wild guide
SUMMER
WALLEYE
BASICS
by Wes David
AS THE EARTH ROTATES CLOSER TO THE SUN THE DAYS GET
INCREASINGLY LONGER WITH THE CHANGING OF THE SEASON.
WALLEYE HAVE ABANDONED THEIR PRE-SPAWN AND POST-SPAWN
LOCATIONS AND MOVED TO THEIR SUMMER LOCATIONS WITHIN
THE WATER BODY.
W
alleye anglers often find
summer walleye some of the
hardest walleye to consistently
locate and catch. However, if
you want to set the hook on
summer walleye, you’re going
to be forced to find their locations. If you’re
new to walleye fishing or fishing a water
body you’ve never fished before, finding
summer walleye can be a bit of a challenge.
However, there are a few basic patterns and
techniques that can help a walleye angler
find them fast and consistently.
Regardless of the water body you’re
fishing, rocks are one of the most important
pieces of structure in a walleye’s life cycle.
Walleye spawn in and on rock points and
rocky shorelines. Their preferred spawning
areas are windswept shorelines so their
eggs are aerated. The size of the rocks
walleye prefer to spawn over range in size
from the size of softballs to gravel. The
reason being, walleye don’t guard their
eggs and during the spawn, the eggs fall
7
Wild Guide
. Summer 2017
amongst the crevices of the rocks and gravel
where they are protected from egg-eating
predators. Male walleye, which are usually
smaller than the females, will begin to move
into the spawning areas in mid-February to
mid-March depending on ice cover, water
temperature, and food source. However,
regardless of all three of these conditions,
male walleye will be waiting at the spawning
areas when the females arrive.
Female walleye will rarely show up at
the spawning areas until they are ready to
spawn, which is greatly determined by water
temperature. Depending on your location,
a female walleye’s preferred spawning
temperature ranges from 6-8°C or 44-48°F.
Shortly after spawning, female walleye will
leave the spawning area. The male walleye
will stay in the spawning areas until the last
female has come and gone.
Once the eggs hatch, 14 to 20 days later,
they will stay in the rocks and feed off
the remaining yolk within their egg sack
that stays attached to them until it’s fully
absorbed. Once the egg sac is absorbed
they will begin feeding on plankton and a
variety of other small aquatic life. As they
grow into fingerlings and larger, they will
begin to feed on larger prey such as small
minnows, leeches, insects, and whatever
else they can find. As they mature and
grow larger they will begin to move off the
rocks and venture out looking to fill their
growing appetite. However, in most lakes
and reservoirs, walleye will constantly
feed in and around rocky shorelines,
rock points, and even sunken rock piles
within the water body. The reason being,
many other fish species and aquatic life
within the water body also use the rocks
for spawning, feeding, and cover from
predators throughout their life span.
Understanding how important rocks are to
walleye has taught me whenever I launch
my boat at a lake I’ve never fished before,
the first thing I look for is rocky shorelines,
rock points, or sunken rocks within the
lake or reservoir.