Like most other predatory fish, walleyes
are opportunists. They eat whatever foods nature provides them. In many mesotrophic lakes,
walleyes feed primarily on yellow perch, often stalking them at night on shoals less than
5 feet deep. In many other waters, they frequently eat smelt, which they sometimes follow
into water over 100 feet in depth. In southern reservoirs, walleyes commonly suspend to
feed on gizzard or threadfin shad, pursuing them in wide expanses of open water.
Although small fish make up the bulk of the
diet in most waters, there are times when walleyes feed almost exclusively on insects,
both immature and adult forms. Occasionally, walleyes eat snails, leeches, frogs,
mudpuppies, crayfish and even mice.
The abundance of natural food is the major
factor that determines how well walleyes bite. When food is scarce, they spend much of
their time moving about in search of a meal, so the chances are greater that they will
take your bait or lure. When food is plentiful, the opposite is true.
Most species of baitfish spawn in spring. The
young they produce are usually too small to interest adult walleyes until midsummer.
Because yearling or adult baitfish are often scarce in spring, walleyes are hungry, and
fishing is usually good. The action slows down in summer when they begin to feed on the
newly available crop of young baitfish. Fishing picks up again in fall when predation and
other natural mortality have substantially reduced the crop of young baitfish. Fishing success can change dramatically in a body of
water from year to year, depending on whether or not there is a good baitfish hatch.
Occasionally, baitfish become so abundant that walleyes are almost impossible to catch in
midsummer. When baitfish are this plentiful, fishing usually remains slow through the
winter months, and may stay slow through the next summer.
In some years, adverse weather prevents
baitfish from spawning successfully. As a result, forage is scarce and walleyes bite well
through the summer and into the winter.
