Top 5 Walleye Fisheries in Canada

Angelo and Pete have put together 5 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 15 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 5 lbs 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 let your trophy back 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

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 (pictured above)” says Ang “food was scarce for these fish 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 till’ 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 favorite 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 50km+ north of the city of Winnipeg. Don’t let that stat fool you though, because it is a very long drive if you started at the south end and moved 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!

• Eurotackle Z Darter
• Tulas
• Johnson™ ThinFisher™
• Rapala Ultra Light Rippin

LAST MOUNTAIN LAKE, SASKATCHEWAN

An incidental Walleye on a big Swimbait for Pete

Although we have only fished Last Mountain Lake twice, in that time we certainly can say it’s a fishing mecca. Our intention was Northern Pike however the amount of incidental Walleye we caught blew our minds.

In talking further with Rob Schulz of G&S Marina, he states that the Walleye fishing is as good or better than the Pike. That is incredible since the Pike fishing was second to none.

Incidentally, G&S has everything you need for an awesome fishing stay.

Rob also stated that the late fall Walleye bite is out of this world. October is a phenomenal month if you want a consistent catch of huge Walleye.

Long and lean as well as short and stalky, they are all here in Saskatchewan.

Big Walleye and big Pike, this western lake is a beauty!

Here are a couple of our episodes from Last Mountain featuring both Pike and Walleye.

Episode #471: Last Mountain Swimbait Pike
Episode #477: Short Strike Monsters

Want a couple of Pike Hotspots that produced gorgeous incidental Walleye from Last Mountain Lake?

Hotspot #1: Last Mountain Swimbait Pike
Hotspot #2: Short Strike Monsters

These are what we used for baits while we were there:

• Big Hammer Swimbait – Silver Phantom 5-Inch
• Big Hammer Jig Head

MAXHAMISH LAKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Ang trolled a suspending minnow bait for this gorgeous Maxhamish Walleye

Walleye in BC you say? You bet!

Angelo ventured here years ago with his grandson Nik and they had a ball catching and releasing all kinds of big Walleye. When we first heard that British Columbia had Walleye Fisheries, we were in shock. Especially since Maxhamish is located near the Rocky Mountains in the northernmost portion of the province.

“I returned to Northern Rockies Lodge and to Maxhamish,” says Ang “with high hopes on not only the fishing, but to show Pete this Walleye mecca that Nik and I found. I’m pretty sure Pete was as blown away as I was”.

They trolled and cast their way to a huge number of gorgeous bright gold Walleye.

This was our hot trolling bait fished with no weight on a relatively long line:

Pete then made a return visit in 2019 and with the aid of a portable fish finder, he found fish that he figures no one else had ever seen.

Here’s the portable Garmin Kit, Fishfinder, and LiveScope that Pete used for the duration of the trip!

Pete caught this beauty while casting a jig and swimbait while Ang was trolling his minnowbait

Walleye like the ones that Ang and Pete are holding here are commonplace on Maxhamish Lake.

Obviously, this list is just the tip of the iceberg, but we had to start somewhere. That said, these 5 bodies of water are truly some of the best Walleye fisheries in Canada!