What is the walleye's ideal water temperature?

Walleye are the classic coolwater fish: metabolism and feeding peak at roughly 18–22 °C (64–72 °F), squarely between the coldwater trout and the warmwater largemouth. They tolerate summer peaks toward 25–27 °C (77–81 °F) but start managing heat above that — sliding deeper, hugging the thermocline in cisco lakes, and feeding more strictly at night — and prolonged water much past 29 °C (84 °F) is genuine physiological stress. The other half of the story is how well they run cold: a walleye at 4 °C (39 °F) is slower but still hunting, which bass at that temperature essentially are not. Coolwater tuning is why the walleye's best seasons stretch so far into spring and fall.

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