Walleye Fishing

The “elusive walleye” is named for it’s pearlescent eye, which enables it to see prey well in low light conditions. For this reason, experienced walleye anglers know that the best fishing times are usually early or late in the day when the sun is low in the sky. Wave action or “walleye chop” is also helpful in creating optimum walleye fishing conditions by limiting light penetration.

Walleye fishing tactics vary depending on your location and the season but the spring and fall are usually best. In the spring walleyes are ready to fatten up after the spawning season and a long winter. As fall approaches it is time once again to prepare for the icy winter and the feeding frenzy begins. There are plenty of walleyes to be caught in the summer and winter months as well but, at times, a bit more patience is needed.

As with any sought after game fish there are a plethora of lures, rigs and techniques out there to confuse the novice when chasing trophy walleyes. Rapalas work great in certain conditions and Lindy rigs or spinners can be deadly. But any veteran walleye fisherman will tell you “you can’t beat a jig and a minnow”. Throw out a jig, tipped with a leech or a minnow, and wait for the tap…tap…tap.


The white flaky flesh of the walleye is widely considered the tastiest of all freshwater fish. Few that have had the pleasure of a walleye shore lunch, fresh out of a crisp lake, will tell you any different. Good eating size is 15-18 inches and it only takes a few to have a scrumptious meal to remember.

A trophy walleye sometimes depends on the individual but most people consider anything over 28 to 30 inches a trophy walleye. The weight will vary somewhat of any given length but the chart below will give a rough idea.

Some of the most lethal tactics can be very difficult for the novice fisherman. Finding those suspended fish feeding on a school of biatfish in 80 feet of water but only down 20 feet can be very confusing for many anglers.

Many walleye anglers don’t consider this to be a walleye feeding frenzy when the mark these fish on their graph. They expect these to be carp or some other non bottom feeding fish.

A myth that walleye’s only feed on the bottom is just that, a myth. Some of the largest walleye’s I have caught have been on a crankbait and leadcore line going after a school of suspended walleye’s.

Many times you will also pick up your fair share of northern pike, muskies, salmon and very large crappie’s not to mention a few other fine gamefish when targeting suspended walleye’s.

When walleye’s suspend to feed generally this can be a very large school of actively feeding fish making catching them extremely easy.

One of the most critical parts of being able to fish walleye’s in the mannor are having very good electronics and be skilled enough to have good boat control to maintain your bait or crankbaits in the fish zone. Or other words keeping your baits where the fish are.

Next time you are out on a very good walleye system like the Missouri River in South Dakota or North Dakota give our system a try. I actually prefer lindy rigs to a jig and minnow most times of the year. This tactic will work at almost any time in any weather condition.

Walleye’s aren’t known as the most difficult freshwater species to catch for no reason. Simply put, they are very difficult to catch in most weather conditions whether this is a lake, river, stream, resivour, or private pond but with some patience and taking time to learn the tips, tricks, tactics and obtaining the right gear for the right situation and learning when and how to use that gear can set you apart of most other walleye fishermena
 

 Walleye Length to Weight Conversion Chart