Walleye fishing

Walleye are native to North America and can be found from the Arctic down to the Mississippi river basin. They inhabit waters across the mid-eastern and central parts of the US and Canada.

The perfect fluorocarbon leader for walleye is as invisible as possible underwater and has a 10-12lb test. When lure fishing, you will want to use a somewhat stiffer leader material. When fishing with smaller live baits, your leader should instead be softer and have a little stretch to it.

Most notably, walleye are the bigger of the two species. When it comes to colors, sauger have a dark-golden to brassy body coloration, while walleye are generally more light-golden to olive green in color. Saugers also have big, dark spots on their bodies, which walleye lack entirely.

Walleye have plenty of smaller canine teeth along their upper and lower jawline. In total, a walleye can have between 30 and 40 canines. The biggest of these can reach a length of about half an inch.

For walleye per se, you do not need to use a steel leader at all, as they won’t be able to bite through your mainline. However, if the water you are fishing in contains pike or muskies, you can use a 10-15lb fluorocarbon leader instead of steel, in order to prevent bite-offs.