8 Great Books for the Walleye Angler

Last updated on July 24th, 2022

walleye angler holding his catch

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A lot of what we know about fishing for any species was handed down to us from our elders. Father to child and so on. I was raised in a family that fished and was taught our way of doing it, but a book is the combined strategies of another angler’s perspective.

While traditions passed on are valuable and help us to strengthen our own knowledge,  it is also equally important to gain an outside perspective from others. That is why I love books.

Embracing the knowledge of others to help yourself grow, it’s who we are as humans, even in terms of fishing. Most folks who bother to write have grit and immense knowledge about their field.

Some fishing activities can be very complicated, such as fly fishing for example, and that is why fly fishing has an immense library of content available for reading to better yourself in the sport.

Walleye-related books are just that, specific to walleye. They are a great fish to catch as well as to eat and can be found in many freshwater environments, particularly lakes and reservoirs. A book on walleye fishing can be very useful because they can be tricky to catch as their tendencies change from region to region.

Techniques used here in Montana may amount to nothing if I flew to the great lakes for walleye, for example. This is where the knowledge of a professional who has traveled and fished for this species can be invaluable.

There are many available books about walleye fishing but we have narrowed it down to 8 very popular titles that readers will enjoy and benefit from. These are written by professionals and sometimes are written for other professionals, making them a wealth of knowledge that can make you a better walleye fisherman.

Let’s take a brief look at these great walleye fishing books and see what they have to offer. I will also tell you what I liked and found helpful about each.

Northwoods Walleye

Northwoods WalleyeNorthwoods Walleye is written by Mike Mladenik as a guide and tool for walleye outfitters and guides. An advantage that this walleye book offers is it is written for professionals, this is a clue that this work is accurate and useful.

In this one, Mike goes into the details of biology and understanding times, depths, and other factors as well as how to have a good time. He has experience in making sure folks have a fun time and he reflects that here.

This book is a labor of love and contains 40 years of his experience as a walleye angler and his advice works well in most of North America. It is written very casually and is an easy read.

My favorite thing about this work is the inside look at outfitting and guiding, what that is like and what it really means when you book a trip. He explains the basics of how an outfitter should behave to make a trip fun, which can certainly be appreciated when you take that trip.

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Complete Guide to Walleye Fishing

Complete guide to walleye fishingThe complete Guide to Walleye Fishing is another great all-around book on the subject of walleye fishing. Written by Art Moraski in 1979, it offers practical, in-the-field information the angler can use.

The author wrote this a while ago and you may be thinking that some of the details are a little old perhaps. This may be true in some small ways because times do change and so does biology, but the core of this is still very accurate and helpful.

Art was a walleye tournament winner in the ’70s and a renowned source of fishing information. The book was his attempt to help others. It has very good reviews despite its age and has been picked up by a few publishers specializing in the recirculation of older prints.

It is a complete guide, meaning that it is a great boom for anglers just starting out in their love for fishing walleye. It will cover the basics as well as help them into the more intermediate parts of the sport, where a more comprehensive book may help.

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Catch More Walleyes

Catch More WalleyesCatch More Walleyes is a great tips and tricks walleye fishing book written by Mark Romanack. Mark is a tournament fishing pro who has won many trophies as well as other awards in the sport. His claim is that they are difficult to catch.

I think calling a walleye difficult to catch may be a stretch but this does lay some good groundwork for the angler to study regarding depth and jigging, bait, and weather conditions, seasonal considerations, and so on.

Professional fishermen who compete have to stay current on the activity of the fish they pursue, this is how they win and make their money. A pro is a good source of information on a particular species but do your homework and see if the species on the book cover is the one for which they usually compete. In this case, Mark has extensive walleye experience.

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Pocket Guide to Walleye Fishing in Lakes

Pocket Guide - Walleye Fishing in Lakes - Walleye - Lake Fishing - Guide to Walleye Fishing in Lakes - Gary LaFontaine - Lester G. Cordes - Harley RenoThe Pocket Guide to Walleye Fishing in Lakes is a great, simple book for the angler on the go. It is small and compact but offers chock-full of good, practical information that can make learning about and mastering walleye easier.

This little gem is written by Lester G. Cordes II and Harley Reno, two people with an immense understanding of walleye and other members of the Percidae family. The book is also broken into sections that have tabs, making it easier to thumb to a topic you need.

The tabs are as follows:

  • Tools
  • Lines
  • Behavior
  • Strategy
  • Lakes
  • Structure

Between its covers, it describes Many important aspects of walleye fishing such as weather and water conditions found when fishing lakes as well as the techniques that are appropriate for a given situation. It is also just a good armchair read that does not weigh ten pounds.

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Walleye Fishing Simplified

Walleye Fishing SimplifiedWritten by Ed Iman and Lenox Dick, Walleye Fishing Simplified is a highly recommended title about the joys and techniques of walleye fishing. This book made our list because of its easy readability, simple terminology, and overall usefulness.

It is a good beginner walleye fisherman’s guide but also great for even more experienced anglers who may want to brush up on the fundamentals.

While this may not be a roll up your sleeves technical type of book, it still has quite a bit of excellent information about the species itself and how to catch it. Here you will learn more about effective techniques for crankbaits and jigging, which are two of the most popular ways to catch these great gamefish.

It also covers bait both dead and alive as well as bottom dragging lures that can be a bit complicated to learn on your own. The authors have quite a bit of experience in the field of walleye fishing as well as other species.

I would grab this for someone who loves the sport but wants to read the “how-to” as more of a story and less like a textbook. This would make a great gift for a young angler or novice starting out fishing for walleye.

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Trolling Big Winter Walleyes

Trolling Big Water Walleyes: Secrets of the Great LakesTrolling Big Winter Walleyes is a great book for those who primarily fish from a watercraft. Many anglers pursuing these fish will always opt for fishing from a boat because trolling is an optimal way to catch them.

It is written by W.H. “Chip” Gross, who has years of experience fishing many different types of waterways in search of trophy walleye. Here, he aids you in understanding fishing techniques for trolling as well as gear and strategies.

Trolling techniques are not the same everywhere you go. Rivers require a different approach than a  lake as an example. Depths, temperature, and currents have to be accounted for as well. Chip covers all of this and more in this handy book.

You will also find, within its pages, priceless knowledge and tips from a number of experienced pros and charter captains to help you land more fish.

I like this book for its usefulness wherever your fishing takes you. Most books on the subject of walleye fishing cover lakes or rivers but not both. This one provides insightful information no matter what kind of water you are fishing.

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The Pocket Guide to Seasonal Walleye Tactics

The Pocket Guide to Seasonal Walleye Tactics: An Angler's Quick Reference Book (Skyhorse Pocket Guides)The Pocket Guide to Seasonal Walleye Tactics is a great on-demand resource on how to fish for walleye in nearly any area. Written by Monte Burch, a passionate outdoorsman and author of several outstanding titles on the great outdoors, this book is well-researched and thought out from a biological standpoint.

I have mentioned time and time again that biology has to be at the heart of an angler’s knowledge, and for good reason. We can only fish a walleye as well as we understand its behaviors.

Monte does a good job of explaining the species and their behavior from fall all the way through spring including their diet, spawning habits, and environmental preferences. The information is delivered based on seasons, which means this is a year-round resource to any angler.

Generally, this information is true of most walleye in the country, making it a good gift for anglers that travel from state to state chasing them. I also recommend it for those who seek to learn the scientific side of walleye to better maximize their fishing experience.

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Walleye: Use the Secrets of the Pros to Catch More and Bigger Walleye

Pro Tactics: Walleye: Use the Secrets of the Pros to Catch More and Bigger WalleyeWalleye, another excellent title in the Pro Tactics series, is written by pro angler Mark Martin to aid anglers in getting on the action. Here, he talks about many ways to catch walleye in different seasons and offers some very insightful takes on tackle and gear.

Seasonal variations and behavior patterns can have consequences on anglers who are unprepared and Mark teaches the reader to fish in obstacles such as weeds and moss, as well as cover and moving water.

The author also covers productive techniques, live bait, artificial lures, and other important aspects of walleye fishing with timely tips and advice for the four seasons.

I like this book because it is written by a professional who has spent his fair share of time on the water chasing walleye. Your information is not being delivered by someone with little experience and it is straight to the point.

This book is great for enhancing your already good fishing strategies. The information and tactics here are suited to novice, intermediate, and even seasoned walleye fishermen.

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Why Read Books on Walleye Fishing?

We learn quite a bit these days about our sport, usually with an internet connection. While the internet has a plethora of articles on fishing, books are the most resourceful.

I read often, I have some that are as technical for fishing knowledge as “the principles of plant physiology” and I have relaxed titles such as “the armchair angler” for stories about others enjoying the outdoors.

Walleye are an easy fish to catch, I say that in contrast to what others seem to say. There is a stigma about walleye that they are elusive and rare when really they are not. Some simple understanding of biology and a few tips and tricks from a friend.

These books offer a wealth of information to the angler looking to up his game in fishing for walleye and to learn a few things he did not already know. Simple reads explaining the basics are a wonderful way to introduce youth to the sport and spark their curiosity.

A YouTube video can be a good source of quick information, but true understanding and a passionately detailed lesson on a topic is something only a book can deliver. Anglers of all calibers pour themselves into them and take time to make sure they are as helpful as possible, this is how you sell a book after all.

Many of these titles are available in a few different formats, i.e. hardcover, paperback, and kindle. This changes their prices and you will find that they are quite affordable for the great value they provide.

There are many others out there but I sincerely hope that of the eight listed above, you find something new, and exciting about fishing for walleye. Though they are not an impossible fish to catch, there is always a thing or two you can pick up from someone and that is why we read.

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