💧In Today’s Newsletter
Early spring is prime time to target pre-spawn walleye, but it’s also when conditions demand the most from anglers.
In this issue, we dive into how to safely fish frigid waters and dial in tactics to put more fish in the boat. We also look at understanding walleye behavior and choosing the right lures for every scenario.
Whether you’re chasing your first bite of the season or refining a decades-old approach, these insights will help you unlock one of freshwater fishing’s most addictive and delicious species.
— Kayak Angler Newsletter Editors
Conquer Cold Water To Target Pre-Spawn Walleye
Early spring is a prime time to target walleye on the upper Columbia River, but cold water represents a potential threat to kayak anglers through hypothermia and can accelerate the drowning process.
Want to catch your limit in safety and comfort? Suit up and follow these safety tips for cold water kayak fishing.
How To Catch Walleye—A Comprehensive Guide
In-depth tips for when, where, and what to use for walleye fishing
Musky may be bigger and meaner, and bass may dominate south of the Mason-Dixon line, but both fish play second fiddle up north—where frying pan-friendly walleye are the most popular gamefish across much of the upper United States and Canada.
Walleye can be addictive puzzles to solve. They swim in a range of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs and can be caught with both live bait and artificial lures in deep water, shallow water, muddy water, and clear water. Many anglers default to live baits and finesse tactics for walleye, but they can be shockingly aggressive fish that unleash slobber-knocker hits on giant jerk-baits, stickbaits, spinners, and crankbaits. With so many variables in play, it can be a challenge to know when, where, and how to catch them.
That challenge has lured me for 40 years. Living most of my life in walleye country, I’ve jigged silty Iowa rivers and windy South Dakota reservoirs, cast pristine rivers in Wisconsin and Michigan, and trolled weedy Minnesota lakes and choppy Great Lakes. I’ve been skunked, skipped class to limit out, and caught thousands in my lifetime from shore, power boats, and kayaks. Based on decades of successes—and failures—this guide will help beginners and experienced anglers catch this legendary and tasty fish…
Walleye Behavior:
Understanding the natural behaviors of these fish can help you catch more and bigger fish:
• They primarily feed on smaller fish, particularly minnows, shad, ciscoes, alewives, perch, and other gamefish.
• They’re also opportunistic feeders more than willing to munch on crustaceans, invertebrates, frogs, and underwater insects.
• You might think those eerie eyes are clouded by cataracts. However, they’re extremely sensitive to light, which helps these fish see well in low-light conditions.
• Walleye are most active at night and overcast days.
Newsflash: The Best Walleye Fishing Is Not In The Midwest
Best Walleye Lures For 2026
Walleye are wily predators. In my experience, they’re also bipolar—secretive and often slow to bite on sunny days and manic, aggressive biters when the clouds or moon come out. This means the best lure to fish for walleye can fall on opposite ends of the tackle continuum.
On one hand, you’ve got subtle lures and live bait rigs that probe the depths where they lurk and opportunistically feed. On the other hand, you’ve got bigger lures that they’ll bash in dirty water and low-light conditions.Saltwater anglers are signing up with the Release Over 20 movement to set an upper limit on speckled trout to ensure their breeding success.
My recommendation: mix classic walleye lures that have produced for decades with some newer models that cover the bases for most tactics and conditions—whether you are jigging, swimming, cranking, or trolling. When I’m fishing for walleye, I carry an arsenal of the following.
Best Jig For Bottom Bouncing
Northland Fireball Jig
Basic Cheap Plastic For Walleye
Berkley Powerbait Original Power Grub
Best Swimming Jig For Walleye
VMC Mooneye Jig
Learn The Best Way To Catch Fall Walleye
Trolling stickbaits is the best way to get fast action and catch some tasty walleye.
Why You Must Fish The Finger Lakes
The waters of the Finger Lakes host trophy walleye, bass, musky, pike and trout.
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