Outdoors Angle: Going Deep In July

The Flag Outdoors Expert Steve Carney has your weekly Outdoors Angle right here!

     After a fabulous shallow water walleye bite, the July doldrums are upon us and it's time to start thinking about deep water patterns. Water temperatures have approached 80 degrees making the weed growth almost impossible to work lures in shallow water. The mid-lake flats on most lakes are now so full of weed growth that the patterns of early summer are waning.

     Deep water is now the best alternative but it requires good electronics and a lot of snooping around. At this time of July I spend a lot of time scanning deep water with my electronics and trying to locate small pods of deep walleyes. They are easily seen as horizontal "hooks" on your screen and the really nice fish almost always have a red or yellow tint to the display. The big key is marking fish first before wetting a line.

     Deep water can mean very different things. Deep water on some lakes are 20 to 30 feet while deep, clear lakes deep water can mean 40 to 60 feet. That's why scanning with your graph is so important. Oxygen levels at this time of July can be a real key as well as oxygen in deep water can be absent below 20 feet on some lakes and others as deep as 60 feet.

     Once I mark my deep water walleyes, I can present some baits such as a jigging spoon, drop-shot rigs or a jigging rapala. These baits can be fished vertically under the boat. The trick is to drop the baits right in their laps as these deep fish can be finicky. If you mark a few fish, chances are there is a biter or two in the mix.

Steve Carney is The Flag WZFG Outdoors expert. He can be heard every Thursday morning at 8:05 on AM 1100 and 92.3 FM WZFG. Check out his weekly podcast on am1100theflag.com and hear his Outdoors Angle reports every Friday on AM 1100 and 92.3 FM WZFG. You can also visit stevecarneyoutdoors.com for more information.