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
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!”
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
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!
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
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!
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!
LAST MOUNTAIN LAKE, SASKATCHEWAN
Although we have only fished Last Mountain Lake twice, we certainly can say it’s a fishing mecca. Our intended target species 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.
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:
MAXHAMISH LAKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Walleye in B.C., 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 northern-most 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 are the portable Garmin Kit, Fishfinder, and LiveScope that Pete used for the duration of the trip!
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 five bodies of water are truly some of the best Walleye fisheries in Canada!
2 Responses
calling lake walleye are skinny with big heads, a 3lb fish should be 6
Hey Wayne we found the same thing when we shot there however we had heard from excellent resources that the fish were much healthier a couple of years after we were there.
Are they back to that skinny state now?