Gary Roach (left) and Steve Bissett with a nice walleye caught on an ugly day. Photo by Tim Lesmeister.

When Steve Bissett began to back the boat toward the landing, Gary Roach stood up from behind the console and started barking orders.

"A little more to the left!" he hollered. "Slow down! This landing isn't that deep!"

Bissett fired back, "This ain't my first rodeo, Roach," as he rolled up the window.

There were a couple of boats full of anglers sitting by the dock waiting for the driver who parked the trailer. They immediately started in with questions when they realized it was "Mr. Walleye" sitting right there with them. Roach, who is always willing to share his expertise, explained his game plan and invited the other anglers to tag along. As we motored out around the breakwall near the landing, another boat joined the convoy and we headed out to a nearby rockpile where we anchored up, cast out some bobber rigs and started catching walleyes.

This is not an uncommon occurrence for the proverbial walleye experts here in Minnesota. Mark Courts, an avid tournament angler who is well known across our state, has often had boats slide up next to him on one of his favorite fishing holes with anglers in need of a little encouragement and some on-the-water advice, which he freely provides. Adam Johnson, a professional angler and aquatic biologist, has a popular radio show in the Twin Cities (Outdoor Talk, 100.3 FM, Sundays 5 to 7 p.m.) where the hottest topic is the weekly GPS coordinate for a hotspot on a particular lake for that period.

"Anglers want to know where we're fishing and how we're catching them," Johnson said. "When we can give them reliable information and they're successful, everyone's happy. Some anglers are pretty secretive about their spots. I figure there are plenty of fish, so everyone should get to enjoy the resource."

So where are our walleye experts going fishing this year? Why do they choose a particular lake at a particular time and use the techniques that they know will be productive?

According to Johnson, there is a formula. He calls it, "Setting Up The Profile" where you look at the stage at which the walleyes are in, be it the spawning period, summer pattern or fall transition, and how this will position the fish. There are other variables such as weather, forage base, water temperature and water clarity that will determine where the fish are holding on a particular body of water.

"For example," Johnson said, "there are a lot of reasons to fish the shallow pothole lakes in the spring and fall, but in the peak of the summer months, fishing can get tough on these lakes. Some lakes are known for their suspended walleyes because they have a forage base that consists of tullibees, which will school up and hold just above the thermocline, and walleyes will set up shop right next to this roaming food shelf and feast during this period."