Fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 for walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

 is a popular sport with anglers

Angling

Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...

. The current IGFA all tackle record is 11.34 kilograms (25lb 0oz), caught in 1960 near Old Hickory Lake

Old Hickory Lake

Old Hickory Lake is a reservoir in north central Tennessee. It is formed by the Old Hickory Lock and Dam , located on the Cumberland River at mile 216.2 in Sumner and Davidson Counties, approximately upstream from Nashville...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

.

The sport is regulated by most natural resource agencies. Management

Fisheries management

Fisheries management draws on fisheries science in order to find ways to protect fishery resources so sustainable exploitation is possible. Modern fisheries management is often referred to as a governmental system of appropriate management rules based on defined objectives and a mix of management...

 may include the use of quotas and length limits to ensure that populations are not over-exploited

Overfishing

Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....

. As one example, in the state of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, walleye of under 15" may not be legally kept, except from Lake St. Clair

Lake Saint Clair (North America)

Lake St. Clair is a fresh-water lake named after Clare of Assisi that lies between the Province of Ontario and the State of Michigan, and its midline also forms the boundary between Canada and the United States of America. Lake St. Clair includes the Anchor Bay along the Metro Detroit coastline...

 and the St. Clair River, where walleye of 13" are legal to take. Many states also issue slot regulations on walleye. This is where you can keep fish below a certain size and others above. The slot limit protects the medium sized fish, which can be considered to be at prime sexual maturity.

Characteristics

Since walleyes have excellent visual acuity under low illumination levels, they tend to feed more extensively at dawn and dusk, on cloudy or overcast days and under choppy conditions when light penetration into the water column is disrupted. Although anglers interpret this as light avoidance, it is merely an expression of the walleye's competitive advantage over its prey under those conditions. Similarly, in darkly stained or turbid

Turbidity

Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality....

 waters, walleye tend to feed throughout the day.

"Walleye chop" is a term used by walleye anglers

Fisherman

A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...

 for rough water typically with winds of 5 to 15 mph (7 to 24 km/h), and is one of the indicators for good walleye fishing due to the walleye's increased feeding activity during such conditions. In sunny conditions walleye move in schools

Shoaling and schooling

In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are said to be shoaling , and if, in addition, the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are said to be schooling . In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely...

 to deeper shady areas, so when one walleye is caught there are usually other walleye feeding in the same location. These schools usually contain walleye of similar age and size.

Bait

Casting or trolling with spinners or minnow-imitating plugs is a good bet. Special worm harness rigs of spinners and beads are often trolled. Jigs, either traditional bucktails, or tipped with any of the modern plastics, a piece of worm or minnow are walleye angling favorites.

Live baits are often still-fished, drifted or trolled on slip-sinker or "bottom-bouncing" rigs. Excellent live bait choices are nightcrawlers

Nightcrawlers

Nightcrawlers are a form of earthworm. Prized primarily for use as fishing bait, nightcrawlers are generally known as either Canadian or European...

, minnows

Leuciscinae

Leuciscinae, commonly known as true minnows, are a subfamily of small fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae.However, the term minnow is also used as an unspecific term for tiny freshwater and saltwater fish, especially those used as fishing bait....

, or leeches, all of which can be used on a jig.

In springtime walleye will take almost any bait

Bait (luring substance)

Bait is any substance used to attract prey, e.g. in a mousetrap.-In Australia:Baiting in Australia refers to specific campaigns to control foxes, wild dogs and dingos by poisoning in areas where they are a problem...

 or lure

Fishing lure

A fishing lure is an object attached to the end of a fishing line which is designed to resemble and move like the prey of a fish. The purpose of the lure is to use movement, vibration, and colour to catch the fish's attention so it bites the hook...

, but may be more challenging to catch through the summer months. Fall often brings another peak of walleye feeding activity.

Walleye are readily caught through the ice in winter, usually on jigs, jigging spoons or minnows. When ice fishing walleye are caught jigging or on tip-ups. Tip-ups are generally set up with a dacron backing and a clear synthetic leader. For bait, the most common minnows are Fatheads and shiners. Size for bait is anywhere from 1 to 7 inches.

Walleye are not known for their fight in fish below about 24" in size. They fight well if over that size, however. Their wide appeal is partially the challenge in catching them, and partially their great popularity as a food fish.

External links

• Walleye Fishing Canada