Updated! Today Friday 3/25/11 Walleye Facts! ... (Stay tuned for many updates to come)...
This thread is here to share information about walleyes. Much of this info you may already know, but to many others it will be very helpful.
3/12/11Walleye are one of the most popular game-fish in the nation. Their original range was across Canada and then in a triangular shape southward with the point of the triangle terminating in Alabama. Over the last hundred years walleye have been stocked in waters in almost every state.
In Canada, walleye are called pickerel, jackfish or dore´ while in the U.S. they are commonly called walleyed pike.
Walleye are closely related to saugers and belong to the perch family. They are not related to pike. ... (Stay tuned for many daily updates to come)...
3/13/11 Walleye are often unpredictable, are constantly on the move and will bite like mad one day then disappear for a week for no apparent reason. And, when they decide to quit biting, almost nothing will change their minds.
Walleye have big marble-like eyes which have a layer of reflective pigment in the retina. This gives walleye a built in advantage - they can see well in dim light - but their most common prey, yellow perch, cannot. This highly developed night vision allows walleye to do most of their feeding at night.
Because walleye eyes are so sensitive to light, they don't like bright sunlight. If the water is clear and there is no shade in the shallows, walleye will go as deep as 40 feet to escape the penetrating rays of the sun.. ... (Stay tuned for many daily updates to come)...
3/14/11Walleye can see color but lack the blue-yellow cells; it is thought that they see everything as some shade of red or green. This means walleye can generally see red, orange and green lures better than other colors. However, the angler must remember that water color and depth change the way a lure appears to the fish. So, the best colors may change from one body of water to another or from one depth to another within the same body of water.
Walleye have an extremely sensitive lateral line system that allows them to detect minute vibrations in the water. This allows them to single out an erratically swimming bait fish or wobbling lure even in deep or murky water. This, in conjunction with their excellent eye site gives walleye a tremendous competitive advantage.
Walleye have excellent hearing and when in shallow water a noisy boat will put them down. Avoid trolling over them, especially with a gas motor, and don't drop anything that will cause noise as it bounces off the bottom of the boat.
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3/15/11If the water is clear and walleye are in the shallows(10 feet or less) it is generally better to drift or anchor and to cast into the shallows.
While walleye do have a good sense of smell, it doesn't seem to be an important factor in feeding behavior. In murky water a vibrating bait is much more effective than a bait that emits odors.
Walleye are opportunistic feeders and will eat just about any fish they can catch. Throughout much of the U.S. perch is their main food but they will also eat shad, trout, crappie, bluegill and other fish. They also readily eat crayfish, frogs, leeches, snails, mice and even small ducks.
Fishing success for walleye is highly influenced by the baitfish spawn. In the spring when few baitfish are present fishing is generally good (except during the spawn, when walleye don't feed much). If the baitfish have a good spawn then by early summer there will be an abundance of small fish for the walleye to eat.
When baitfish are plentiful fishing success for walleye slows and will remain slow until the baitfish numbers are reduced, generally by late summer or early fall. If the baitfish spawn is poor, walleye success will remain good throughout the summer and will be excellent by fall.
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3/16/11The old wives tale that walleye don't feed during the summer is false. Walleye are most active during the summer and feed heavily. There is generally such an abundance of food that the chance a walleye will hit your bait or lure is reduced. Still, the knowledgeable angler will catch some nice fish.
Walleye have been known to live as long as 26 years in cold northern waters, although a walleye over 15 years old is rare. How fast a walleye grows and how big it becomes is largely dependent upon the availability of food and the length of the growing season. In Canadian waters where there is a very short growing season and not much food a seven-year-old walleye may only weigh about two pounds. The same fish in a southern lake, with an eight or nine month growing season and abundant food, may grow to 15 pounds during that same seven year period.
Walleye in Utah grow well, especially when their food supply is abundant, and fish over 12 pounds are caught occasionally. The Utah record weighed 15 pounds 9 ounces and was 31 3/4 inches long. It was pulled from the Provo River in 1991 by Jeffery Tanner.
Female walleye grow faster, live longer and become much larger than males. In most waters males exceeding four pounds are rare.
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3/17/11 MN. STATE RECORD
Walleye: 17 pounds, 8 ounces, 35.8 inches, Seagull River (Cook County). 05/13/1979.
Walleye-Sauger Hybrid: 9 pounds, 13.4 ounces, 27 inches, Mississippi River (Goodhue County). 03/20/1999.
The walleye is the most sought-after fish in Minnesota. Its thick, white fillets, handsome shape and coloring, and elusive nature make it the ultimate prize among anglers. Each year, anglers in Minnesota keep roughly 3.5 million walleyes totaling 4 million pounds. The average walleye caught and kept is about 14 inches long and weighs slightly more than 1 pound. The walleye is named for its pearlescent eye, which is caused by a reflective layer of pigment, called the tapetum lucidum, that helps it see and feed at night or in murky water.
A close cousin of the walleye is the sauger. Sauger have a more limited distribution than walleyes, and they don't grow as large. The two species look similar, but you can tell them apart by looking at the tip of the lower part of the tail. That part of the tail is white on a walleye, but not on a sauger.
To ensure that lakes produce enough walleyes to keep up with growing angler demand, the DNR protects habitat, limits the catch through regulations, and stocks fish where natural reproduction is limited and other desirable fish species will not be harmed. In recent years, the DNR has also instituted special regulations that protect medium-sized walleyes on several lakes to increase the average size of walleyes that anglers can catch.
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3/19/11Walleye are a cool water fish that prefer intermediate temperatures from 65 to 75 degrees; they don't like water above 80 degrees. They will remain active when water temperatures drop into the high 30s; in many states they remain active through the winter and can be caught through the ice.
Walleye prefer water that isn't too clear. They seek out mud lines and water with suspended silt or algae. In clear lakes walleye seek out turbid zones near river mouths and areas where the wind keeps the water stirred up.
Walleye seek out rocky, shallow shorelines and reefs to spawn. The eggs are broadcast and fall between crevices in the rocks where they are protected. Some wave action is necessary to prevent the eggs from being covered with silt and to keep them aerated.
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3/20/11 Walleye spawn in the early spring when water temperatures approaches 44 degrees. They seek out gravel areas in as little as two feet of water. The males move into the spawning areas first but they are not territorial and they do not build nests. A big female can produce almost 400,000 eggs but average production is about 50,000 eggs.
Walleyes remain in deeper water until spawning time approaches. A week or two before the spawn starts they begin to move into shallow water; they are still feeding at this time. They will move into the spawning areas after dark and then drop back into deeper water just before sunrise.
The spawning period generally lasts from one to two weeks but if the water warms rapidly, spawning can be completed in just a few days. A severe cold snap my interrupt spawning activity for several days. If there are repeated cold periods during the spawn, the females may reabsorb their eggs and not spawn at all.
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3/21/11An individual female usually drops all of her eggs on the same night but all walleye do not ripen at the same time and it is common for some walleye to just begin to spawn while others have been finished for a week or more.
After spawning the males stay near the spawning area for up to a month and begin to feed heavily. Female generally move out of the spawning area and do not feed for up to two weeks.
After a couple of weeks the big females begin to feed heavily and anglers who understand this cycle can get into some of the best fishing of the year.
Walleye are oxygen sensitive and avoid water with dissolved oxygen content below 4 ppm. They don't seek out areas with higher oxygen levels. While it is true that windswept portions of lakes attract more walleye, they are there because of the abundance of food, not because the oxygen level is higher.
Given a choice, walleye seek out areas with slight to moderate currents rather than stay in slack water. Walleye seek out currents from inlet streams, narrows separating two basins or areas with wind-induced currents.
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3/22/11There are several things to look for when trying to figure out where walleye are in any body of water. Walleye look for anything different from their normal surroundings. If the bottom of a reservoir/lake is mostly mud, walleye will look for sandy areas. If most of the lake is rocks, walleye will look for sandy areas. The transition zones between mud and sand or mud and rocks, etc. will hold the most fish.
Walleye will pick a particular depth and then follow it around the lake/reservoir. They almost never cross wide expanses of deep water to reach a new area. More likely, they will follow a contour (particular depth) around the reservoir and over time will develop preferred migration routes.
Early in the year walleye prefer gradually sloping areas near or in shallow bays where the water is warmest. However by summer, when temperatures in the bays become too hot, the walleye will move into areas with steeper slopes and sharp breaks into deep water.
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3/23/11In shallow reservoirs/lakes walleye relate to subtle depth changes. A sunken island that rises only two feet above the bottom will attract fish. Old road beds, gravel pits, ditches, changes in the size of gravel or rocks, slope breaks, etc. will become focal points for walleye in the lake.
Live bait is a favorite choice when fishing for walleye. Several surveys show that live bait accounts of at least two thirds of all walleye caught in a given year.
The best live baits for walleye include minnows, night crawlers and leeches. Night-crawlers are the most common walleye bait and are fished a variety of ways; however the most popular way is attached to a spinner rig (worm harness).
Minnow imitating lures are also a good choice but it is often important to match the color and size to the natural baitfish in the water. Minnow imitating plugs with long, slender bodies and paint to resemble shad, perch or bluegill are very effective. Neutrally buoyant models are popular because they can be retrieved very slowly without floating to the surface of sinking deeper than you want them to go.
Plastic single tail or double tail grubs, tubes, plastic shad; and marabou, buck tail and feather jigs will all take walleye if fished slowly and within the walleye's feeding zone.
3/24/11As difficult as it is to leave your proven honey holes it's crucial that you do some exploring on the lakes you fish. Let's face it! Some days the old milk run is just not working. You need spots and without fresh spots to work you may die on the vine.
Last year I decided to work a lot harder on new areas and it most definitely paid dividends. I'll be focusing on expanding exploration this year and that's easy to say but, hard to do when you've established so many honey holes throughout the years. The thing we all need to remember is that
Knowledge Is The Key To Successful Fishing. So keep those brain cells charged at all times. Learn how to separate the BS from the facts and you'll stay ahead of the rest of the pack. Never rule out the flats (lake basin) when the summer reef bite fails. Just work those transition areas even if your not marking fish you'll find them scattered between structures. As old Buck Perry say's
"The fish are either in the deep....the shallow....or..... some where in between" If you fish like everyone else fishes, you will catch what everyone else catches. If that's enough for you, then by all means.... but if you want more, it's time to step out of the box."For the supreme test of a fisherman is not how many fish he has caught, not even how he has caught them, but what he has caught when he has caught no fish."
3/25/11 How To Fish Walleye Anchored With Crawler System.
Crawlers should be hooked once right through the tip near the head end. They can also be hooked through the tip of the tail end, allowing for a very natural crawling motion. I have literally watched my line inch out away from me when fishing crawlers in this manner. The only drawback to this method is that they tend to break off on the cast much easier, and sometimes they will even break off on there own !
Crawlers are best fished very slow with a short twitching motion (3 to 12 inches per twitch), or short slow drags, with pauses of several seconds in between. When I say slow, I mean SLOW ! To give you a better idea, a cast of about 30 feet should take at least 3 minutes to retrieve. Or, if you are fishing an area which you know to hold fish, it is often best to let the worm make any and all movements on its own.
Worms should always be kept fresh and lively. Considering that most night crawlers are shipped down to us from Canada, they need to be kept cool at all times during storage. The crisper in your fridge will be great, but you might need to hide them from the wife. For transportation and while fishing, an ice box works fine.
Water temperature plays a big part of how long a crawler will last on your hook. If the crawler starts to become limp and lifeless it should be replaced with a fresh one. You can put them back in a separate box, and by the next trip they will usually be good to go fishing for another round.
Most times I use 7.5 ft. med/light rod....6 lb. test....# 8 hook....(1/4 oz. barrel sinker
when anchored & casting)....# 10 barrel swivel and at times inject air in crawler. 12 to 18 inch leader from the swivel to hook.
Real crawlers should be hooked one time in the nose. You can also put a bead between the sinker and the swivel.
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Topic: Walleye facts! (Read 14533 times)
