Best Water Temperatures for Walleye Fishing (All Seasons)
We all love fishing for walleyes but many folks stress over water temperature. Many anglers will swear temperature X is the best temperature and they won’t bite when temperature Y is reached. So is there a “real” best temperature to catch walleye at?
The best water temperature to catch walleye at is between 65-70° but any temperature above 35° will yield walleye willing to bite.
| Season | Ideal Water Temperature | How to Catch Walleye |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | 42°+ F | Live or dead bait; minnow imitations fished along deep rock |
| Spring | 45-60° F | Jigs, live minnows, or soft plastics in water 10-25 feet deep along northern shores |
| Summer | 60-70° F | Live bait, soft plastics, or crankbaits along humps or deep weedlines |
| Fall | 45-60° F | Slower presentations down deep in colder weather and up shallower in warmer weather |
Water temperature is an important factor that drives walleye feeding and can dictate how easy they are to catch. In this article, we will really break down the importance of water temperature and how it impacts walleye fishing.
We will also show you the best water temperatures during various seasons and how the temperature of water will dictate where walleye move.
I strongly recommend getting a small fishing thermometer like this one which is castable and will give you a quick and accurate temperature reading. Just tie it to your line for casting or hang it from a lanyard.
Best Water Temperature for Walleye
Scientists who study fish have discovered that walleye feed optimally when all other conditions are identical at water temperatures 65-70°.
Many walleye are caught through the ice in ponds and lakes during winter months when the water temperature is much colder, but the best open water temperature begins at 65° and extends to 75°. Walleye do not like warm water as bass and perch will tolerate.
You won’t find them in the shallows during July and August, but you will find them in certain underwater structures.
Anyone who tells you where you’ll find walleye every time in a lake or river is probably going to tell you elaborate tales of the “one that got away” as well.
In truth, there is no one area that walleye will inhabit. The surface temperature when the water has warmed up to the 65-70° range will extend down to the 10-foot depth consistently.
You can throw the book at walleyes at this point. They’ll hit on bobbers set to depths from three to eight feet, your drop shot rig will work if you want to bottom bounce, and the ever-useful lead head jig with a plastic minnow will draw them in as well.
At this temperature range, walleye begin to hunt around rocky structures. Sometimes these are along the shoreline, sometimes on the submerged shoulders of islands, but usually on hidden rocky piles beneath the surface.
A map or your depth finder is crucial at this point. Survey the area before you cast in your line. Find any underwater valleys or crevices that extend down at least 10 feet.
This fishing barometer is perfect for the novice and serious angler. It will take an accurate reading of the current barometric conditions and tell you if the fishing conditions are poor, good, or great.
One tool that will tell you exact water temperatures and give you an accurate picture of the situation below the surface is this castable fishfinder by Deeper. I own myself and really like it. Check it out for yourself.
For a complete list of the baits, rods, reels, and tackle for better walleye fishing, check out my recommended walleye fishing gear list. It is full of awesome products that are proven in the walleye fishing world.
There are certain locations such as spillways where you can still catch walleye during the day from the bank but the reduced light times of sunrise, sunset, and night will be your best bets.
I wrote a complete guide to selecting the best time of day for walleye fishing that you should check out. If you want to learn how to catch walleye from shore, you need to check out this article.
How Water Temps Affect Walleye Feeding
Walleye, like all aquatic creatures, have certain behavioral patterns they follow. Fishing for walleye requires the consideration of a wide variety of factors for success.
Some of those important factors are water temperature, water clarity, wind, weather conditions, high or low-pressure fronts, rain, snow, and depth of the water.
Water temperature is one of many factors walleye fishermen consider when deciding just how to fish for them. First a comment on water temperature for our purposes, water temperature is determined at the surface, or at best a foot or two below.
You can use a thermometer or check the transducer reading on the depth finder under your boat for accurate readings.
There are a few expensive gadgets that now claim to determine water temperature at various depths, but they are not reliable, although knowing where a band of 70° water is on a lake that has a surface temperature much higher would be a great benefit for anglers since walleye are at their feeding peak in water from 65-75°. Walleye
A little water chemistry to set the stage. Coldwater holds more oxygen than warm water. You won’t find walleye in high-temperature water above 80° since they can’t survive on the limited air available.
You will find them in water as cold as 35° since the water at that temperature is packed with oxygen. The caveat is that as cold-blooded creatures, the colder the water, the less active walleye are.
Seasonal Considerations & Water Temperature
Walleye are not finicky hunters, they’ll work the surface of submerged rocks, hang around trees and other structures, or cruise along sandbars with equal interest.
Walleye respond to three prompts when they’re feeding, water temperature, structure, and availability of food.
You can be out on a northern lake in the summertime, see hundreds of fish with a fish finder on the screen in your boat, and not get a single one to take an interest since you can’t determine the water temperature at the depth of those fish on the viewfinder, your best guess is that the water is too cold for them to be active enough to feed.
Surface temperature is a guide, but not always an accurate one. A surface temperature of 75° will usually extend down 10 feet if the water is clear. If it’s murky, the lake temperature will be colder just three feet down.
If you want to learn what are the best fighting fish to catch to include saltwater and freshwater, please check out this helpful article I wrote. To see my complete breakdown of the best water temperatures for fishing (all species both freshwater and saltwater), please check out this helpful article.
Winter
Water temperature is easy to determine in the winter months since it’s frozen. What isn’t frozen is the water beneath that ice, where temperatures can range from 33° up to 50° in deeper lakes.
As winter progresses, the water temperature drops as a rule. If the ice is clear, the sun will keep water temperatures higher than possible with cloudy ice.
Temperature bands are more constant during winter months since wind and inflow don’t have the churning effect they do the rest of the year.
If you could find 55° water in the middle of winter, you’d catch more fish, but determining the temperature is a problem.
Trial and error will allow you to find the temperature the fish are hanging out in. A little known use of a depth finder is that it works just fine through the ice.
Drop it in the hole and check the depths, while looking for fish. If the fish are all floating around at the same depth, you’ve done a simple temperature check, and that’s the temperature band you should set your tip-ups at.
Spring
Late spring when the runoff is high, you’ll find walleye cruising like schools of sharks in water as shallow as 10 feet above mudflats, rocky outcroppings, and weed beds.
That’s because the water temperature is warmer here, perhaps up to 10° warmer than the surrounding lake water.
This is the best time of year for jig fishing. Soft plastic minnows, hooked to a lead head jig, sometimes with spinners attached, and sometimes with just the plastic tail of the minnow providing the attraction work well.
Minnows work well too with lines cast out with a bobber above the rocks, or just sitting on the bottom along sandbars.
Walleye Spawning & Water Temps
Northern lakes reach 45-52° early in the season, sometimes while ice is still floating out in the main body of the lake.
At this temperature, walleye start to move towards spawning beds which are always near the shore, usually near an inlet.
The spawning structure can vary from rocks to weeds to long sandbars. At this time of the year, you’ll be able to see walleye working up in the shallows to lay their eggs.
Even if you can’t spot a dorsal fin, you’ll be able to see the water move. If the water is cloudy, it’s even easier to spot them nearing the spawning beds. Walleye prefer the northern end of lakes at this time of the year.
They like an influx from a stream, river, or ditch since that water is always warmer than still lake water. The warm flow of incoming water heats the walleye as well as the water, and they’ll be more likely to feed.
Walleye will strike during the spawn, but infrequently. Once the spawn is over, they’re famished and they begin hunting for food. Post-spawn coincides with rising water temperatures.
Summer
Walleye fishing is often greatest in the summer months. The water has warmed up to the ideal 70° in northern lakes.
When baitfish spawn, moving into the shallows, walleye are there ready to feed. In summer you’ll find the most walleye in shallow water, just six feet deep or even shallower.
As the runoff diminishes in June, most northern lakes have warmed up to at least 50°. When the water temperature is between 50-60°, walleye begin to move north to south. Look for structure like exposed weed beds, sandbars, and rock outcroppings with flowing water.
If you have a topographic map of the lake you’re fishing it can be beneficial during the early summer. Look for water depths of 10 to 15 feet.
That’s shallow enough that the southern exposure heating the surface water will entice walleye with temperatures approaching 60° at the surface.
At that temperature, walleye take an active interest in small fish, usually perch, shiners, or bass fingerlings, and begin to take them near the surface.
It’s a good time to try crankbaits with your baitcasting, spinning, or even spincast reels work just as well. Work a crankbait that simulates a minnow running up and down near the surface. This time of the season, walleye will hit similar to largemouth bass.
As the water continues to warm up, to the 55-65° temperature range, baitfish will start to hold tighter to underwater structures like downed trees, piles of rocks, and even deep week beds.
Water at this temperature still holds plenty of oxygen so the baitfish are actively feeding on insects.
Walleye are active in water around 60°. They will work around the structure in turn, trying to snag those baitfish before they can hide again.
This is the time of the year for drop shot fishing. A drop shot setup is easy to tie onto any type of pole. You tie a sinker to the end of the line and tie a hook at least 18 inches up the line, sometimes as high as four feet above the sinker.
Hook on a minnow and cast your line out into the weed bed, or near the rocks or submerged trees. You won’t foul your bait on the underwater vegetation and if you get your depth right, the minnow will be floating just above the structure. It’s an invitation no walleye can resist.
During the summer, find a band of 70° water, or just look for a section of the lake six to 10 feet deep with good structure.
Structure means submerged trees, rocks, and even heavy weed beds. Perch is a favorite prey for walleye. Small perch clink to submerged structure for safety.
If the water temperature isn’t right at your trolling depth, you won’t get a bite. If you’re trolling, still fishing, or casting from a boat and your bait is in that perfect 70° range that summertime walleyes love, you’re going to get strikes.
Slightly higher water temperatures up to 75° allow you to troll a bit faster. Walleye aren’t chasers like trout and bass, the speed needs to match their body temperature. The colder, the slower the troll, the warmer a little faster.
Fall
Fall fishing is the most erratic. It is the time of storms, quick temperature changes, high-pressure systems, followed by low-pressure fronts, it is these weather extremes that makes consistent fishing difficult.
A cold October rain or a snowfall can lower water temperature from 65-55° in just a few hours if enough moisture falls. This adversely affects fishing since the walleye are slower to react in the colder water.
They’ll move where the food is, but they’ll move slower if the temperature drops too much. The same rainstorm that has walleye hitting on every cast in July, drives them away in October.
That July rain is warm, heating the surface water, increasing feeding opportunity for walleye. They are fickle fish when it comes to drastic weather changes.
Fall “Turnover” Transition
Turnover is a physical process all North American freshwater lakes undergo in the fall and spring. Coldwater is denser than warm water, so lakes undergo a process twice a year where the deep water rises to the surface and the surface water drops to the bottom.
This mixes the water, brings back oxygen to depleted areas, mixes nutrients and suspended solids in the water, and creates a more uniform environment that expands the area walleye, and other gamefish will hunt since the baitfish follow the food. A lake turns when the surface water temperature is between 50-55° on most American lakes.
As the lake turns, so do the temperature bands within the lake. The surface that was warm before the turn becomes cold again. You can see temperature changes from 55 down to 35° at the surface as the colder water comes to the top.
This isn’t a great time for walleye fishing since the water temperature is erratic. Walleye like stable water temperatures and will spend time clinging to that 55° water while avoiding the colder surface water.
Fish in cold water don’t move well and aren’t interested in hitting your bait since they’re so sluggish they’re almost in a state of suspended animation.
The good news is that soon after the turn, the water heats up at the surface to 45°, and continues to climb through the temperature variants described earlier.
Weather Changes/Breaks Impact on Walleye
Temperature extremes in the air above the water are often reflected in the depths below, the best example being the change in temperature during and after a rainstorm. Perhaps the best fishing you’ll ever find comes in late spring and early fall during light, fast-moving rainstorms.
You can get drenched by the rain, but it drives insects into the water, churns up the surface, confuses baitfish out of hiding, and can provide the best fishing you’ll experience all year.
Rainfall can have a profound effect on the surface temperature of the water. A warm fall rain raises the temperature of a cooling lake, maybe just from 60-65°. It does the same in the spring. That can be a perfect attraction for baitfish and the walleye that hunt them.
A cold rain will lower that temperature, but not as much since early fall rain rarely drops below 60°. The combination of the water warming and the arrival of food for the baitfish is a great attractant for walleye. Keep jigging, using crankbaits, or just let your minnow float and the fish will hit.
4 Tips for Water Temperature for Walleye Fishing
1. Trolling for Walleye
If the water temperature isn’t right at your trolling depth, you won’t get a bite. Slightly higher water temperatures up to 75° allow you to troll a bit faster.
Walleye aren’t chasers like trout and bass, the speed needs to match their body temperature. The colder, the slower the troll, the warmer a little faster.
2. Check Stream Inlets After Rain & Winter Melt
Lakes and large rivers have smaller, sometimes only seasonal streams flowing into them but the influx is always warmer than the main body of water and raises the temperature.
The turbidity created by this silt-laden runoff is a dinner bell to walleye. Food that baitfish love will wash into the water, and as the plumber says, it all goes downhill from there.
3. Fly Fishing for Walleye?
Walleye in many waterways will seek out mayflies and other insects. As an example, mayflies won’t hatch until the surface water is at least 45°.
Similar to trout, walleye will rise to the surface to scoop up mayflies on the water’s surface. Cast out as far as you can and retrieve the mayfly imitation very slowly.
4. Find Food, Find Walleye
Walleye are predators, they hunt their prey year-round, water temperature can play a role in how aggressive they are since they’re cold-blooded creatures, but on an equal footing is food.
If there aren’t perch, shad, or shiners feeding in the weeds, along the mudflats, or in the crevices of the rocks, you won’t find walleye either.
For a complete breakdown of the best times to fish Lake Erie, check out this helpful guide. To learn the best barometric pressure for walleye, check out this article. Click here for a complete guide to the best weather for walleye fishing. Click here for a complete guide to crayfish as a walleye bait.
