Early summer walleye in Lake Pend Oreille are on the move. Walleye spawning is over now, and with warmer water temperatures fish are distributed widely throughout the Pend Oreille system. Walleye locations displayed in this map are from May 6 to June 6. Each colored circle represents the number of individual acoustic-tagged walleye detected at a receiver.
Want to catch walleye in Lake Pend Oreille? Here's everything you need to know
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Use these resources to get on some walleye in Lake Pend Oreille
In the past month walleye have moved down the Pend Oreille River and throughout the Clark Fork Delta and river. The locations with the most individual walleye detected were the Highway 95 Long Bridge and Railroad Bridge. Walleye anglers in these areas have reported catching fish. Particularly in these areas, some tactics to try include concentrating effort during low light conditions on shallow flats and rocky shorelines early in summer before weeds become more established and fish begin using to weed edges and beds throughout the north end of the lake.
The Sunnyside Point to Fisherman’s Island area also continues to hold a number of walleye, as well. In these areas, trolling crawler harnesses or crankbaits near drop offs and over the flats in the adjacent bays can be an effective way to target fish at this time of year.
Anglers can now access most Lake Pend Oreille and Pend Oreille River boat launches with spring runoff coming into the system. Current lake level sits at 2061 feet, just below the full pool of 2062.5 feet.
View the interactive walleye map and mobile friendly version of this month’s map by following this link
Biologists track acoustic-tagged walleye to learn more about walleye movements and to help anglers effectively target walleye and participate in the Lake Pend Oreille angler incentive program.
As a reminder, there are plenty of $1,000 reward-tagged walleye still swimming in the waters of the Lake Pend Oreille system. Just last month two lucky anglers each turned in walleye tagged with $1000 reward tags! To learn more about walleye rewards and try your hand at becoming a big winner, check out the Lake Pend Oreille angler incentive program on the Idaho Fish and Game website.
If you’re interested in learning more about walleye fishing in Lake Pend Oreille, the angler incentive program, or general information about walleye in the lake, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has resources to help.
Check out our “Lake Pend Oreille fisheries” webpage and watch the 2023 State of the Lake Meeting to learn more about the world-class fisheries in Lake Pend Oreille.
You can also visit the Idaho Fishing Planner to get information about diverse fishing opportunities throughout the state.
Please contact the Panhandle Regional office for more information at (208)-769-1414 and follow us on the Panhandle Region Facebook page for regular news and updates.