Ontario-Great Lakes Area Fact Sheets

Walleye

General Description

The walleye is the largest member of the perch family of fishes and has the following characteristics:

• an elongate, slightly compressed body and a bluntly pointed head;
• a long, blunt snout which does not extend beyond the upper jaw;
• the back and top of the head are dark green; the sides are golden yellow; and the underside is milk-white or yellow-white; and
• the dorsal and caudal fins are speckled, the pelvic fins are yellow or orange-yellow; and the pectoral fins are dark or pale olive.

Distribution

The walleye is native to the freshwaters of North America. In Canada, it can be found in the St. Lawrence tributaries in Quebec, north to the east coast of upper James Bay, northwest from the Hudson Bay coast in Ontario to Athabasca, Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes, north in the MacKenzie River to the delta, south through the Peace River drainage of northeastern British Columbia and south, east of the foothills, to southern Alberta.

Habitat and Life History

The walleye is a cool-water species that prefers turbid waters in either large, shallow lakes or rivers, provided they are deep orturbid enough to give shelter in daylight. As their eyes are very sensitive to bright light, walleye often use sunken trees, boulders, weed beds, or thick layers of ice and snow as a shield from the sun. In more turbid water, walleye are more active during the day. Walleye spawn in the spring or early summer, depending on latitude and water temperature. Adults migrate to the rocky areas in white water below impassable falls and dams in rivers, or boulder to coarse-gravel shoals of lakes. Spawning takes place at night and the eggs fall into crevices in the rocky substrate. The eggs hatch in 12 - 18 days and by 10 - 15 days after hatching, the young disperse into the upper levels of open water.

Food Habits

As the walleye increases in size, its diet shifts from invertebrates to fishes. It is an active feeder during the whole year and can be angled summer and winter.

Economic Importance

The walleye is a major commercial and sport fish in Ontario and the Prairie Provinces, and a sport fish in Quebec. It is an important species in both the summer sport fishery and for ice fishermen in the winter.

Walleye is easily filleted and prepared and is a prime species on the market.

Fishing Facts

Walleye form a dominant part of the fish fauna of central Canada, particularly in the boreal forest zone.

Further Information

For further information, please contact your local DFO office: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans-habitat/habitat/aboutus-apropos/regions/arctic-arctique_e.asp?#1