Walleye (pickerel, doré)

Olive-gold fish with big, glassy, milky eyes, sharp canine teeth, a spiny first dorsal fin with a dark blotch at its rear base, and a WHITE tip on the lower lobe of the tail. Sauger look similar but have black spots on the dorsal fin and no white tail tip.

15–22 in (1½–4 lb).

About 3 ft and over 20 lb.

Minnows, shiners, smelt, young perch, leeches, crayfish and insects.

Schools along rocky reefs, weed edges and drop-offs; big glassy eyes let it feed in dim light, so it moves shallow at dawn, dusk and night.

Found from Ontario Great Lakes, Northern Ontario, Quebec, Canadian Prairies, Hudson Bay & Labrador and Yukon, NWT & Nunavut. Lakes and big rivers from Quebec to the Northwest Territories; western Lake Erie, the Bay of Quinte and Lake of the Woods are famous for big ones.

Lakes and big rivers from Quebec to the Northwest Territories; western Lake Erie, the Bay of Quinte and Lake of the Woods are famous for big ones.

5–30 ft.

5–30 ft along reefs, points and weed edges; deeper basins in midsummer.

Spring after the season opens, early summer, and fall; through the ice in winter.

Dawn, dusk and after dark; cloudy or choppy days all day.

No tide — wind blowing into a shoreline or reef ('walleye chop') turns them on.

Overcast, windy days; stable weather before a front.

Live minnows, leeches and nightcrawlers.

Jigs tipped with a minnow, spinner rigs ('crawler harnesses'), crankbaits and blade baits.

6½–7 ft medium-light spinning rod with a 2500-size reel.

1/8–3/8 oz jig heads; size 4–2 hooks on spinner and live-bait rigs.

6–10 lb mono, or 10 lb braid with a fluorocarbon leader.

6–10 lb fluorocarbon.

Drift or slowly troll a spinner rig with a nightcrawler along reefs and weed edges, or vertical-jig a minnow right on the bottom. At night, cast shallow-running crankbaits over rocky shoals.

When you catch one, mark the spot and fish it hard. Walleye travel in schools, and where there's one there are usually more.

Catch and release: wet your hands, keep the fish in the water when you can, and release it quickly. Use circle hooks and a dehooker.

Excellent eating — one of the best-tasting fish in its range.

Bleed and ice it right away. Fillet, then remove the skin and any dark bloodline.

Mild, sweet, flaky white fillets, maybe the best-eating freshwater fish in North America. It's the classic Canadian shore lunch, battered and fried over the fire.

Sharp teeth and spiny dorsal fins — use pliers; never go on ice less than 4 inches thick.

Ontario, Quebec and the prairie provinces close walleye during the spring spawn, and many lakes have slot limits that protect the big breeding females. Licenses, limits and seasons are set by each province, territory or state, and many lakes and rivers have special size limits, slot limits or closed spawning seasons — check the current regulations for the water you fish.

Keep only what you'll eat, release the rest quickly, and follow size and bag limits.