Walleye
Perch familySander vitreus · also called pickerel (Canada), yellow pike
Walleye are named for their eyes, which reflect light like a cat's because of a layer that lets them feed in low light. The white tail tip and the dark blotch at the rear of the spiny dorsal are the two features that separate them from sauger.
Quick facts
- Appearance
- Olive-gold with dark mottling, large glassy reflective eyes, prominent canine teeth, and two clearly separate dorsal fins. The lower lobe of the tail has a distinct white tip.
- Typical size
- 1–8 lb
- Waters
- lake, river, reservoir
- Regulations
- Walleye and sauger frequently have different limits, and their hybrid — the saugeye — is stocked in many waters and is often regulated as one or the other. Check your state.
How to confirm it
- White tip on the lower lobe of the tail. Sauger lacks this.
- A dark blotch at the rear base of the spiny dorsal fin, but no rows of spots on the fin membrane.
- Large glassy eyes that reflect a torch beam.
- Two completely separate dorsal fins and obvious canine teeth.
What it is confused with
One check settles each of these.
Sauger has distinct rows of dark spots on the spiny dorsal fin membrane and no white tail tip. Walleye is the reverse.
Perch has bold dark vertical bars and no canine teeth, and rarely exceeds a pound.
Why this matters beyond curiosity
- Look-alike species often carry different limits. Walleye and sauger, black and white crappie, pike and muskie, blue and channel catfish — each pair can have different sizes, seasons and daily limits in the same water.
- Check it before the fish goes in the livewell. Most of the tests on this site take seconds and are far easier on a fish you are still holding.
- If you cannot tell, release it. That is the answer that is never wrong, and it is the one a warden will not argue with.
- Regulations are set by your state or province and change annually. This site identifies fish; it does not tell you the rules. Check the current regulations for the water you are on.