Serious fall walleye anglers who favor lakes with abundant vegetation pay close attention to "brown" weeds versus "green" weeds. These guys, the ones who forego waterfowling, and even in some cases, deer hunting, understand what walleyes look for when it comes to weeds.

Dwindling sunlight hours combined with decreasing water temperatures are the mark of autumn on northern tier lakes. This lethal alliance leaves a wake of dead and dying underwater vegetation in its wake. Dead and dying weeds suck oxygen and the very life from a body of water. At this same time leftover flourishing vegetation becomes a magnet for nearly every species of life within a given lake, including walleyes.

Typically, lakes harboring walleye populations that fancy weeds for cover and foraging are highly fertile waters. These lakes tend to offer distinct outside weededges, massive weed flats, and numerous weedy underwater points. Additionally, weedy walleye lakes generally offer a shallow basin and median depth of usually less than 20-feet of water. Oppositely, lakes whose winter walleyes gravitate toward classic structure, such as rock and gravel, are bejeweled with rocky points, reefs, and gravel bars. Lakes featuring abundant hard structure also seem to contain more steep breaks, several deep holes, and overall, a relatively deep basin.

Why weeds? The leading influence weeds have on any body of water is oxygen production. Healthy green aquatic vegetation manufactures oxygen through a complex process known as photosynthesis. Freshwater critters, fish included, gravitate toward parts of a lake abundant in oxygen, a.k.a. weed zones.

From first ice through mid winter oxygen depletion isn’t a major factor in fish location. There’s generally enough greenery in place to sustain balanced oxygenation. Later in winter, as more and more weeds perish as a result of lowering sunlight angles and light blackening snow cover, oxygen rich waters become paramount to survival.

Walleyes under early ice conditions favor weeds because of what lives amongst them versus they oxygen they produce. Weed beds host a throng of aquatic life. Zooplankton, the smallest yet most critical life forms in a food chain, spend much of the early ice period imbedded in weed mats. Following their lead, along come larger aquatic insects and other invertebrates, including crayfish. In turn, baitfish, panfish, and immature gamefish arrive to feast on these tasty creatures. And ultimately, the big boys invade. Walleyes, northern pike, and few other large fish species attack the greenery with a vengeance. Here, they find both food and protective cover.

Lakes hosting diverse weed populations offer suitable walleye habitat in a variety of depths and circumstances. Early ice walleyes might find comfortable surroundings along an inside weededge, over mid depth weed flats, or parallel to a deep outside edge. Components such as water clarity, light levels, and weed bed thickness can determine what depth weed-walleyes frequent.

From a winter angling standpoint, traffic across frozen waters during the early ice period is nominal compared to mid and late season. Walleyes, highly sensitive predators, react to fishermen activity on the ice by moving deeper or becoming inactive. With this in mind, it’s in your best interest to attack weed walleyes before trucks, ATV’s, and snowmobiles commence racing over preferred shallow areas. But if a particular weed-zone is really "hot", then seemingly cools down due to fishermen traffic, simply move off the beaten path and seek out similar conditions in an out of way location.

In general, weeds are considered "non-traditional" surroundings for winter walleyes to live. Use this misconception to your advantage! Intentionally track down healthy green weeds on a lake where the majority of fishermen settle for conventional rock piles and gravel points. Lakes that support a booming walleye population, offer traditional hard structure, but also nurture dense vegetation, will undoubtedly maintain a contingency of weed walleyes.

The first place to pursue weed walleyes during first ice is along the outside weededge. The depth range where weeds cease growing (outside edge) varies from body of water to body of water. For instance, a shallow, highly fertile, dishpan type lake might have an outside weededge in only 5 to 8 feet of water, whereas outside edges on deeper, clearer, and larger waters tend to range anywhere from 10 to 20 feet. Weeds can only grow at depths receiving consistent sunlight penetration, thus explaining why weeds grow deeper in clear lakes and shallower in stained water.

Outside weededges are not always distinct. The primary weededge is where tall and thick weeds, such as underwater cabbage and coontail, cease growing. Bottom dwelling grasses and other short aquatic weeds typically mark the next foot or two of depth change. It can be difficult to pinpoint fish in areas featuring scattered weed beds with non-distinct weededges. Knowing this, take time to locate thick beds with clear-cut edges.

One might think that a long straight piece of sandy shoreline has a matching long straight weededge, but it’s not necessarily true. In fact, it’s the unique ebbs and flows in a weededge that attracts and holds walleyes. A detailed lake map should reveal underwater points and major cuts in a weedy shoreline. But a little time on the water is required to identify the subtler characteristics of a weededge.

The first outside weededges to address are ones surrounding submerged weed points or bars. The same things that attract walleyes to hardpan shoreline points also lure them to underwater weed points. Weed points generally reach out to deep-water not accessed by run-of-the-mill weededges. Winter walleyes move from deep-water refuges to the adjacent weed point during feeding periods. A weed point itself also forms a natural "corral" for walleyes roaming along the weededge. Any irregularity in an outside weededge potentially harbors or at least stalls roaming fish.

Smaller than a weed point is what’s considered a "finger". These narrow imperfections in a weededge vary in length from a simple weed clump extension to a 40-yard row of cabbage or coontail jutting out from the primary edge. Weed fingers may not hold as many fish as a major weed point, but they’re often overlooked and rarely do you have to share one with other fishermen. If you do identify a productive weed finger that does not appear on published map, be sure to mark it and take GPS coordinates if possible. You’ll want to return to this spot again!

The bases of underwater weed points and fingers, where the main weededge breaks out to a point of finger, are other favorable haunts. Sometime referred to as "inside turns", depending on how dramatically they curl inward, both walleyes and baitfish commonly hold in these transitional areas between the primary edge and connecting point.

The reverse of an underwater point is a "trough": a cutout that wedges through the weeds back toward shore. Sometimes these "feeding lanes" outperform even weed points because they can cover such an extensive depth range. The best troughs or cuts are fairly wide and long enough so that they extend from the outside weededge well into the adjacent weed flat. The best of the best meander weed-free all the way to shore!

Weed flats are the mid depth regions between the outside weededge and shore. Expansive weed flats vary in density from scraggly, patchy weed pockets to dense green carpets that appear to be impenetrable.

Irregular weed clumps commonly appear in shallow to mid depth ranges on predominantly hard-bottomed lakes. In this case, locate the largest and thickest available patch and work around it. Walleyes, baitfish, and aquatic insects gravitate toward these botanic islands, especially when available weed beds are few and far between.

Walleyes seek out the opposite of botanic islands, pockets, when cruising extremely lush weed flats. Holes and canals within a thick weed flat are used as ambush points and travel routes. Finding the broadest pockets will work to your advantage.

Locating weed islands over a shallow flat, or pockets entrenched within a weedy flat, is possible if snow cover isn’t a hindrance. The season’s first solid coat of ice is typically transparent. And you should be able to clearly identify green weeds through ice measuring up to even 6 or 8-inches thick. A little autumn scouting, mapping, and GPS marking from a boat can save you from spending a ton of time probing through the ice for weeds.

As one would expect, evening, morning, and nighttime hours are the best times to pursue weed walleyes. A characteristic weed walleye bite engages an hour or so before dusk and ensues for a few hours. Some lakes have a reputation for offering evening walleye bites that only last 30 to 45-minutes. On the opposite end of the spectrum, other waters produce weed walleyes all night long. And you can rarely miss hooking a fish or two by setting up about an hour before dawn and fishing until the sun hits the top of the trees.

Assuming walleyes come into the weeds from other locations to feed, the outside weededge will be the first section visited. In many cases incoming walleyes never venture any deeper into a weed bed than the outside edge itself. But if walleyes are engaged on the outside edge and then suddenly they vanish, you can bet active fish have merely pushed further into the greenery.

The key to establishing an effective weed walleye strategy is to first identify the outside weededge and relating habitat, i.e. fingers or troughs. Go ahead and blast a bunch of holes along the outer edge. Even cut a couple of holes 10 or 15 yards beyond the outside weed edge. Next, pop a series of holes into the shallower weed flat. A good method is to forge holes in a "teardrop" shape leading away from the outside weeds, over the shallow flat and eventually back out to where you started. Make sure that holes drilled on top of the flat sit above open pockets in the weeds.

History has revealed that a combination of tip-ups and jigging (spoon) techniques catches the most fish. In Minnesota, where winter anglers are afforded two lines per person, every fisherman on the ice should have one tip-up in place while jigging a second hole. For instance, let’s say a couple of guys hit the ice for an evening of weed walleye fishing. The best way for them to blanket the area is by setting one tip-up 30 to 50-feet inside the flat, the other one beyond the outside weed edge (where you should have drilled a few holes), and all the while they actively jig holes along the outer edge. This is a great plan to start with, but always let the fish dictate. Move your tip-ups to the outside edge if only jigging takes fish. Likewise, if it appears that foraging fish have traveled into the flat you should progress in and jig over open pockets.

Jigging spoon type and weight selection varies depending upon water clarity, depth, fish aggressiveness, and other factors (there are enough variables to warrant another article later). But in general, early ice walleyes are hostile and respond well to bright colors, flashiness, and bulky size. Manufacturers the likes of JB Lures, Ivan’s, Bay de Noc (Swedish Pimple), Bad Dog, and Shearwater make some dandy walleye spoons.

These mean spirited fish also welcome bigger bait during first ice than they’ll favor later in the winter. Tip your jigging spoon with a whole or partial shiner minnow or chub (rainbow or redtail). Experiment, let the fish tell you if they’re interested in lively minnows or severed heads.

Make a tip-up your secondary offering. Tie an ultra-sharp #6 or #4 Gamakatsu, Owner, or VMC live bait hook (octopus or kahle) to the monofilament end of your tip-up line. Go ahead and add a bright bead or use colored hooks if that gives you confidence, it can’t hurt. Swish your hand around in the minnow bucket and chase down the biggest, nastiest minnows for setlines (tip-ups). Treat tip-ups like experiments; go large. When that flag finally unfurls you want to be sure that whatever struck was well worth dropping your jig pole and running in heavy boots.

This article wasn’t intended to encourage ice fishermen to abandon classic walleye structure and lakes. Instead, what you should be left with is a pocket full of new ideas for locating early ice walleyes on your favorite bodies of water. And you might consider ice fishing a few weedy lakes previously ignored because they don’t contain traditional walleye habitat.