Is rain good for walleye fishing?
Usually, and for the same reason wind chop is. A walleye's eye is built for dim light, and bright, calm, clear conditions push it deep and shut it down. Rain cloud cuts the light from above, and raindrops pock the surface and scatter what is left, so daytime fish lift off bottom and slide shallower onto rock, weed edges and points, just as they do in a walleye chop. A warm, steady rain with some wind can turn midday into an all-day dusk. The gain is biggest on clear lakes; in stained rivers and turbid reservoirs, where light is already low, rain adds little, and heavy runoff can push fish off muddy inflows. A cold rain behind a front fishes like the post-front slowdown. And lightning ends the trip — get off the water.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Vision
- Why are dusk, dawn, and night the best walleye hours?
- Do walleye see color? Why do gold, orange, and chartreuse work so well?
- Does moon phase matter for walleye?
- Why does wind chop turn the walleye bite on?
- Can walleye see in really muddy water?
- If bright sun bothers walleye eyes, are sunny days hopeless?
- Where does white fit in the walleye colour palette?
Same topic, other species
- Are glow jigs worth it for crappie? — Crappie
- What colors can a largemouth actually see? — Largemouth Bass
- Do white, glow or UV finishes matter on muskie baits? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Why does the perch bite die completely at dusk? — Yellow Perch
- Do rain or a bright moon change the pike bite? — Northern Pike
- Where do orange, yellow and glow fit in smallmouth colour choice? — Smallmouth Bass
- Does a bright moon help or hurt trout fishing? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)