Pro angler and guide Mark Martin shows off a heavy walleye he pulled through ice on Saginaw Bay. Photo by Tracy Breen.

Few anglers ever tire of catching large walleyes. There is something about pulling a 10-pound fish out of the water that gets the adrenaline coursing through their veins. During the spring and summer, catching large walleyes is tricky, but not as difficult as it can be in the winter, when even finding the fish can be a challenge. Convincing them to bite when they are cold and lethargic is even tougher.

In the winter, the patient, persistent walleye anglers are usually the ones who go home with the most walleyes. One of the most patient and persistent walleye anglers I have met is Mark Martin from West Michigan. Martin is a walleye pro who is no stranger to the pages of this magazine or the winner's podium at walleye tournaments across the country.

Martin spends a fair amount of time in the winter peering through a small hole in the ice, waiting for a monster marble-eye to grab his bait. Martin believes the key to success in the winter is choosing good locations ahead of time.

"One of the easiest ways fishermen can catch big walleyes is (by) knowing where the walleyes like to hang out on the lakes," he explained. "I locate my honeyholes in the spring, summer and fall, when there is open water. When I find structure that consistently holds walleye on my fish finder, I mark those locations on my GPS. Every angler who is serious about ice-fishing should have a good GPS unit so they can go back to their favorite summer fishing hole to locate fish in the winter."

Martin believes first ice is often the best time to be on many lakes because much of the vegetation that holds baitfish is alive and walleyes often key in on those areas. When Martin is searching for a good ice-fishing spot, he looks for a few things in particular. "I prefer lakes that connect to a major body of water that is typically open in the winter, like Lake Michigan or a lake connected to a river system," he said. "These types of lakes attract more walleyes, and the walleyes often come and go to and from the lake all winter."

Martin also prefers lakes with a lot of structure on the bottom. "Michigan was a major lumber state hundreds of years ago. Many of the rivers and lakes have lots of lumber pilings on the bottom that attract walleyes," he noted. Below are a few of the lakes that fit Martin's mold for a perfect walleye lake.

MANISTEE LAKE
Manistee Lake in Manistee is a decent-size lake at 930 acres, and it's connected to Lake Michigan by a channel. The Little Manistee River and Big Manistee River come into the lake. On the southeast side of the lake, there is a fair amount of slab wood on the bottom that regularly holds walleyes. There is also a fair amount of slab wood on the southwest side in front of the old factories that can be found along the shoreline. "Most anglers know about both of these large slab piles, and it isn't uncommon to find large numbers of anglers fishing when the walleyes are biting," Martin said. "First-time anglers should look for the areas where anglers are concentrated and start fishing."