This lucky angler’s stringer proves that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to catch a bunch of walleyes when they’re in summer school. Photo by Windigo Images.

It is known as the walleye peak. Schools of walleyes have finished transitioning to their summer sanctuaries and now these tightly grouped pods of fish are huddled near deep structure where they can be easily found and caught. Even when the weather turns unstable, the ability to catch walleyes only requires a little added finesse to generate a bite.

Gary Roach admits it doesn't take a rocket scientist, or a walleye pro for that matter, to catch a bunch of walleyes when you stumble onto that summer school of fish.

"The walleyes during the peak are pretty predictable," he said. "This is the only time of the year when you can get onto some good fishing by circling back on some past memories."

Roach describes the term "fishing memories" as the pattern that most anglers follow because all fishermen are born with hope.

"When you discover a spot where you catch a lot of fish," said Roach, "it gets stored in your memory and the next time you are on that body of water the first place you go is where you got lucky that one time. It could be 10 years ago and you've been to that spot 15 times since without a bite, but you'll fish that memory hoping for another day like that glorious one you had before.

"Now the reason fishing memories can work during the peak," continued Roach, "is because a lot of the best fishing days you have will be during the peak, so conditions could put those walleyes back in the spot you caught them at before, so checking out a spot where you had great luck in the past is not a bad idea."

Does Roach fish memories? Not often.

"I catch up to the guides at the local bait shop and get them to put me on a starting point and then I adjust," Roach said. "If they tell me the walleyes are on the sandbars in 22 feet of water, then I know where to begin my search."

And if the fish aren't there?

"They'll be close by. Stable weather might have moved them up to the edge of the vegetation on that bar," he explained. "That might be 16 feet deep. Or a cold front pushed those walleyes out to suspend in 27 feet of water. Use the information you gather as your starting point and then move according to the conditions of that day." During summer school, Roach said that his sonar is the most important piece of equipment in his boat.

"You have to find them to catch them," he said, "and the only way you know there are fish under the boat is to see them with the sonar.

"I won't even put a bait in the water until I've spotted fish. Those walleyes are grouped in deep water, so they're easy to see on the graph. Motor around a spot with your eyes glued to the screen and when you find fish, catch some. If you don't see any fish, move to another spot. Anglers waste way too much time fishing spots where there are no fish. Not me. I target them when I see them."