Walleye

Where to go

Walleye lake by lake

Ranked by how good the fishing actually is, not alphabetically. If a lake is not on this list, it is because the fish is not worth targeting there.

1. 01

   Lake Erie

   Lake Erie is the best walleye water in North America and it is not a close argument. If you get one walleye trip a year, spend it in the western basin between Port Clinton and the Bass Islands.

   Prime time: Late April through June, then again from mid-September into November · Depths: 18–34 ft over hard bottom in the western basin; 55–72 ft east of Huron by August

   Full guide
2. 02

   Lake Huron

   Saginaw Bay is the second-best walleye fishery in the Great Lakes and it fishes nothing like Erie — shallower, weedier, and far more about structure than open-water schools. Come for June and October, and be willing to run 20 miles when the fish leave the bay.

   Prime time: Mid-May through July inside Saginaw Bay, then September through early November off the Thumb · Depths: 8–18 ft on the inner bay bars; 22–40 ft on the outer bay and along the Thumb shoreline

   Full guide
3. 03

   Lake St. Clair

   St. Clair is an overlooked walleye lake sitting between two great ones, and its best fishing happens after dark in water shallow enough to wade. Come for the spring and fall night bite in Anchor Bay and the delta, not for a mid-summer daytime trolling program.

   Prime time: Late April through early June, and again from late September into November · Depths: 6–14 ft over grass and sand; 18–24 ft along the dredged shipping channel edges

   Full guide
4. 04

   Lake Michigan

   Lake Michigan's open water is salmon country, but its bays hold some of the largest walleye in the system. Fish Green Bay and the Bays de Noc in spring and the drowned river mouths in summer, and skip the main basin entirely.

   Prime time: Late March through May in the bays, then late June through August on the reef and open-bay pattern · Depths: 4–12 ft on spring spawning gravel; 18–36 ft over mid-bay reefs and mud in summer

   Full guide
5. 05

   Lake Ontario

   Lake Ontario is the thinnest walleye water on this site, and where it is good it is very good — the eastern basin bays hold a real population and almost nobody targets them. Fish Chaumont Bay and Black River Bay after dark in May and again in October.

   Prime time: Mid-May through June, and again from late September into November · Depths: 6–15 ft over shoals and weed edges at night; 25–45 ft in open eastern basin water by midsummer

   Full guide