Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

Adam Johnson is an aquatic biologist. Does his understanding of the underwater world make it easier for him to find and catch fish?

Yes. Johnson's understanding of a fish's environment and the transitions and stages a species encounters during the season means not only can he place a species to a specific body of water; he can also pick the perfect bait.

But what about us anglers who don't have the benefit of a biology degree? Are we cursed to wander the lakes and rivers aimlessly, occasionally stumbling onto a school of fish?

Johnson laughed when I put this scenario to him and said, "Much has been written for the average angler so they can understand the seasonal transitions and how a species reacts to conditions such as water temperatures and weather patterns. Unlike the technical information I had to digest during my schooling, the information parsed to the average angler is understandable and can be used to help them gain knowledge that will benefit them in their search for fish."

But it's a complicated environment.

Consider the walleye.

They're never where you think they should be.

They never bite the bait you think they should.

In fact, it seems like they're doing something different every day.

"Welcome to Walleye World," Johnson said. "While it seems that this species is always in a transition, there are periods during the year when walleyes can be easily profiled and lots of fish can be caught. It's about timing, but then that's always the situation when it comes to fishing, especially when fishing for walleyes."

To try to understand the profiling program he uses to find and catch walleyes, I asked Johnson to profile some of his favorite walleye lakes at different times of the open-water season.

GULL LAKE
Cass/Crow Wing Counties
Gull Lake has always been a respected opening-day lake, so Johnson said he would take into consideration that the opener is almost always preceded by a cold front and there will be plenty of boat traffic.

"The walleyes in Gull will be in the post-spawn stage on opening day," he said, "and that usually means they're spread out on shallow sand and rubble shoreline flats like those surrounding Gull Point on the southeast side of the main basin."