Cloudy & Overcast Days: Is Walleye Fishing Good? (+7 Tips)

Walleye fishing can be really good under cloudy and overcast conditions as long as you know how to take advantage of these conditions. There are certain factors that drive walleye feeding that you can use to catch more and larger fish. Let’s dive deep into this topic. 

Is walleye fishing good on cloudy & overcast days? Walleye fishing can be outstanding under cloudy or overcast conditions because the reduced sunlight means walleye can roam for food to ambush and the cooler water temperatures will stir up feeding activity.

Some of the best fishing you can have for walleye can be found when clouds block the sun. There are some times when clouds can be detrimental which we will discuss later, but usually walleye fish is better under cloudy skies.

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Walleye Fishing on Cloudy or Overcast Days

Is Walleye Fishing Good on Cloudy Days

Walleye seem to be pretty light “shy” when it comes to abrasive overhead sunlight. This is why you often see walleye cruising deeper water during the middle of the day. Not only are they following schools of baitfish but also limiting their exposure to the sun’s rays.

But on days that have thick cloud cover, walleye will often come up much shallower in the water column. As baitfish rise in the water column, hungry walleye will follow suit. The reduced sunlight makes walleye more likely to roam around looking for food they can ambush.

It also seems to put them into more of a feeding move when the sunlight is dimmed and water temperatures are a bit cooler. Generally speaking, walleye fishing can be excellent on cloudy and overcast days, especially in summer and fall.

Best Time of Day: Cloudy Days

The best time of day to catch walleye most of the time is early morning, late afternoon, and nighttime. This is especially dependent upon the season. During warmer months, walleye will be most active when the light is reduced and water temperatures are coolest.

This means dawn until a couple hours after sunrise as well as 2 hours before sunset until dusk really spike up walleye activity. The beauty of cloudy and overcast conditions is that walleye will actively feed all day long because light is reduced and water temperatures are reduced.

Instead of just focusing on walleye early morning and late evening, you can find excellent walleye fishing all day long.

Furthermore, walleye head into deeper water during the middle of the day, but walleye will come shallower and closer to anglers when conditions are cloudy.

The nighttime is also a great time to catch walleye both under clear skies and under cloudy conditions. For a complete breakdown of the best times of day to catch walleye that will really open your eyes, you need to read this helpful article I wrote.

Is Walleye Fishing Good: Overcast Days

Walleye fishing is generally good under any conditions as long as you are willing to work for success and locate schooling walleye. During the day, walleye will move to deeper offshore humps, reefs, and shelves.

When conditions are sunny, walleye will hold tight to cover and tight to the bottom. But under cloudy conditions, walleye will oftentimes emerge from the structure and roam around. They will actively hunt for food and search for prey to ambush.

Because of this, you can often find walleye more aggressive and more likely to chase down moving baits than when it is sunny out. One of the best ways to locate and catch these walleye is by trolling.

Trolling allows you to cover a ton of water and lake in search of these roaming fish. Once you hook one walleye, mark a waypoint and set up at that waypoint to catch more walleye.

Overcast and cloudy conditions make walleye fishing excellent most of the year. If you want to learn how to catch walleye from shore, you need to check out this article.

5 Best Lures for Overcast/Cloudy Conditions

1. Soft Swimbaits: I love swimbaits. I prefer soft boot-tail swimbaits over just about any lure. For largemouth bass, striped bass, and walleye, this style of swimbait is deadly.

Under cloudy conditions, I don’t think anything performs as well as a good boot-tail swimbait churned around deep points and ledges. Keitechs are the gold standard but there are many other great brands that produce excellent swimbaits worth trying. 
2. Lipless Crankbaits: With lipless crankbaits, you can fish them finesse jigging them off the bottom or simply by churning them over submerged rocks and points. They produce good rattle and vibration that draw in aggressive walleye.

Most lipless crankbaits come in beautiful colors that further add to the affect. I find that lipless crankbaits work best for walleye trolled or cast around deep point breaks on cloudy days. 
3. Deep-Diving Crankbaits: If you need to get down deep to hungry walleye, deep diving crankbaits are a great option. These baits will dive from 14-25 feet down. Use straight fluorocarbon as your fishing line as fluorocarbon naturally sinks so you can really get your bait down deep.

Trolling these types of baits for walleye is my favorite way as you can cover a ton of water and keep your bait down really deep forever until you get bit. You won’t be limited by how far you cast and how fast your retrieve the bait on how deep you can go. 
4. Jerkbaits: Jerkbaits are one of my favorite lures to fish with under any condition and for almost any species of gamefish. With jerkbaits, you can elicit a core instinctual reaction response in fish to make them bite even when they aren’t hungry. Jerkbaits work great under almost any condition but really shine when it is cloudy out and walleye are aggressive. 
5. Blade Baits: With blade baits, you can slowly churn them along with work great for walleye that are aggressively moving. The tight wobble of the blades really draw in the walleye. But these baits really shine in colder temperatures when walleye are more docile. Fish blade baits with more finesse. Jig them off the bottom just high enough that you feel the wobble and drop it. Walleye will grab these baits as they fall. 

7 Tips for Catching Bass on Cloudy & Overcast Days

1. Fish Moving Baits

When conditions are gray and cloudy, try out moving baits. This is especially true during summer. Walleye are looking for a reason to venture away from deep structure and start hunting.

The shade and cooler water temperatures will afford them at excuse. Walleye will be out seeking prey and will chase down quicker moving items.

Trolling is a great way to cover water with moving baits. Casting crankbaits, spoons, and spinners is another way to target these more aggressive walleyes with baits they will want to chase down.

Finesse baits can work well too but I have found that moving “search” baits that cover walleye tend to work better on these days.

2. Fish Darker Baits

Darker baits will stand out better when the light is reduced and water is harder to see in. Solid colors like black, blue, purple, and maroon really stand out against the gray backdrop of the water. These should be your go-to colors under overcast conditions to catch more walleye.

Chartreuse and white colors work really well if the water is stained or muddy. If you are fishing with any type of flash or blades, go golden if the water is muddy and silver if the water is clear. When selecting lure colors, match the water clarity and the available sunlight overhead.

3. Clear Water? Go a Little Brighter

As I mentioned above, if the water is clear, you are better off going with a little brighter of colors. I like chartreuses, whites, and pinks. Firetiger and pink/white is a great walleye color. Greens are great too. Try to avoid too much flash though.

If you are fishing crankbaits with flash or spinners, they will present an unnatural look if the sun is not bright out. Baitfish reflect the sunlight off their scales but don’t reflect at all under cloudy skies. You want to mimic the same presentation with your coloration and flash.

4. Bounce Off the Rocks

One of my favorite techniques for catching walleye on overcast days is by bouncing moving baits off rocks and boulders. Even on cloudy days, walleye will still loosely associate with deep structure and boulders are an ideal foundation for walleye to hunt around. Walleye use the boulders to corral baitfish.

By working your crankbaits and jigs in and around boulders, you are feeding right into what the walleye want their baitfish targets to do.

Walleye may strike your bait anytime but you will find a majority of your bites right as your bait bounces off a rock and deflects. Walleye that were trailing the bait will grab that thing once it deflects. 

5. Braid to Leader

Anytime I’m fishing deep with moving baits, I like to fish with braid. The reason being is that braid provides very little stretch in your line. This means that your hooksets will be instantaneous.

It also means you instantly feel rock deflection and bites too. When fishing down deep, that instant connection with your bait and hooks will make a big difference.

Now I recommend fishing braid with a leader though. If you are fishing clear water, go with fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon is very thin and extremely hard for fish to see making them great for clear water. 

If the water is a little murkier, go with a good mono leader. Mono is very abrasion resistant and will hold a knot a lot better than fluorocarbon.

I recommend mono but if the water is too clear, go with fluorocarbon. You should have about a 4-6 foot long leader. I like using the “blood knot” as my connection knot between the braid mainline and mono or fluoro leader. For a complete breakdown of the differences between mono, fluorocarbon, and braided fishing line, please check out my awesome guide to selecting the right fishing line.

6. Make Noise or Vibration When Raining

If you are fishing during rain, I recommend adding a little extra to your presentation. The raindrops on the surface will reduce a fish’s ability to hear and feel vibrations.

By using lures that produce noise or vibrations, you can really help a walleye zero in on your bait as you work it under these conditions.

Rattling lipless crankbaits are great choices. So too are some swimbaits with good secondary action like the Keitech. If the water is also murky and visibility is reduced, walleye will rely upon their other senses to locate food. Loud or vibrating baits can make all the difference. 

 7. Natural Baits are Always Great

Honestly, you can’t be wrong with natural bait. Whether that is live bait, cut bait, or dead bait, the stuff just works. For big walleye, fishing a dead cisco or shad off the bottom can be killer. These baits will work rain or shine and of course will work well under cloudy conditions.

Walleye Fishing & Rain

During rainy times, walleye fishing can be really good. Rain events can really trigger walleye to become active and hunt. This is especially true in the hours before rain arrives. Oftentimes, sunlight is reduced by increased cloud-cover which makes it darker in the water and affords walleye the ability to close with and capture prey.

Because of their excellent reduced-light vision, they have a tactical advantage over over baitfish that won’t be able to see as well. The other benefit is that the cloud cover before rain will decrease water temperatures.

One of the best times to catch walleye is right before rain. The bite will continue into the rain event itself. I have found walleye to continue biting during rain as long as you fish a little slower. The rain and stormy conditions will stir up the water adding additional nutrients into the water.

The only downside to the added sediment is water visibility will be reduced so fish your baits a little slower. During rain, fish with chartreuse, white, or golden colored baits that will stand out in the turbulent water. After the rain, you can expect fishing to really slow down. Cold fronts really make walleye docile. You can still catch these fish but you’ll need to slow way down and fish tight to cover where walleye will be holding tight.

Cloudy Days: Summer vs. Winter

I have found that cloudy conditions can have different impacts on walleye fishing depending on season. Walleye are just like most other species on earth. They prefer comfort. When they are hot, they will seek out cooler water.

When they are cold, they want warmer water. They are no different than us in that way. So now you need to ask yourself what is that cloudy weather doing for the overall temperature and comfort level. If the cloud cover makes you feel more comfortable, then it is probably good for walleye fishing.

By that I mean cloud cover blocking out the sun during a hot summer’s day. On the other hand, if it is cold out and a sudden onset of cloud cover makes it even colder, that will probably be bad for walleye. That is not always the case though. Sometimes thick cloud cover in winter can raise air temperatures and improve fishing.

Does Cloud Cover Affect Spawning Behavior?

From everything I have read, walleye spawning isn’t really affected by cloud cover. Temperature is a big deciding factor in spring. When the water warms up to the high 40’s walleye will congregate in shallow water either in streams or lake bays between 1 and 20 feet deep.

They will spawn all at once and then retreat to deeper water. They don’t defend their nests like bass are known for so you bed fishing is useful for walleye. Walleye won’t bite during the spawn but they will feed as they return to deep water post-spawn.

From everything I have learned, cloudy conditions have little to no effect on walleye spawning unless it greatly influences the air and water temperatures. Fishing should still be good before and after the spawn under any condition. Fishing will be better though when overcast conditions persist because light is reduced and water temps will be cooler.

Ice Fishing for Walleye

This category really should be winter walleye fishing in general. The truth is that cloud cover can have big impacts on walleye fishing in winter. Oftentimes clouds will make it colder out thus slowing fish down and making them more docile.

Ice usually reduces this impact somewhat but you will still notice less ice fishing success when the temps drop. On rare occasions when cloud cover actually raises the ambient air temperature, you will have better walleye fishing.

You can catch a ton of walleye in winter either through the ice or on big or moving water, but overcast conditions are often enough to slow down the bite. It is worth still fishing but you should fish slower as walleye will be more docile and less aggressive.

Is Bank Fishing Good for Walleye Under Clouds?

I have found that walleye can actually become easier to catch from shore during overcast conditions. This is because the sunlight is reduced which makes it more comfortable for walleye to be in shallower water.

Furthermore, shad and other baitfish walleye feed will often push closer to the surface and closer to shore on these cloudy days. Sometimes, they will push within the casting range of bank fishermen. Dock fishing can be especially excellent on some cloudy days.

I have found during summer and especially early fall, walleye can be caught from shore on these cloudy days. If you time the spawn right in spring, you can also catch walleye as they head out to deeper water after the spawn. Overcast conditions will increase their feeding behavior.

Fast vs. Slow Fishing Approaches

I have found that you are typically better off fishing with moving baits under these conditions. Walleye will be out actively hunting under cloud cover so present them with moving baits like crankbaits, spoons, and spinners.

These baits should be worked a little faster than normal as walleye will be in the mood to chase down suitable baits. Always experiment with your retrieve speed. Pay attention to how walleye bite your lures and that will tell you a lot.

If a walleye is barely lip hooked by the back treble hook of a crankbait, that fish didn’t love your presentation, If on the other hand, that walleye “chokes” that bait, you know you found the winning combo that other walleye will love.

Night Fishing for Walleye on Cloudy Days

Walleye readily feed at night because of their superior eyesight among other senses. They are probably aided some by moonlight when they hunt so I can see foggy conditions that reduce moonlight hindering their hunting ability somewhat.

I have not experienced a difference myself but I have read numerous accounts of serious walleye anglers saying that the bite is slower on cloudy nights. I attribute this to the reduced moonlight illuminating the water. I think you should fish a little slower on these nights. Also, using lures that rattle or release vibrations can really help walleye zero in on your lure.

Finals Thoughts

I hope this article helped you out. Walleye fishing can be really good anytime of the day, but cloudy conditions can really turn on the bite. Walleye are somewhat sensitive to direct sunlight but respond very favorably when the light is dimmed. Their superior reduced-light vision lets them see better than the prey they chase.

This means walleye will become more aggressive and be willing to follow your lures a greater distance. I have found walleye fishing to be better when the conditions are overcast. At night, fishing will slow down if the moonlight is blocked by clouds.

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.