Fly fishing for walleye. It’s not something you hear about that often, but it can be done! There are select few anglers that purposely target walleye while fly fishing (and even fewer that wade for walleye). This is a shame, as these fish (also known as pickerel in some areas) will readily take many fly patterns. They also offer a significant challenge to the fly angler in terms of actually finding them.
Keep reading for tips and techniques used to catch walleye while fly fishing. Specifically while wading in small to medium-sized rivers. This is the type of water body the majority fly anglers are most familiar with, and most are also very comfortable wading.
Even less commonly talked about is fly fishing for sauger (a close relative of walleye). Many of the Walleye fly fishing techniques outlined below can be applied to Sauger as well.
What are the best Walleye flies?
Let’s start with the most exciting topic, fly selection! Chances are, you already have some patterns that will work. Large trout streamers and typical smallmouth bass fly patterns are good starting points, but let’s get even more specific. The following patterns are what I have personally had success catching walleye on.
Streamers
When fly fishing for walleye, you’re going to be throwing streamers 99% of the time. Since walleye are highly piscivorous (IE they prefer feeding on other fish), this tends to be the most productive method of fly fishing for them.
Streamer choice depends heavily on what kind of forage is present in the waterbody you’re fishing. Many walleye populations feed heavily on yellow perch, and perch patterns are often a solid choice. Other common prey species include smelt, alewives, crayfish, golden shiners, and various small minnows. This is certainly not an exhaustive list of prey though, as walleyes eat a very wide variety of fish species.
Secondary to baitfish fly patterns are crayfish fly patterns. Again, the effectiveness of crayfish flies will be heavily dependent on crayfish abundance in the specific waterbody that you’re fishing. If crayfish are present in a river, you can expect any predatory fish (walleye included) to be feeding on them. I’ve even caught a musky on a crayfish pattern before!
The flies pictured below have all seen action and caught fish, so they’re a little rough around the edges.
Best streamer fly patterns for walleye
- Deceivers (During day, white and chartreuse).
- Zonker baitfish patterns such as slumpbusters (Prefer these while night fishing, dark colours such as black, purple, & red).
- Crayfish patterns.
- Bucktail patterns (such as whistlers).
- Clouser Minnows.
A note on streamer size. While pike sized flies will work on walleye, there’s no reason to go huge on the streamers to be successful. If you need more proof of this, just look at the tiny hooks ice anglers catch walleye on! Streamers sized 2″-4″ are the most consistently productive for me while fishing walleye. Even at night or in murky water.
You may have noticed in the picture earlier that I tie alot of my walleye flies to ride hook up. This is because walleye often (not always) hunt near the riverbed. Odds of getting snagged when fishing close to the bottom are greatly reduced when fishing a fly pattern that rides hook up. The three on the left are also somewhat weed resistant, as the zonker strip is positioned to hide the hook point (similar to a texas rigged finesse worm for folks familiar with the gear world).
If there’s any question on what size flies you should use, just look at what the lure anglers are using in your area. As mentioned earlier, it’s likely to be jigs and/or jerkbaits under 4″ long.
Topwater
“Walleye are not topwater fish!” I hear you say. While this generally holds true, there are exceptions. Not only can you catch walleye on topwater (such as popper flies), you can even catch them on dries! This is quite situational, but a ton of fun when it happens.
In order to catch walleye on topwater flies, you need to find them when they’re relatively shallow. You’re more likely to find them shallow during the spring and fall.
Right after Walleye have spawned in the spring, they will remain shallow for some time. As the season drags on, the fish will slowly disperse into deeper and cooler water in time for the summer heat.
In the fall they’ll often be found in shallower water again, after the heat and intense sunlight of summer has subsided.
Night fishing is also much more likely to produce hits on topwater. I’ll frequently get walleyes along weedbeds at night when I’m trying for largemouth bass and pike. They really seem to like Dalhberg divers (perhaps that’s just incidental as they’re one of my favourite topwater pike flies).
It isn’t completely necessary to target them at night though. I’ve had a few days in June where I could catch them consistently on gurglers in the middle of the day. I was quite surprised as I was targeting smallies, only to have a very successful day of walleye fishing in less than six feet of water.
Finally dries. I wouldn’t ever go out expecting to catch walleyes on dries. If you find yourself in the middle of a hatch involving a larger species of mayflies, try dry fly fishing. Often walleye will be selectively feeding on these insects during a hatch. If the walleye aren’t, something else will be, so you’ll still get some fly fishing action.
A large mayfly hatch (also colloquially known as shadflies) is a situation often lamented by gear anglers, as they claim the walleye aren’t biting on anything. We’ll the fish are feeding, they’re just feeding on insects instead of baitfish. Release your inner trout fly angler in these situations and match the hatch.
Best topwater and dry flies for walleye
- Gurgler
- Dalhberg Diver
- Poppers
- Large dry fly options *if* a hatch is happening
- Hexagenia mayfly patterns
- Green Drake mayfly patterns
- Large Stonefly patterns
- Salmonfly patterns
Nymphs
While nymphing is far from my first choice for targeting walleye, it can work. You just have to be a bit non-traditional in your nymph choices. Balanced leeches, light jigs, and large nymphs such as hellgrammites can all work on walleye.
One time while nymphing on the Grand River south of Toronto, I was only catching steelhead (admittedly a great problem to have, was targeting them that day), while the center pin and gear anglers next to me were catching just as many walleye as they were steelhead. I was curious as to why I wasn’t also getting a few walleye. I switched from the size 12 hares ear I was using to a size 4 balanced leech and immediately had a decent walleye on. This may just be an isolated incident, but I’ve took it as an indicator that smaller sized nymphs are largely a waste of time for walleye.
Where to Find Walleye in Rivers?
Walleye are a bit trickier to locate than many other fish species. One of the great joys of fly fishing is that it can be wonderfully challenging, and chasing walleyes is no exception. Targeting walleye on the fly will certainly test your water reading abilities. Luckily, there a few key pieces of information that can help us narrow down where walleye will be in any given river.
Walleye are highly predatory fish, so will hold in areas with plenty of forage available. They are also cool water fish, and will hold in water with appropriate water temperatures and oxygenation.
While walleye can be caught any time of day, your odds increase dramatically when fishing in low light conditions. For daytime fishing, try cloudy or rainy days. Otherwise fishing at night, dusk, and dawn offers the best chance at success. While they can be caught in the middle of a sunny day, that’s more the exception than the rule.
The more complex the habitat, the more likely it is to carry large predatory fish. A mix of shallow and deep water, fast and slow current, in addition to some interesting structure is ideal. This can support healthy populations and variety of baitfish, that in turn support larger predatory fish.
Current Seams
Like most predatory fish, walleye are geared to expend as little calories as possible for what they get in return. Current seams give them this opportunity. They can hold in the slack water just off the side of the main river current, waiting for baitfish to be swept to them.
Alternatively, you can find them holding right in the middle of the current, using structure that breaks the current as shelter. This could be a log, rock, or even a small depression that’s deeper than the surrounding riverbed. Anything that would slow the flow of water.
I’ve had alot of success swinging flies for walleye in a similar manner to salmon or steelhead fly fishing. Cast across a current seam into the current, and let the current carry the fly downwards and sideways to the edge of the current, keeping the line taught the whole time to detect strikes. Then retrieve the fly back along the slack side of the current seam. Approximately half the takes are right at the end of the swing, the remaining strikes are split between during the swing and the retrieve back.
Eddies
Similar to current seams, but eddies fish a bit differently. Eddies are areas alongside the main river channel where the water turns back on itself, creating a circular current. These are actually prime holding areas for many different species of fish. If there’s trout, pike, musky, or smallmouth in the river your fishing, I’d fully expect them to be in this type of structure aswell.
Throw a streamer in and strip back. Repeat. Cover water. Keep in mind fish usually face into the river current. In an eddie they’ll likely be facing the opposite direction of those fish in the main river channel. This is one of the few water structures that I might consider fishing a big nymph (hellgrammite or salmonfly) for walleyes, but streamers or crayfish patterns would still be my go-to flies of choice.
Shoals
Shoals are rocky shallower areas of the river. Walleye have a preference for rocky structure, and this is a common hunting structure for them. Baitfish will often hold in the shallows, while walleye will hold just off the deepside of the shoal.
When fishing this structure, work it thoroughly. Try casting to the deep end of the shoal and retrieving back to the shallow end, and the reverse as well. You’re trying to mimic either a baitfish wandering too far off the structure or a baitfish fleeing from the deep end back to the safety of the shoal.
Fishing perpendicular to the drop off can also be effective, as it maximizes the amount of time that the fly is in the strike zone.
Weedlines and inlets
Just because walleye prefer rocky structure, doesn’t mean they won’t utilize other types of shelter available to them. Weedlines are classic hiding places for predatory fish such as pike and largemouth bass, but walleye will also readily utilize vegetative cover when available.
I don’t typically present the fly right in the weeds, but rather just along the weedline. Cast parallel to the weedline and retrieve the fly back to you. I find night fishing dramatically ups the odds of hooking in a walleye when fishing along vegetation. If fishing around weeds during the day, you’re much more likely to hook into a pike or largemouth bass.
Weed resistance flies are a big plus when fishing around weeds. I usually use the construction of the fly itself to create weed resistance (such as a high-tie Clouser minnow), but you can add mono or wire weed guards as a solution as well.
Below Rapids, Dams, and inflows
Anywhere where water is flowing into a larger body of water really. Add waterfalls and chutes to this category for good measure.
The inflow of water creates interesting structures and currents that both baitfish and predatory fish will utilize. This is by far the type of water that I have the most success with, and often has a combination of the type of structures listed above.
Make sure fishing below dams is legal in your area. If the dam has a fish ladder present, you likely need to stay a certain distance away from it. Check your local regulations to be sure.
Fly Rod Setup for Fly Fishing for Walleye
Fly Rods for Walleye
A 7, or 8 weight is ideal for targeting Walleye. I use a 7 weight fly rod for all my Walleye fishing.
In terms of what action fly rod is best, it really depends more on your casting preference, and the type of water you fish. I use a medium-fast action rod as alot of areas I fish have high wind, and the extra casting power helps cut through this (FYI, line choice matters even more in this regard). You’re also not typically making short, delicate, precise casts while walleye fly fishing, so the added accuracy of slower action rod doesn’t provide much benefit.
Here’s a quick summary on the differences of fly rod action.
Fly Line for Walleye
As mentioned above, ideal weight is 7 or 8. Get a line weight that matches the rod you’re using. Overline if you like, but I’ve never found it necessary… especially with modern lines running heavier (on average) than older lines.
Most of your walleye fishing is going to be subsurface. I prefer to using sinking line instead of heavily weighted flies to get into the strike zone, as I find them provide a more natural presentation.
Specifically, I like sink tip lines for the type of water I typically fish. The sinking tip brings the fly down into the strike zone, but the floating running section of the fly line makes line management much easier than full sink line.
I currently run Scientific Anglers Sonar Titan Sink TIP, WF7F/S3 (Amazon Link)
Full sinking line has its place, typically not in smaller rivers though. If you’re fishing a larger river with deeper water a full sink line can help get down deep and keep the fly retrieving level. I’m a big fan of the Scientific Anglers Sonar Titan Hover/Sink 2 / Sink 4 (Amazon Link)
The issue with full sink line is that it sinks around your feet when wading, and makes line management quite difficult. A Stripping Basket (Amazon Link)
Fly Reel for Walleye
Fly reel selection isn’t as important as with some other species. Walleye aren’t exactly known for blistering runs, so drag isn’t an important consideration. Still, walleye share water and prey species with many fish that do put up quite a fight (steelhead around the Great Lakes come to mind), so I like to have a reel that can handle them.
While line pickup speed isn’t critical, it is a helpful consideration as a quality of life measure. Get a reel with atleast a moderately large diameter so you can retrieve your fly line at a decent pace.
Echo makes solid mid-range reels that are a good compromise between price and performance. I currently use an Echo Bravo Fly Reel (7/9 wt) (Amazon Link)
If Echo isn’t your brand of choice, I run a TFO NV reel with my floating line, and love it.
Leader & tippet choices for Walleye Fishing
I’m combining leader and tippet, as I generally don’t use tapered leaders throwing streamers for walleye.
When fishing streamers, I run a 3 to 6 foot leader of 15 pound flouro, specifically Seaguar Abrazx (Amazon Link)
First, walleye typically hold in rocky areas. Since we’re retrieving the fly near the bottom, the line is going to hit alot of rocks througout the day/night, so you need a line that can hold up to this abuse. This seagaur line is particularly abrasion-resistant, being designed specifically to fish in heavy cover.
Secondly, the water that I fish for walleye in also has a very healthy population of pike and musky. While not bite proof, I’ve found this line to be remarkably bit resistant. I’ve landed a large number of pike, and one incidental musky while using this line. Only two bite offs to date. If you’re specifically targeting pike or musky though, you’ll want to use a heavier leader to eliminate bite offs
When fishing walleye in tributaries with steelhead present, I’ll go down to 8 or 10 pound flouro. I’m just as interested in the steelhead as the walleye, and need to account for the often line-shy nature of salmonids.
If using floating line, the same rules apply for line strength. Just switch from flouro to mono. The reason for this is fluorocarbon lin sinks, while mono line is bouyant.
Other Equipment Recommended
Headlamp
Night fly fishing offers the best odds for catching walleye. A Headlamp (Amazon Link)
There’s no need to get overly fancy or expensive when choosing a fishing headlamp. The main feature to look for, is to make sure it has both a bright and dim setting. The dim setting should be red. Dim red light helps save your night vision and is much less likely to scare fish whenever it’s turned on.
Another tip is to face away from the water anytime you turn the headlamp on. This prevents the light from shining directly on the water you plan on fishing, which is likely to spook any fish.
Fishing Pliers
While not to the extent of pike and musky, walleye are toothy critters. You don’t want to stick your hand in their mouth to remove a deep hooked fly. A pair of quality pliers ensure the safety of both the fish and your hands when removing a fly.
While a decent pair of Fishing Pliers (Amazon Link)
Using barbless hooks is another way to make removing hooks much easier.
Net
A typical trout net is sufficient for most walleye you will catch. If you expect to land some larger fish, go with a net sized for steelhead or salmon.
Aside from the things listed above, any other standard fly fishing gear you’d bring for targeting any other species (Fly boxes, waders, boots, snippers, scissors, etc)
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