If you have ever been to Ontario, Canada on a fishing trip, you know how great an experience it can be. The remote, cold-water lakes of Ontario provide very good habitat for the northern game species of Walleye, Northern Pike, Muskie, Lake Trout, and other lesser species. The best among these lakes is the Lake of the Woods in SW Ontario. It has some of the world's best walleye and other species habitat. This lake has become known as "Walleye Heaven" by professional fishermen, average fishermen, fish biologist, and sportsmen of all types.
If you fish in Ontario (or want to), how will you fish it? What kind of trip will you plan? How much of an adventure are you willing to take? You basically have three choices: "normal", "adventure", or "hybrid" (my terms). Let's take a look at each one to see where your interests lie.
Words travel fast about hot fishing spots and soon the masses hear about it and you'll find that each weekend more and more boats are fishing in that particular walleye fishing hot spot. If you are fishing "new" waters, don't be afraid to muscle yourself into the action.
2. Check out the landscape
Look for long stretches of beach/river front that are shallow with a sudden drop off. Daytime walleye fishing is best in these drop off areas. Don't be afraid to move into very deep cold waters to find your walleye.
Anyone who's been out in Ontario fishing one of the many lakes knows that your success will greatly depend on adjusting your techniques depending on the time of year. Although many Ontario fishing resorts are open year round, we will focus on spring, summer and fall fishing. Spring and fall fishing packages are a popular offering at many Ontario fishing lodges. There are any number of Ontario fishing resources that will provide tips and techniques for catching walleye (pickerel) but the basics are fairly straightforward with only a few seasonal adjustments required.
Walleye are among the most popular of all game fish. Although their original range was from Canada to Alabama, today walleye have been stocked in the waters of virtually every state in the U.S. and every province of Canada.
North of the border, walleye are known as pickerel, jackfish or dore, while American fishermen know them as walleyed pike, or simply as walleye. Although they are sometimes called walleyed pike, walleyes are actually a member of the perch family.
One of the things that make walleyes such a popular sport fish is their unpredictability. Walleyes may bit like crazy for a couple of days, only to disappear from view with no explanation. And when walleyes decide to stop taking the bait, no amount of coaxing can make them bite.
October may just be the best time to catch walleyes: catch rates are higher than at any time during the summer, the water's less crowded, the heat and bugs are tapering off, and the fall colors make every trip satisfying for the soul if not the stomach. People are putting away the rods and turning more toward the bow and shotgun. About the time the leaves start falling on the water, that’s when the action heats up. Walleyes are looking for food to increase their body weight before winter and to develop eggs for the spring spawn.
Some of the finest walleye fishing takes place in late spring and early summer, once spawning is completed and the fish begin to search for food. Forage fish are not abundant in this period and all predators are moving extensively, a phenomenon which makes it much easier to find the more aggressive fish. In the late spring and summer months, walleye move to deeper water and structure. Summer months can provide some of the most consistent fishing patterns and action. It’s during this period that walleye readily bite throughout the day and often best during the mid-day hours.
Every spring, I load up my walleye fishing arsenal with crankbaits. Silver ones, green ones, ones that look like a rainbow and some that resemble, well, my idea of an alien creature from outer space. I know that during the months of April and May I will find my fishing Valhalla around one of the many shallow reefs in Lake Erie’s Western Basin.
Shallow, jagged, rocky reefs offer a great fishing opportunity that begs for diving crankbaits. I’ve been using them for years, with a lot of success, to catch sneaky walleyes that are up on the reefs looking for bugs, crayfish and shiners. Forget about the notion that you won’t have any success on bright sunny days, ignore people who tell you that the skies must be cloudy gray for crankbaits, forget all of that nonsense. Any day is a good day to check it out.
Jig fishing for walleye is my favorite way to catch them and spring is my favorite time of year to do it.
I like to find a spot where a river or decent sized stream is flowing into a proven walleye lake.
A fish finder helps put the location on good structure and helps locate the walleye. You want to get fairly close to the river mouth but not so close you can't set anchor.
You also want to get close to the drop off but not so close you can’t cast a few feet. Weeds should be growing in the shallows before the drop off. This gives walleye a place to hide so they can easily ambush their prey and hopefully your jig or bait.
Usually walleye feed right off the bottom but sometimes they suspend above this area. This is another good reason to use a graph. You don't want to waste time trying to figure out what depth the walleye suspending.
Walleye fishing is a fascinating sport, and there is nothing like catching these fish to make a fishing trip enjoyable. The walleye is a species of fish that is native to Canada and the northern United States. The name walleye comes from the fact that the eyes of this fish reflect light, the way the eyes of a cat do. It is olive or gold in color, with the maximum size ever recorded of a walleye being 42 inches long and 25 pounds in weight. Walleye is considered by many people to be the best tasting freshwater fish, and sport fishermen seek it out as well as commercial fishing companies.
The first step to consider when walleye fishing is simply finding the fish. Wherever they are, chances are good that they are there to find food. Though walleye can often be found in various locations, one spot that will always be worth fishing is the weedline. Vegetation such as coontail and cabbage provide attractive habitats for minnows and small baitfish. Where they are, you will find walleye.
Weeds are a good bet in nearly any walleye fishing situation. In early spring, walleye will be in the shallower water which warms first. In summertime walleye will hide down in the weeds to cool. In the fall, they will be gorging for the upcoming winter. If hungry walleye are what you seek, head for the weedline and bring a tackle box with some options.
