The walleye! Whether it’s called pickerel, dore, or marble eyes, the hardy walleye is no doubt one of North America’s most sought after fish. Anyone looking for a battle on his or her tackle will be disappointed.
This “twilight feeder” has specially designed eyes that allow them to see well during low light. They feed effectively any time of the day, but they are most successful during twilight, when the prey is still active but their ability to see is significantly less.
Fooling the walleye:
The idea behind fly fishing is to mimic the food that fish eat with some feathers, flash, buck tale and a hook, Believe it or not my most successful walleye fishing has been on the fly. Walleye, a member of the perch family, are apex predators that feed primarily on bait fish, such as ciscoes, shiners, sticklebacks, minnows, chubs, young perch and more. They also readily eat leeches, insect larvae, mayflies, damselflies, and dragonflies to crayfish.
Do some research
It’s key to note the seasons and where the prey (food) is located in the water system. Doing a little research on your local river / lake and the bait fish to insects will help indicate what type of fly you will need to “match the hatch”. For instance, if you understand that dace are plentiful in the area you are fishing – then you will want to use a streamer in the same color pattern, and size.
The locations for walleye vary:
Walleye are very structure oriented and the key to being successful in finding them is to find under water humps and structure. Walleye do very well in river systems and you can typically locate them by casting a streamer with in the water column behind large boulders/rocks.
I have great success in rivers, especially in the “transition periods“ meaning late evening or early morning with my “go-to fly “ a white and bright green clouser (2 to 3 inches in size). Using floating line, I cast it out across the current, with a medium to fast retrieve.
Lake fishing
In lakes you will want to target walleye just as you would when gear fishing, such as looking for structure and drop zones. You will need a 300 -350 grain full sinking line, along with bait fish patterns. If the water temps are warm, switch up to a leech pattern. Leeches become more active in warmer water and walleye will feed extensively on them.
Techniques for walleye on the fly:
Retrieve the fly slowly in 4 to 6 inch line-pulls. Remember the take will be subtle, so stay alert to any “ticks” or slight bumps. Those sensations are typically the fly in the mouth and the line touching the lip.
Setting the hook fast ensures hooking the fish, as walleye spit the fly out just as fast as they gulp it in. Once you get a strike from a walleye, it’s recommended to “strip set”, a style of hook setting on a fish with a hard mouth. It’s not hard to do, just takes a little practice, it’s the opposite of “trout setting”.
Setting the hook with a fly rod
With rod tip low, pull the fly line on the striking fish, then lift the rod. Practice makes perfect, and it’s a subtle yet effective technique versus the typical trout set (lifting the rod to set the hook). “Trout set is used on soft-mouthed fish such as trout, however the classic trout set can work on walleye if your rod is a strong, firm 8 weight or more.
Fighting walleye
When fighting your fish, be sure to keep the line consistently tight with zero slack, other wise a barbless hook (I always use and recommend de-barbed hooks) will result in a lost fish.
Conventional vs. fly:
Conventional: Slip bobber style and jig:
Fly: On floating fly line, you can use a black marabou leach pattern fly with a weighted head under a strike indicator. This technique works very well with “choppy” water surface on the lake to help move and “jig” the fly. Note: The leader needs to be long enough to reach the strike zone for the walleye (approx. 8-10 ft of water).
C: Classic jig and minnow: F: On full sinking line, you will use a muddler minnow or clouser
C: Lindy Rig: F: Short leader, fast sinking fly line with a foam bodied floating fly
Dry Fly:
There is the odd time you will be able to dry fly fish for walleye – this is really fun! It takes some entomology knowledge (knowing the hatch), watching what’s rising on the surface, and keenly observing for rising walleye in the transition times of day. If all goes well, dropping your dry fly in the feeding zone should get you a nice eye’ on a dry!
Walleye on the fly is a fact! You can accomplish it with some simple walleye feeding knowledge, how to read the water of the river and lake you are on, and fishing in the transition periods. They may not fight like a some species, but it’s a challenge to land one on the fly rod!
Gear Info:
ROD: 6, 7, or 8 weight 4 piece 9 foot fly rod – medium to fast action. I recommend Thomas and Thomas fly rods
REEL: Smooth drag fly reel matching the rod weight with a spare spool. I recommend Ross Reels or Abel.
LINE: Cortland weighted forward (wf) , floating line that matches the rod weight (ie: 7 weight rod, you will need 7 weight line) and full fast sinking line (300 – 350 grain) – a spare spool is handy to switch out sinking to floating. Or you can buy 2 rods and 2 reels – one for floating and one for sinking – depending on your budget.
Tippet: I recommend 1 foot of 10 lb test steel bite tippet from Cortland lines. It’s a supple, nylon-coated, multistrand stainless-steel leader material that’s tie-able but is tough enough to stand up to the sharpest teeth bite. Many times walleye fly’s are eaten by pike! Prevent fly loss by using this specialized toothy pike tippet.
Leader: A short 3-4 foot flouro leader (10 / 12 lb test)
Best Knot to fly: Non-slip loop knot for maximum fly movement.
FLY’S: I use 1 to 3 inch streamer bait fish patterns in a wide variety of color combinations such as: silver, white and bright green, black, blue, and chartreuse all with a bit of flash added in – as you explore fly’s you will find what works. Don’t forget leach and crayfish patterns in sizes 2 and 4.
Popular names of fly’s that mimic the classic conventional jig + minnow are:
- Muddler minnow & Clouser minnow.
- More to consider: white cone-headed Zuddler, bead-headed Sparkle Leach,Clouser minnow in pink/white, chartreuse/white, and Tutti Frutti (pink/chartreuse) are all hot color combos.
- white or black gurgler for suspended fly technique.
- UV glow in the dark flashabou streamer (use a uv light on this fly and it’ll be extra bright for low light or depth).
Hooks: I use and recommend Mustad hooks.
Also, an excellent fly to add to any fly box is the classic “Woolly Bugger “. Where there are perch, use perch patterns! I have had walleye eat eight-inch perch pattern pike fly’s – Walleye are not shy if they want it!
Dry fly’s that are used for trout are also good for walleye: Take note of the hatches in your area, and match them in fly’s. A good dry fly box has a large variety of flies for the seasons.