What Do Walleye Eat?

Walleye fishery enthusiasts know Lake Erie to be an ideal location. Here they find plenty of habitat and prey, making this lake ideal for walleye fishermen.

Walleye larvae rely heavily on zooplankton for sustenance during their early developmental years, but as they mature they switch to more piscivorous diets which impact growth, survival and year-class strength. This ontogenetic diet shift is critical to growth, survival and year-class strength.

Walleye fisherman often witness walleye suspended on flats during the day and gobbling mayflies, frogs and crayfish caught at mid depths.

Minnows

Walleye are predatory fish, feeding on any small fish available nearby. Their diet typically consists of minnows such as yellow perch (a popular Oneida Lake meal), gizzard shad and alewives; however, they have also been known to consume crayfish, insects and mayflies.

Walleye are known to use large, light-sensitive eyes to locate prey in murky waters. While staying deeper during the daytime hours, they move shallower waters at night for feeding purposes. Walleye fishes tend to stay deeper during daylight hours before moving shallower waters at night to feed. Walleye are generally slim fishes characterized by olive and gold hues fading to white on their underside with brassy flecks along their sides; their heads are short and wide while their mouths feature sharp canine teeth to snag and hold onto smaller baitfish species.

Studies conducted in 1962 of 794 young-of-the-year walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum) from 17 locations around western Lake Erie indicated they fed on various organisms, but their primary food item was minnows. Gizzard shad and yellow perch were preferred during summer, but by fall this preference changed to emerald shiners.

Walleyes have an opportunistic feeding behavior and often respond to various lures depending on time of year and circumstances. For instance, during spring spawning season when walleyes gather on gravel or rock areas for reproduction, lures such as jigs with minnows on slip bobbers often work effectively in catching them.

Yellow Perch

Walleye are opportunistic predators that feed on an assortment of invertebrates and smaller fish, most often at night in shallow sandy or rocky substrate areas. Alewife are their main prey, followed by crayfish and round gobies. Walleyes also consume freshwater shrimp, scuds, mayflies as well as dead insects or even amphibians which they scavenge for sustenance.

Bottom feeders, their primary food source depends on which lake they inhabit. Usually they feed on small fish such as perch and crustaceans found in weedy environments that offer security, comfort and cover; typically this fish has an appearance of being stream lined, featuring green or olive bodies with brassy flecks; it features an upper dorsal fin with 15 spines while lower dorsals fins have six or seven spines for additional security and comfort.

Studies analyzing stomach content, stable isotopes and fatty acid profiles of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from two DRM lakes and Lake Michigan were performed to understand whether diets varied seasonally in natural habitats. Stomach content analyses demonstrated that yellow perch from all length classes frequently consumed zooplankton and benthic invertebrates throughout the year opportunistically while during some months more macroinvertebrates than fish were consumed.

This study utilized mesocosm experiments to explore how habitat complexity impacted predator-prey interactions among yellow perch in lakes with complex benthic habitat. Perch in such lakes were selective towards alewife as prey species while when exposed to simpler benthic environments, they consumed all available prey items without discrimination or selection bias. These results show that predators tend to rely heavily on one specific prey species in nature and not as readily take advantage of any opportunities presented in laboratories.

Shad

The largest member of the herring family, the shad (Alosa fallax), can be found across North America in rivers and natural lakes. Opportunistic predators that consume anything from insects to leeches, snails, frogs, crayfish and other fish when presented with the opportunity. Commonly found near gravel bottoms but occasionally venturing deeper on clear days when conditions allow. Shad typically reproduce at three to four years of age with each female producing up to 600,000 eggs annually; males fanning their beds with their fins helps fertilize them as males fan the beds with their fins to ensure fertilization.

Walleye are known to feed on shad in freshwater environments, often eating up to 75% of them in some lakes. While shad are good food sources for walleye, they must compete with native species for survival in these lakes.

Shad are an anadromous species that have the ability to negatively impact native populations of salmon, trout and steelhead in lakes. When migrating upriver to spawn each spring, their migration can displace anadromous fish from their streams of origin causing competition or blockading altogether.

A shad is easily identified by its long, slender body with brassy green or yellowish-brown colors, large silvery scales, sharply forked tail and dark spot at the base of its lower lobe of its caudal fin (tail fin). Additionally, its mouth usually extends beyond its head with strong canine teeth; unlike alewives which feature an inner black lining of their body cavity as opposed to white.

Insects

Walleye are opportunistic predators that feed on small fish, aquatic insects, crayfish and other invertebrates found in lakes and reservoirs with cooler water temperatures. They prefer clear and turbid waters where their prey are likely to be found; their sharp canine teeth help them secure prey quickly with ease while feeding at night on sandy or rocky areas within their niches.

With their large, light-sensitive eyes, they can see in the dark. However, during the day they prefer deeper or sheltered areas to avoid direct sunlight hitting their sensitive skin and eyes directly. Their metabolism is extremely high; feeding on various food such as minnows, yellow perch, gizzard shad, clams snails crayfish and other invertebrates.

Aquatic vegetation offers abundant food resources in their habitat. In addition, their diet includes zooplankton such as euphausiids and copepods for sustenance.

Researchers examined the diets of Bay of Quinte and eastern Lake Ontario walleye (Sander vitreum) between 1992 and 2015. They discovered that alewife (Alewife chandleri) was a primary food source during summer, suggesting they migrate from Bay of Quinte to eastern Lake Ontario for this food source.

Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) were introduced into Horsetooth Reservoir in Colorado in 1983 as potential prey for walleye Stizostedion vitreum. Though survival and reproduction varied considerably among these fish, their relative abundance increased from 19% of walleye diet in 1985 to 26% by 1989 – prior to this introduction most walleye diet consisted primarily of decapod crustaceans and salmonids.

Crayfish

Walleye are “opportunistic” species that feed on available food sources in their habitat, such as minnows, yellow perch, shad, alewives and crayfish (Braychiobdellidae). Walleye also consume newly hatched insects or even amphibians when available. Walleye are light sensitive fish and tend to prefer lakes or larger rivers that are moderately deep or shallow and turbid for feeding, often feeding in groups at dusk and night.

Scientists conducted a feeding experiment that revealed fish preferred crayfish over other baits such as worms. Researchers concluded that crayfish are an abundant source of protein for fish to consume. Furthermore, another study demonstrated a mutualistic relationship between crayfish and fish; one species eats one while the other helps clean its gills and mouth clean by cleaning off waste materials produced from eating their body.

Fish-crayfish interactions may be one of the primary contributors to their success in many waters. This interaction also plays a pivotal role in freshwater ecosystems as crayfish provide food sources to numerous other organisms in these systems.

Crayfish fish resemble sauger, with more slender body forms and features similar to that of saugers. Their heads have long and wide faces containing sharp canine teeth; their mouth extends far back; eyes are large. Olive to brassy green colors with irregular dark blotches cover most of its body; its sides may have white or cream hues while tail moderately forked with lower caudal fin having white tips; there are six to seven saddles on their spiney dorsal fin and soft rays are pigmented; producing mottled yet banded appearances on its bodies and fin lobes creating mottled yet banded appearances that create mottled patterns on its surfaces and thus giving it its mottled yet banded appearance.