You can find walleyes in very small natural walleye lakes less than 50 acres or large areas or entire lakes, such as the western basin of lake Erie which incidentally covers over 1265 square miles. You can find them from the very clear deep lakes of Canada, to very cloudy silted shallow waters.They are equally comfortable in still or flowing water.
Natural lakes provide far more walleye habitat than any other type of water.North America natural lakes are home to the majority of the walleye’s population, when you look at percentage breakdown of the entire walleye habitat spectrum. Here’s a breakdown by percentage: 94% Natural walleye lakes, 5% man-made reservoirs, 1% rivers and streams.
As a result of widespread stocking outside their native range,walleyes are now found in 32 % of all the freshwater acreage in North America creating many pristine walleye fishing waters.
Populations are usually highest in large shallow walleye fishing lakes with moderate to low water clarity. For example, a large body of water, such as the western basin is likely to have many windswept shorelines and reefs that are excellent for walleye spawning grounds. And a shallow fishing lake is likely to provide more food then deep water walleye lakes. A lake needs to have shallow feeding shelves in order to have a good population of walleyes, if the shoreline drops sharply into deep water and these shelves are not present the population of walleye will be much smaller. Waters of low clarity limit the sunlight penetration and shield the walleye’s light sensitive eyes.
A Oligotrophic walleye fishing lake will have fair to good walleye populations. Lakes of this nature are usually cold and infertile, but have many rocky basins that make good spawning habitat.
As we said before, a Oligotrophic walleye lake will have fair to good walleye populations, and these lakes are usually cold and infertile, but have many rocky basins that make good spawning habitat. Walleyes in Oligotrophic deep lakes will live longer but will not grow as big or as fast as in shallower, low clarity warmer fertile lakes. Most Oligotropic lakes are in remote areas, so anglers take fewer walleyes.
Mesotrophic walleye fishing lakes generally have the largest population of walleyes. These moderately fertile lakes produce good food crop, so walleyes grow fairly fast. These lakes most likely have natural walleye spawning because there is enough gravel or rubble for a successful spawn. Mesotropical walleye lakes seldom have a winter kill but may lack oxygen at the deeper depths.
A Eutrophic walleye fishing lake will be highly fertile and have abundant food supplies. Eutrophic fishing lakes walleyes grow very rapidly. The problem with these lakes is there is no natural spawning grounds because of silted water deposits in the lake. Many times artificial spawning areas will be built in these lakes. Heavy stocking is often required to keep a good population of walleyes in these lakes. If a Eutrophic walleye lake is less than 25ft deep, a heavy snow cover for any length of time will cause multiple winter fish kills.