90+ Lake Erie Walleye Statistics (Sourced)
The 2025 Lake Erie walleye TAC was 11.373 million fish. Anglers and the commercial fleet took 9.182 million lake-wide, 72.7% of the quota in the TAC area. The 2026 stock is still large: 57.600 million fish age 2 and older. 46 figures, each from a primary agency document.
Every TAC, harvest and hatch-index number on this page is copied from the 2026 Report of the Lake Erie Walleye Task Group to the Lake Erie Committee, facilitated by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Daily bag limits are from Ohio DNR primary documents. There are 95 statistics below: 46 cited figures plus the 49 table rows in full. If a figure is not in those documents, it is not here. The 2026 TAC is published only as a decision window in the task group report, not as an adopted committee quota.
The 2026 picture, in numbers
What the Lake Erie Committee had in front of it this spring, and what Ohio posted for anglers. The 2026 total allowable catch is published as a range in the Walleye Task Group report. A Great Lakes Fishery Commission press release with the adopted number was not posted at a stable URL we could retrieve.
- 9.098 million to 10.171 million
The 2026 walleye TAC range the Walleye Task Group sent the Lake Erie Committee, after applying the harvest control rule and the plus-or-minus 20% year-to-year cap. The TAC covers Management Units 1-3 (western and central basins). New York and Pennsylvania sit outside the quota area. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- Our analysis8.617 million
Mean recommended allowable harvest for 2026 from the statistical catch-at-age model (range 7.063 million to 10.171 million). That mean is 24.2% below the 2025 TAC, which is why the 20% stability cap, not the raw mean, sets the floor of the TAC range. Arithmetic by us from the published figures. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 57.600 million
Projected 2026 abundance of age-2 and older walleye in the west-central population (MUs 1-3), down from 80.600 million in 2025. The drop is mostly a weak 2024 year class arriving as age-2 fish, not a collapse of the adult stock. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 4.800 million
Age-2 recruits from the 2024 year class expected to enter the 2026 population, about 8% of the projected stock. The 2025 year class is projected at 22.500 million age-2 fish in 2027. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 6 fish / 15 inches
Ohio's Lake Erie walleye daily bag and minimum length from May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027. The same 6-fish, 15-inch rule applied March 1 through April 30, 2026. Limits are unchanged from 2025. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- March 27, 2026
Date the Lake Erie Committee announced 2026 walleye and yellow perch quotas, according to Ohio DNR. Ohio kept angler daily harvest limits unchanged through April 30, 2027. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
Total allowable catch and what was actually harvested
The Lake Erie Committee sets a lake-wide walleye TAC each March for the quota area (MUs 1-3). Ohio, Ontario and Michigan split it by water area. Harvest is counted afterward. The 2025 fishery used 72.7% of its TAC, which is the honest test of whether the quota was tight.
- 11.373 million
The 2025 walleye TAC in the quota area, an 11.5% decrease from the 2024 TAC of 12.858 million. Allocated 5.813 million to Ohio, 4.897 million to Ontario, and 0.663 million to Michigan. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- Our analysis14.533 million
The highest TAC in the 2015-2025 table, set in 2022. The 2025 TAC sits 21.7% below that peak. Arithmetic by us from Table 1. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 51.11% / 43.06% / 5.83%
Ohio, Ontario and Michigan shares of the walleye TAC, based on walleye habitat area in the western and central basins. New York and Pennsylvania have no assigned quota. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- Our analysis4.650 million to 5.198 million
Ohio's slice of the published 2026 TAC range, applying the 51.11% share to 9.098 million-10.171 million. Ontario would be 3.918 million-4.380 million; Michigan 0.530 million-0.593 million. This is the formula applied to the range, not a published 2026 allocation table. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 8.274 million
Measured 2025 harvest in the TAC area, 72.7% of the 11.373 million TAC. Lake-wide harvest, including the eastern basin outside the quota, was 9.182 million. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 49.6%
Share of Ohio's 2025 TAC that Ohio actually harvested (2.882 million of 5.813 million). Michigan used 26.0% of its allocation. Ontario's TAC-area harvest was 106.6% of its allocation. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 3.825 million
Estimated 2025 sport harvest lake-wide, against a 1975-2024 mean of 2.351 million. Commercial harvest was 5.357 million against a long-term mean of 2.437 million. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 0.95 fish/hour
Lake-wide sport harvest rate in 2025, the highest in the WTG time series, against a 1975-2024 mean of 0.47 and a Walleye Management Plan performance metric of 0.4. Anglers caught more fish per hour even though total sport effort (3.849 million hours) stayed below the long-term mean of 4.921 million. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 437 fish/km
Ontario commercial gill-net harvest rate in 2025, against a 1975-2024 mean of 145. Commercial effort fell to 12,258 km of gill net from a long-term mean of 18,486 km. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 10.1 million pounds
2025 TAC-area commercial yield, against the Walleye Management Plan performance metric of at least 4.0 million pounds. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 41%
Share of 2025 lake-wide harvest (all gears) that was age-4 fish from the 2021 year class, the dominant cohort. Age-3 fish from 2022 were next at 19%. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 1.265 million
Ohio sport harvest in Management Unit 1 in 2025 (1,265 thousand fish in the WTG table). MU 1 is the western basin, the water Port Clinton, Catawba and Marblehead charters actually fish. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 51,648
Walleye harvested in Ohio's Maumee (38,925) and Sandusky (12,723) river fisheries in 2025. Those tributary catches are extra to the lake creel and are not in the SCAA model. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 166,279
Walleye harvested in Ontario waters of Lake Erie by anglers who left from Ohio ports in 2025, the highest such estimate since 1990. No Ohio interviews recorded harvest in Michigan or Pennsylvania waters. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
The hatch index: why the fishing stays good
Ohio and Ontario trawl for young-of-year walleye every August in the western basin. The catch-per-hectare index is what biologists use to guess how many fish will recruit as 2-year-olds two years later. A strong hatch does not help this summer's charter; it is the 2027 and 2028 fishery.
- 127.8 / ha
2025 western-basin age-0 walleye index from the combined Ohio-Ontario trawls (WTG Table 10). Ohio DNR rounded the same index to 128 fish per hectare in its December 15, 2025 release. A hectare is about 2.5 acres. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 6th of 38
Ohio DNR's rank for the 2025 western-basin hatch across 38 years of surveys, well above its published long-term average of 57 fish per hectare. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2025)
- Our analysis8 of 11
Calendar years 2015-2025 in the WTG western-basin series that sit above Ohio DNR's 57 fish-per-hectare long-term average. Ohio DNR states the same count: above-average hatches in eight of the past 11 years. We counted the Table 10 values against that published average. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2025)
- Our analysis67.6 / ha
Mean of the 2000-2025 WTG western-basin series (26 years). The median is 24.1. A handful of huge year classes (2018, 2019, 2021) pull the mean up; a typical year is much closer to the median. Arithmetic by us from Table 10. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 345.6 / ha
The largest age-0 index in the 2000-2025 WTG table, the 2021 year class. Those fish were age 4 in 2025 and dominated the harvest. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 0.139 / ha
The smallest index in that table, the 2002 year class. Walleye hatches on Lake Erie really do go nearly to zero some years; the fishery rides the strong ones. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- Our analysis6 of 26
Rank of 2025 in the 26-year WTG table (highest = 1). Ohio DNR's 38-year rank is also 6th, which is consistent: none of the extra pre-2000 years outranked 2025. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 26 / ha
2025 central-basin young-of-year index, against a long-term average of 8 per hectare, ranking fourth of 36 survey years. Ohio DNR notes that central-basin hatches are a small part of the lake-wide population, but tagging suggests those fish spend more time in the central basin as adults. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2025)
- Spring 2027
When Ohio DNR expects the strong 2025 hatch to reach the 15-inch minimum length and enter the catchable fishery. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2025)
How many walleye are in the western and central basins
The WTG statistical catch-at-age model estimates age-2 and older walleye in Management Units 1-3. It is not a count of every fish in Lake Erie, and it is not a global ranking. It is the number the TAC is built from.
- 80.600 million
Estimated 2025 west-central abundance of age-2 and older walleye. Age-4 fish from 2021 were the largest year class at 21.100 million fish (26% of the population). (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- Our analysis57.600 million
Projected 2026 abundance. Relative to 2025 that is a 28.5% decline, driven by the weak 2024 year class. Arithmetic by us from the published 80.6 and 57.6 million figures. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 127.824 million
2017 abundance, the recent peak in the 2015-2026 excerpt of Table 8, when the enormous 2015 year class was age 2. Ohio DNR still flags that 2015 year class as the source of trophy fish in upcoming seasons. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 26.431 million
Lowest west-central abundance in the 2015-2025 measured years of Table 8, in 2015, just before the 2015 year class recruited. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 70.9 million kg
Projected 2026 spawning stock biomass, falling to 54.168 million kg in 2027. The limit reference point is 20% of unfished SSB, 10.753 million kg. The probability of 2027 SSB falling below that after 2026 fishing was reported as 0.000%, so the P* cutback was not invoked. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
- 0.216 (80% of Fmsy)
The 2026 target fishing rate. The Lake Erie Committee set a constant 80% of Fmsy (0.27) after a 2025-26 review of the stock-recruitment model. Fmsy itself is an instantaneous fishing mortality rate, not a percentage of the population. (Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, 2026)
Ohio rules for a Lake Erie walleye trip
The TAC is an international quota. What you can put in the cooler is an Ohio daily limit. These are the 2026-27 figures from the Division of Wildlife.
- 6 per day
Walleye daily bag in Ohio waters of Lake Erie, or when landing at Ohio ports, May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027. It is unlawful to take or possess more than six walleye in one day regardless of zone combination. Minimum length is 15 inches. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- Year-round bag
Ohio's 2026-27 Lake Erie walleye regulations cover the full year with a 6-fish, 15-inch limit (March 1-April 30, 2026 in the printed digest; May 1, 2026-April 30, 2027 on the posted bag card). The lake is not closed. The season charter captains talk about is the bite, not a legal closure. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- Sunrise to sunset
Fishing hours on stretches of the Maumee and Sandusky rivers from March 1 through April 30, 2026, during the spawning run. Those reaches also prohibit lines with more than a single hook. The lake itself is not under those river rules. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- 3 rods
Maximum fishing rods an angler may use statewide, including Lake Erie, whether fastened to a pole, a rod and reel, or hand-held. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- $25
Ohio resident 1-year fishing license. Nonresidents 16 and older pay $27.04 for one day, $52.00 for three days, or $76.96 for one year. Anyone under 16 fishes without a license. A license is required of visitors on a charter. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- June 20-21, 2026
Ohio Free Fishing Days. All Ohio residents may fish without a license those two days; size and daily limits still apply. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- 28 inches
Lake Erie Fish Ohio qualifying length for walleye. Ohio DNR's 2026 outlook is that fish from recent large hatches will produce more Fish Ohio-sized walleye. A Fish Ohio walleye is a length award, not a separate possession limit. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- 30 / 10 / 20
Yellow perch daily bags in Ohio's west, central and east zones for May 1, 2026-April 30, 2027. West is roughly Toledo to Huron, central Huron to Fairport Harbor, east Fairport Harbor to Conneaut. No minimum length for perch. Charters out of Port Clinton fish the west zone. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
Are the fish all right to eat
Two separate questions get mixed together: mercury and PCB meal advice, which is always in force, and what to do if you keep a fish during a harmful algal bloom. Ohio publishes both. This is not medical advice; it is what the agencies wrote.
- 1 meal / week
Current Lake Erie advisory reprinted in Ohio's 2026-27 fishing regulations: one meal per week of walleye, two meals per week of yellow perch. The statewide default is also one meal per week of any species unless a water body has a different listing. Check the Ohio Department of Health advisory for updates. (Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife, 2026)
- Fillet only
Ohio Department of Health guidance if you keep fish from a water body with a harmful algal bloom: use caution, rinse visible scum off the outside, discard the skin, head and organs, and cook and eat only the fillet. The agency does not say fillets are risk-free; it tells you how to clean a fish if you choose to eat it. (Ohio Department of Health, 2020)
- Tap water, not lake water
Ohio EPA, on fishing during a bloom: remove the guts and liver, and rinse fillets in tap water before eating. Do not cook with or drink lake water. See the algae bloom guide on this site for where the 2026 bloom actually sits. (Ohio EPA, 2024)
Full series: TAC and harvest, 2015–2025
Walleye TAC is set in numbers of fish, not pounds, for management units 1–3 (western and central basins). Ohio, Ontario and Michigan split that TAC by water area: 51.11% / 43.06% / 5.83%. New York and Pennsylvania sit outside the TAC area. The peak TAC in this series is 14.533 million in 2022. 2025 is 11.373 million, down from that peak but still nearly three times the 2015 TAC.
| Year | TAC | Ohio TAC | Ontario TAC | Michigan TAC | Lake-wide harvest | TAC-area harvest | Share of TAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4,114,000 | 2,102,665 | 1,771,488 | 239,846 | 2,713,209 | 2,521,603 | 61.3% |
| 2016 | 4,937,000 | 2,523,301 | 2,125,872 | 287,827 | 3,077,852 | 2,881,209 | 58.4% |
| 2017 | 5,924,000 | 3,027,756 | 2,550,874 | 345,369 | 4,913,258 | 4,551,082 | 76.8% |
| 2018 | 7,109,000 | 3,633,410 | 3,061,135 | 414,455 | 6,283,993 | 5,627,097 | 79.2% |
| 2019 | 8,531,000 | 4,360,194 | 3,673,449 | 497,357 | 6,897,490 | 6,073,583 | 71.2% |
| 2020 | 10,237,000 | 5,232,131 | 4,408,052 | 596,817 | 6,381,413 | 5,844,863 | 57.1% |
| 2021 | 12,284,000 | 6,278,352 | 5,289,490 | 716,000 | 7,986,388 | 7,611,163 | 62.0% |
| 2022 | 14,533,000 | 7,427,816 | 6,257,910 | 847,274 | 9,268,777 | 8,743,108 | 60.2% |
| 2023 | 13,526,000 | 6,913,139 | 5,824,296 | 788,566 | 8,541,434 | 7,913,071 | 58.5% |
| 2024 | 12,858,000 | 6,571,724 | 5,536,655 | 749,621 | 9,310,484 | 8,522,037 | 66.3% |
| 2025 | 11,373,000 | 5,812,740 | 4,897,214 | 663,046 | 9,182,195 | 8,273,682 | 72.7% |
Source: WTG 2026, Table 1. Shares from the Table 1 caption, citing the Standing Technical Committee 2007 allocation. Percentages are TAC-area harvest divided by that year’s TAC, rounded. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
Full series: western-basin hatch index, 2000–2025
Ohio and Ontario tow bottom trawls in the western basin each August and report age-0 walleye as catch per hectare. That index is the hatch number charter captains mean when they talk about a strong year-class. The 2015 year-class (84.1 per hectare) is the trophy cohort still in the lake. 2021 is the record in this series at 345.6 per hectare. The 2024 class that recruits in 2026 was a weak 19.0; the 2025 class bounced back to 127.8. Mean of the series is 67.6 per hectare.
| Year-class | Recruits as age-2 | Age-0 catch per hectare |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2027 | 127.785 |
| 2024 | 2026 | 19.048 |
| 2023 | 2025 | 132.474 |
| 2022 | 2024 | 83.413 |
| 2021 | 2023 | 345.599 |
| 2020 | 2022 | 97.480 |
| 2019 | 2021 | 225.310 |
| 2018 | 2020 | 255.581 |
| 2017 | 2019 | 22.852 |
| 2016 | 2018 | 9.224 |
| 2015 | 2017 | 84.105 |
| 2014 | 2016 | 29.050 |
| 2013 | 2015 | 10.584 |
| 2012 | 2014 | 6.417 |
| 2011 | 2013 | 6.502 |
| 2010 | 2012 | 26.260 |
| 2009 | 2011 | 7.107 |
| 2008 | 2010 | 7.238 |
| 2007 | 2009 | 25.408 |
| 2006 | 2008 | 2.051 |
| 2005 | 2007 | 12.665 |
| 2004 | 2006 | 5.402 |
| 2003 | 2005 | 183.015 |
| 2002 | 2004 | 0.139 |
| 2001 | 2003 | 28.499 |
| 2000 | 2002 | 4.113 |
Source: WTG 2026, Table 10. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
What this means for a Port Clinton charter
A healthy TAC that is not being fully used is why captains out of Port Clinton, Catawba and Marblehead still sell six-hour trips as a limit fishery in summer. Ohio’s bag and size limit for 2026 remain six walleye at 15 inches. Typical boat prices are on the Western Basin fishing guide: they are market rates from that page, not agency data. Bloom weeks in late July and August are a water-quality question, not a quota question. See the algae bloom forecast. Ramp and marina details are on the boating page.
West-central abundance of age-2 and older walleye in the 2015–2026 excerpt of Table 8:
| Year | Age-2+ abundance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 26,430,720 | Measured |
| 2016 | 42,706,530 | Measured |
| 2017 | 127,823,580 | Measured |
| 2018 | 98,485,707 | Measured |
| 2019 | 79,231,740 | Measured |
| 2020 | 88,037,560 | Measured |
| 2021 | 111,129,420 | Measured |
| 2022 | 92,801,520 | Measured |
| 2023 | 107,930,480 | Measured |
| 2024 | 94,668,530 | Measured |
| 2025 | 80,587,220 | Measured |
| 2026 | 57,602,490 | WTG projection |
Fish, then ferry
Morning on the reefs, afternoon on the Put-in-Bay ferry, bed via lodging or a campground near the docks. Ice-out dates that shut the boats down are on the ice statistics page.
Check Port Clinton hotel pricesMethod, and what these numbers do not mean
- The 2026 TAC on this page is a range, not an adopted quota. The Walleye Task Group published 9.098 million to 10.171 million after the harvest-control rule. A Great Lakes Fishery Commission press release with the adopted number was not posted at a stable URL we could retrieve.
- TAC is fish, not pounds, and it covers MUs 1–3 only. New York and Pennsylvania have no assigned quota. Lake-wide harvest includes those waters.
- Percentages marked “Our analysis” are arithmetic on published tables, not new surveys. Harvest share of TAC is TAC-area harvest divided by that year’s TAC.
- The hatch index is catch per hectare, not a fish count. A strong hatch does not help this summer’s charter. Those fish recruit as 2-year-olds two years later.
- Daily bag limits come from Ohio DNR, not the task group. Confirm on wildohio.gov before you fish. Charter prices are market rates from our fishing guide.
- Jurisdiction TAC columns do not always add to the published total. Ohio + Ontario + Michigan in Table 1 is off by 1 fish in 2015, 2017 and 2023, and by 158 fish in 2021 (12,283,842 against a published total of 12,284,000). We print both as published rather than forcing a tidy sum.
Sources
Every figure above links inline to one of these. All are primary: the agency or commission that produced the measurement.
- Lake Erie Walleye Task Group: Walleye Task Group, Report for 2025 by the Lake Erie Walleye Task Group, April 2026, presented to the Standing Technical Committee, Lake Erie Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. www.glfc.org/pubs/lake_committees/erie/WTG_docs/annual_reports/WTG_report_2026.pdf
- Lake Erie Walleye Task Group: Walleye Task Group, Executive Summary Report, March 2026, Lake Erie Committee, Great Lakes Fishery Commission. www.glfc.org/pubs/lake_committees/erie/WTG_docs/annual_reports/WTGexesum2026.pdf
- Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Lake Erie Walleye, Yellow Perch 2025 Hatch Results, news release dated December 15, 2025. ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/lake-erie-walleye-yellow-perch-2025-hatch-results
- Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Lake Erie Daily Limits Announced For 2026 Fishing Season, news release dated April 3, 2026. ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/lake-erie-daily-limits-announced-for-2026-fishing-season
- Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Walleye and Yellow Perch 2026-2027 Daily Bag Limits, effective May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027. dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/ohiodnr.gov/documents/wildlife/laws-regs-licenses/perchwalleyedailylimits.pdf
- Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 2026-27 Ohio Fishing Regulations, Publication 5085 (R1225). dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/ohiodnr.gov/documents/wildlife/laws-regs-licenses/OhioFishingRegs_English.pdf
- Ohio Department of Health: Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, General Recommendations, Fishing During Algal Bloom. odh.ohio.gov/know-our-programs/ohio-sport-fish-consumption-advisory/general-recommendations
- Ohio EPA: Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Harmful Algal Blooms, fishing and other activities guidance. epa.ohio.gov/monitor-pollution/pollution-issues/harmful-algae-blooms
Lake Erie walleye FAQ
What is the Lake Erie walleye TAC?
The total allowable catch is the number of walleye the Lake Erie Committee agrees can be harvested in a year without putting the stock at risk. The 2025 TAC was 11.373 million fish in the western and central basins (management units 1–3). Ohio’s share is 51.11% of that area. The committee sets a new TAC each March.
What is the 2026 Lake Erie walleye TAC?
The 2026 Walleye Task Group did not publish the committee’s adopted TAC in its annual report. It did publish the range the committee had to work from: 9.098 million to 10.171 million fish, after applying the plus-or-minus 20% harvest-control rule to the 2025 TAC of 11.373 million. Until a 2026 press release is posted at a stable URL, treat that as the decision window, not the final quota.
Is Lake Erie still the Walleye Capital of the World?
The western and central basins still hold an enormous stock. The task group’s 2026 projection puts age-2-and-older abundance at 57.600 million fish. The 2025 lake-wide harvest was 9.182 million walleye, and only 72.7% of the 2025 TAC was taken in the quota area. That is a healthy fishery, not a collapsing one.
How many walleye can you keep in Ohio in 2026?
Ohio’s 2026 daily limit is six walleye per angler at a 15-inch minimum, May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027. Ohio DNR announced that the Lake Erie Committee set 2026 quotas on March 27, 2026, and posted the bag card afterward. Limits reset each spring. Confirm on wildohio.gov or with your charter captain before you fish.
When is walleye season on Lake Erie?
There is no closed season for walleye in Ohio’s Lake Erie waters. Trophy fish stack on the Western Basin reefs in April and May. June through August is peak charter season for limits in open water. Fall regroups the schools with fewer boats. Ice fishing happens only in winters with enough cover.
Are Lake Erie walleye safe to eat during an algae bloom?
Ohio Department of Health says to use caution if you keep fish from a water body with a harmful algal bloom: rinse visible scum off the outside, discard the skin, head and organs, and cook and eat only the fillet. Ohio EPA adds: remove the guts and liver, and rinse fillets in tap water, not lake water. That is cleaning advice, not a guarantee that fillets are risk-free. Bloom position is on our algae bloom page. Separate from blooms, Ohio reprints a Lake Erie advisory of one meal per week of walleye.
Was 2025 a good walleye year?
Lake-wide harvest was 9.182 million fish. That is just under the 2024 harvest of 9.310 million and well below the 2022 peak of 9.269 million. Ohio’s 2025 TAC-area take used 49.6% of its allocation. The quota area as a whole used 72.7% of the 11.373 million TAC.
Compiled by Cherry Myers for Travel Lake Erie. Walleye tables transcribed from the 2026 Walleye Task Group report on 2026-08-21. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite this page with a link back; the GLFC PDF linked above is the original.