period of time where the current stops might last about half an hour or so. Then the current picks up again and the fishing quits. The current just seems to start and stop like water sloshing back and forth in a bucket. The larger the lake, the more of a factor this seems to be. On most natural lakes, there has to be some type of feature that concentrates this current enough to make it noticeable and productive. What is also interesting is that it seems like there will be about a four or five hour window where this becomes really strong and predictable like clockwork than the current disappears or becomes unpredictable. When you can find that rhythm where the current starts and stops in repetition for a few hours, you are going to see fish every time that current quits.

The influence of wind and current is not understood very well by most walleye anglers and anglers fishing natural lakes in particular often don’t recognize the impact of current. Both wind and current are variables that can dictate fish location and create strong patterns . These variables are as important to putting together patterns as weather, forage, bottom features and many of the other variables that anglers attempt to grasp when on the ice.

Editors Note: The author, Jason Mitchell is regarded as a legendary ice fishing guide on North Dakota's Devils Lake for the Perch Patrol Guide Service, www.perchpatrol.com Mitchell has also designed an extensive lineup of application specific rods that have revolutionized ice fishing, www.jasonmitchellrods.com.

Photo: Legendary ice angler, Jason Mitchell is credited for pioneering many of the most advanced ice fishing methods and tactics.