Do walleye school?
Yes — loosely, and sorted by size. Walleye travel and feed in working groups spread along a contour or across a flat, all oriented to the same depth band and forage, rather than in tight bait-ball formations. Two consequences are worth money. First, one walleye is rarely just one: contacting a fish means slow down, circle back, and pick the area apart, because its group is within casting distance. Second, the size-sorting means the first fish predicts the next several — a school of 35 cm (14 in) fish will not suddenly produce the 70 cm (27.5 in) female, so when you want bigger fish, leave biting fish to find them: different depth, bigger structure, or later at night.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Movement & range
- How far do walleye actually migrate?
- Why are walleye deep at noon and shallow at dusk?
- Do the same reefs and points reload with new walleye?
- How do river walleye differ from lake walleye?
- Do walleye ever use docks, wood or reeds, or is it all rock and breaks?
- Do walleye ever live deeper than 25 m (82 ft)?
Same topic, other species
- What decides the exact depth a school suspends at? — Crappie
- How deep do largemouth actually go? — Largemouth Bass
- Should I target structure-related fish or suspended fish? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Do schools shift depth during the day? — Yellow Perch
- Do big pike patrol regular routes? — Northern Pike
- Do smallmouth school? — Smallmouth Bass
- How do trout move around in a lake, compared to a stream? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)