River Walleye that reside in rivers are experts at fighting the current. Even so, this can get tiring after awhile and they look for spots to take a break. This is a prime opportunity to snatch a couple up. These resting spots are known as current breaks. Basically, a current break is anywhere in the water that changes the course of a current into slack water. Slack water occurs around dams where an eddy forms causing the water to spill over the dam area and into a stream. Other slack water spots include depression in the river floor, behind rocky areas and man or nature made structures such as a fallen tree or bridge abutment.
Pinpointing current breaks in a river takes some practice. Begin by visually spotting natural breaks in the water current. Check some of the areas listed above but keep an eye out for additional ones as well. When the current is strong, walleye prefer to hang as close to a structure as possible. As the current loosens up a bit, they spread out and rest on the outskirts of the current break.
Wing dams are similar to current breaks and are great summer walleye targets. These structures are mostly man made. The sole purpose is to divert the current towards mid river and away from the river sides. This is done to prevent erosion of the shoreline.
As with current breaks, it takes a little bit of patience and practice to pinpoint wing dams with the naked eye. Start by paying attention to the water surface. When a wing dam is present, a slight ripple effect with be created in the water. As the water moves up and over an underwater surface, it ripples as it passes over the object. Walleye are big fans of hanging out around structure.
Many of the wing dams contain a hole about 4 feet underneath the surface. This hole is mainly located right in the center of a wing dam. Here is a great hiding spot for walleye. These holes provide the perfect place for them to come in out of the current and rest. All of these structures are perfect places to find elusive walleye. Even pinpointing a small percentage of structures within a body of water will make for a more successful day of fishing than fishing the entire water surface aimlessly hoping for a bite.
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