Top 5 Walleye Fisheries in Canada

Posted on by Pete Bowman

Angelo and Pete have put together five of their favourite Walleye fisheries in Canadian destinations. They said it was difficult to keep it down to five because Canada has so many great Walleye waters.

So without further ado, in alphabetical order:

BAY OF QUINTE, ONTARIO

Pete trolled a rare Rebel Spoonbill Minnow “Angelo Viola” signature series in emerald green for this beast.

The Bay Of Quinte in Southern Ontario is one of the world’s most popular and well-known trophy Walleye fisheries. There are very few places on this planet that can match Quinte’s end of the year tally for big fish.

Pete grew up fishing Quinte and has seen its potential. He’s since traversed many provinces for Walleye, yet he still recommends the Bay of Quinte as his #1 choice for a double-digit Walleye.

“The next number on my hit-list,” says Pete, “is fifteen pounds… and every time I’m on the water in late fall, that number is a possibility!”

Ang trolled a Bagley’s Deep Diving Shad crankbait to catch this beauty.

Angelo’s big-fish numbers on Quinte would blow your mind. His average is almost unheard of. Get this, he’s boated more fish over five pounds than under. That’s a phenomenal record and one that you can’t pull off in many other places.

Trolling still accounts for the highest numbers of big Walleye captured on Quinte. Yes, there are a lot of big fish taken by jigging and casting but trolling by far sits atop the lunker list.

The guys would also like to ask that if you catch a giant and feel like getting it mounted, please consider a replica mount and release your trophy to spawn another day.

Here’s an article from back in 2007 on late Quinte Walleye.

We suggest using a Bagley Deep Diving Shad like Ang did to catch his big fish from above. You’ll have great success in Walleye Fisheries like this!

If you’re looking for spots to use as a home base, we highly recommend Picton Harbour Inn and Merland Park—both offer direct access and fantastic accommodations.

 

CALLING LAKE, ALBERTA

Jigs tipped with salted minnows was deadly on Calling Lake

Calling Lake was such a surprise to Angelo and Pete. There were so many Walleye here that it blew both of their minds. Once they found the “hotspot,” it was pretty much a fish on every drop of the jig.

“As you can see from the skinny bodies of the Walleye, food was scarce for these fish,” says Ang, referring to Walleye pictured above. “Hence the crazy biting pace they put on. We were dropping down jigs tipped with salted dead minnows (there was no live bait allowed at our time of fishing there). We hit an area near Volkswagen Point, dropped the anchor and proceeded to vertical jig up Walleye to our heart’s content.”

At one point in the trip, Angelo said that he had to try catching a Walleye on a plain jig-head, no meat attached. Guess what—he did it!

If you watch this episode, it’s very easy to see why it’s one of Ang and Pete’s favourite Walleye fisheries!

Doubleheaders were the norm on this trip

From what we have heard, things have slowed down in numbers on Calling Lake. However, our source Ray Kholruss (a local guide there) says Calling Lake is still awesome and the fish are much fatter now!

LAKE WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

Giants like this one are taken every year on vertically jigged rattle baits on Lake Winnipeg

Lake Winnipeg is one of the biggest Walleye fisheries on this list with around 24,514 square kilometres or 15,232 square miles of surface area. It’s one of Manitoba’s most consistent Walleye producers and is a true trophy Walleye fishery. The best part of this water is its southern end is only about 50 kilometres north of the city of Winnipeg. Don’t let that stat fool you though, because it is a very long drive if you start at the south end and move north.

Lake Winnipeg is an every-season producer. However, it’s really known for its ice fishing. Every season, more gigantic Walleye are taken through the ice here than pretty much anywhere else in the province.

There are lots of outfitters to hook up with if you aren’t from around the area. We recommend checking out Lake Winnipeg Outfitters. Check out Hunt Fish Manitoba for even more great spots!

Open water is great here too

We recommend trying out some of these baits below. They’ll not only work on Lake Winnipeg, but all the lakes listed here and more!

CONTINUE TO PAGE 2 FOR MORE TOP CANADIAN WALLEYE FISHERIES AND HOTSPOTS.

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63 Replies to “Top 5 Walleye Fisheries in Canada”

  7. FISHING WALLEYE IN THE ST-LAWRENCE AND LAKE ST-FRANCIS HAS TO TO BE THE BEST WALLEYE FISHING I’VE EVER DONE. USING MINNOWS,WORMS OR LEACHES I’VE HAD LOTS OF SUCCESS.IF YOUR EVER DOWN IN CORNWALL OR LANCASTER TRY FISHING THESE GREAT FIGHTING FISH

  27. Great story I a few years ago the gover moment open 1 weekend fishing atprimrose lake this lake is mostly in Saskatchewan but the part in Alberta is in the bombing range we fished for about3 hrs and all 4 of us caught our limititwith the smallest walleye being about 3.5 lb the biggest was around 8.5 lb great fishing I am not sure if they have opened tis lake up since for fishing though I have to admit it was a little erie not know in if a bomb would explode while we were our there thanks again Pete and Ang

    1. Well here i am at sturgeon Lake in North Alberta. This is day 4 of 8 and having
      a great time. Keepers on Walleye are between 45 and 50 centimeters and no pike retention. Yesterday by my self had a double hitter with a pike and walleye. After releasing 6 walleye under size this double header gave me a Walleye snack being just 45cm. i tried not to lose too much in the prep but i need more practice. Being a senior, shake and bake and butter was the trick. My first Walleye and it was great. Thanks for the tricks i learned on you show boys but let me tell you, if you want fun fishing Sturgeon lake is a must. 3 more days. My second feast on Walleye. Tight lines.

  38. I love the walleye too but there are alot of lakes around ottawa that should be shut down for ice fishing to bring the number back ,it is a proven fact that this helps ,we need to protect this fisheries.

    1. Hey Squarehead, we didn’t forget Tobin, we simply chose lakes that we have fished for Walleye and went from there. That said, we added Tobin onto our top Saskatchewan lakes in this article https://fishncanada.com/top-5-saskatchewan-lakes-for-giant-fish/ . We fished Pike there years ago and it was my absolute favorite Pike trip of all time. Giant fish, lots of them and a unique way of catching them. If you haven’t seen this show, here it is https://fishncanada.com/tv-episode/episode-402-tobin-lake-pike/

      Thanks for commenting

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