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August has long been considered a four-letter word to walleye anglers - and for some pretty compelling reasons. During this historically hot month, walleyes tend to be lethargic, scattered and deep. Any one of those three factors alone can try an angler's patience out on the water. Put all three together and you might begin to wonder if there are any walleye in the lake or river you're fishing.

There is a tactic for taking summertime walleyes that bucks convention. Typically, when you think of hot summer days and walleyes, you think of live bait rigging a lake's or river's deeper structure or basin, and that is indeed a very conventional thought. However, there will be hot summer days when rigs, despite our best efforts to retard drift and boat speed, will drag along the bottom a bit too quickly for a walleye's taste. That's when it's time to employ some springtime tactics.

It's common knowledge that a jig and minnow is the tried and true presentation for the first month or so of the walleye season. We use light jigs and work them slowly during May and early June because water temperatures are still quite cold during that time of year and slow a walleye's metabolism. Walleyes often respond neutrally to bait that is moving too quickly through colder water, and that also holds true when water temperatures are too warm.

Unlike bass and panfish, whose preferred water temperatures range from 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, walleyes like things a bit cooler, between 65 and 70 degrees, so as the bluegill and bass fishing begins to heat up during the summer months, walleyes tend to go deep, slow down and consume less. As you might imagine, this situation is completely reversed during the fall and spring months, when water temps align themselves more favorably for the walleye.

So, if you plan to fish walleyes during August, look for the fish deep and fish them as slowly as possible. By all means, reach for a conventional live bait rig first, such as a spinner/crawler combo, and throw out that drift sock to keep your speed down. If, however, you find you're consistently not getting hit drifting or motoring live bait rigs over marked fish, give vertical jigging a try. Slip the waves or current with your trolling motor and drop a one-eighth ounce jig tipped with a minnow, leech or fat crawler straight down on top of the fish.

Keeping your bait in front of these lethargic summertime walleyes just might make all the difference in the world.

Dan Brown's weekly outdoor column is brought to you by Frankie's Bait and Marine, in Chisago City, and St. Croix Outdoors, in St. Croix Falls, Wis.

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