Walleye Facts – Catch A Trophy Fish

Walleye fish are among the most highly sought fish in the Great Lakes region by fishermen, but they’re also very hard to catch. Fishermen understand the habits of the walleye, but for someone just starting out and deciding they want this fish as a trophy for themselves need to understand some things about the walleye’s feeding, spawning and habitats in order to learn how to detect and catch them.

In spring, the lengthening days and the increasing temperatures bring walleye fish to spawn in Lake Erie and the nearby rivers. This is a very wandering species they have been known to travel upwards of a hundred miles to find a good spot. They don’t wander in the river aimlessly though walleye often return to their home streams to spawn if they’re able to.

Usually, males get to their spawning place first, and they also are the first to make the return trip. Some walleye populations essentially swim in schools, usually in the eastern parts of Lake Erie. The walleye fish that live in the eastern part of Lake Erie require different living conditions than those in the west.

Walleye usually prefer to spawn in gravelly clear-flowing water, and more rocky shoals in lakes that are buffeted by wind. Walleye favor rocky, wind and wave swept shoals in lakes. The urge to spawn begins approximately when the river water is about 38 to 45-degree water. The spawning occurs in shallow waters from

February to April at night until about 4 in the morning. It’s a common sound to hear a walleye female attending to several smaller walleye males.

Pairs of fish do have a sort of courting ritual that’s performed in deeper water, but then they spawn in groups in the shallower water. The spawning of walleye fish is rather mismatches in ration sometimes there can be five males to one female. This helps there to be more variety in genetics so more of the young would survive.

The eggs are released so that they cling to the bottom of the river, but the walleye adults don’t care for these eggs in any way as the spawning goes on for approximately three weeks, during which time the eggs incubate. The yolk sac of the egg is quickly absorbed and the new-hatched fish go feeding, mainly on microscopic animals. When they grow slightly larger they start eating insects, and begin eating very small fish when they reach two inches in length. Fish are the main diet of walleyes. Some of the most common fish that are eaten by walleye are minnows, suckers, bluegill, and yellow perch.

By the first year, walleye can reach a length of six inches, and every year after that can add from four to six inches, but this varies between fish. If a walleye lives to be 10 years old, it can reach nearly three feet, because walleye never stop growing. They have to eat almost constantly. Other foods that walleye eat are mayflies, frogs, crayfish and snails.