Walleye (Yellow Pickerel) Seasonal Movements
In order to successfully fish for walleye (yellow pickerel) all season long anglers need to be aware of and follow the walleye (yellow pickerel) as they perform their seasonal movements. While it is commonly understood that fish move shallow to spawn in spring, out to deeper waters in summer, and back towards spawning areas prior to winter it is not very well understood just how far these fish will or can be expected to move in any given day, season, or year! In this blog post we will cover our own walleye (yellow pickerel) fishing experiences as well as what the formal research on the topic has discovered. In short; walleye move a lot, way more than you think.
Seasonal Movements: An Overview
Before we dive into the specifics on seasonal movements it is crucial to remember that all fish have one goal: survival. Their actions serve the best interest of their survival. This means spending the majority of their time in areas that optimize growth! Ample food supplies, preferred water temperatures, shelter, and ability to adapt to changing conditions allow this to happen. At times it may be favorable for fish to move areas completely to optimize their growth; especially if there are not very large areas creating huge forage populations that can sustain them. In simple or small bodies of water the musky seasonal movements are straight forward as there are relatively few areas which have the right conditions needed in each particular season. The larger the bodies of water the more area's that can suit the needs of your target species in each season. On small bodies of water these movements will typically be shorter while on larger bodies of water the movements can be longer to reach the next suitable area. As the bodies of water become more complex the seasonal movements can also increase in complexity.
Fish Movements In Simple Bodies of Water
We like to define simple bodies of water as those that are open, near bowl shaped, single or dual basin, with minimal structure. In simple bodies of water the difference between deep and shallow water is just how far off the bank you are with the deepest being somewhere in the middle. There is very little structure that connects different depths. Simple bodies of water warm up fairly uniform. This lets fish use smaller area's and generally move shallower when temperatures warm in spring an deeper as they warm too much in the summer; which simply means fish will move closer to the bank and further away from the bank.
Fish Movements In Complex Bodies of Water
We like to define complex bodies of water as those that have multiple areas that could be looked at as their own lake, have complex structural features that mix shallow, deep, and mid depth areas. On complex bodies of water finding deep water is not just about going further offshore. Water temperatures in complex bodies of water DO NOT warm up uniformly. In fact, the temperatures between a shallow bay system and the main lake can be 10-15 degrees F difference at times! Not only does this complicate how fish distribute but also the area's suitable for them at any given time throughout the year.
Walleye (Yellow Pickerel) Seasonal Movements Georgian Bay
The short answer around the topic of seasonal movements and how far walleye (yellow pickerel) will move throughout the year is .... Walleye are a cool water species that have enhanced visibility in low light conditions. The location of walleye in summer will be dependent on the thermocline in a particular body of water. Their enhanced vision in low light conditions also makes walleye very good at detecting when anglers are nearby. Often, walleye will scatter well before you can see them on sonar and without intentionally making long casts you may not know they are around. This is especially true under high visibility conditions (sunny, low wind, clear water). If you're just learning how to fish for walleye, exploring a new body of water, or just want to be sure you're not missing out on fish in your current body of water being able to put some limits on the range of areas you look will certainly allow you to be more efficient and stay in high percentage areas. So, just how far apart can these areas be?
In our experience fishing on Georgian Bay there is always a higher concentration of walleye near deep water (>50 ft). While some walleye will continue to use the shallow weedy areas in dark water spawning river systems the vast majority will move to areas with close access to the thermocline. Wintering areas's seem to be close to spawning sites (<10 km) with vertical structure between shallow and access to water over 40 feet deep. The summer haunts we have found have been up to 30 km away from closest known spawning site although it is difficult to tell how many fish are spawning on wind swept shoals rather than in rivers or just how far the fish have come from! In all cases water temperature appears to play a big role in limiting the movements. In colder years more fish remain close to spawning sites where as in warmer years when the area's further away from spawning sites hold more walleye. The same is true when comparing more northern sections (deeper + colder) and southern sections (shallower + warmer) where the northern waters don't warm as much and so walleye tend to stick closer to spawning areas with sufficient deep water nearby.
Walleye (Yellow Pickerel) Tracking Studies
Anecdotal evidence is a good starting point but what about all the fish that aren't being caught? What if they aren't being caught because they aren't around or moved so far nobody is fishing for them? What if they are close by and you're driving past them all? The only way to truly understand the limits of musky movements is through formal research and tracking studies. There have been a number of studies around this topic conducted over the years for scientific and fisheries management purposes. We've taken a look and tried to extract the information that will benefit anglers the most. All studies can be accessed by clicking the hyperlinked text at the start of each paragraph.
A Lake Huron study collected spawning walleye from a Saginaw Bay tributary and implanted with acoustic transmitters. 95% of the walleye left the tributary and went into Saginaw Bay. 37% continued through Saginaw Bay into Lake Huron (a minimum distance of over 80 km). Remarkably 8% of walleye were detected by a receiver more than 350 km away while also showing that the population used almost the entirety of the western shore of Lake Huron (spanning 380+ km excluding Saginaw Bay). The first Walleye to reach the receiver 350 km away did so in 30 days leading to an average pace of almost 12 km per day. 64% of the walleye returned the following spring indicating spawning site fidelity and also that walleye may not spawn each year.
Walleye in the Bay of Quinte showed extremely high spawning site fidelity at over 90% of fish while less than 10% of fish remained in the Bay all season long. An interesting finding to note was that females spent less time in spawning rivers, migrated to the main lake earlier, and generally travelled further than males. This echoes the results of numerous musky studies. The majority of fish entered into the main lake quickly after the spawn with the average day of entry May 14. From the spawning rivers in the BOQ this is a minimum distance of 30 km (meaning less than 10% of fish stay within 30 km of spawning sites!). Most fish returned into the bay in early November to early December. The largest migration in this study was a whopping 330+ km!
Lake Erie walleye studies show some compelling information. While large scale movements are noted there are also populations which remain more local to spawning sites. Throughout the year Western Basin Spawning Walleye often made movements of over 400 km to the east where as the Eastern Basin Spawning Walleye remained within the eastern basin (dimensions approximately 40 x 75 km). With the eastern basin being the only part of Lake Erie with depths greater than 80 ft this may be the only area where forage and thermal regulation requirements can be met in comparison to Lake Ontario or Lake Huron which the majority of the body of water hosts depths greater than 80 ft.
How Far Do Walleye Move?
After taking all of the above into consideration there are not many limits we can put on the question "how far do walleye move?". Some key points to bound your search for walleye; especially on big waters.
Late Fall and winter will be the highest concentration near spawning sites
Majority of walleye head back to main lake extremely early (Early May)
Few walleye stick around spawning sites all year.
Walleye can travel extreme distances (>300 km) throughout the year if there is room to move.
Walleye seem to prefer access to water with depths >80 ft throughout most of the year
To learn more about how to target walleye throughout the entire season, identify spawning sites, summer haunts, and wintering areas be sure to take our course at the link below:
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