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Walleye can be caught on hundreds of lures, but a small set of proven baits covers almost every situation: jigs for cold water and rivers, stickbaits for spring and fall evenings, crankbaits for summer trolling and blade baits or jigging lures for deep water and ice. This guide, updated for 2026, lists the walleye lures that have earned their place in tackle boxes across the Great Lakes and the Midwest, and explains when to use each one.
Quick answer: if you only buy a few walleye lures, get a pack of 1/8–1/4 oz jigs with soft plastics, a Rapala Husky Jerk or Original Floating for shallow water and low light, a Shad Rap or Berkley Flicker Shad for trolling mid-depths, a deep diver such as the Bandit Walleye Deep for open-water trolling, and a Rapala Jigging Rap for deep structure and ice fishing.
Our picks are based on manufacturer specifications, how widely walleye anglers use each lure and angler feedback — not on lab testing. Every lure below was checked as still available in 2026. For more on the fish itself, see our walleye fishing page.
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Walleye Lures at a Glance
| Category | Our picks | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Jigs and soft baits | Lindy Fuzz-E-Grub, Berkley PowerBait Ripple Shad, Berkley Gulp! Nightcrawler, Northland Baitfish Spinner Harness | Rivers, cold water, live-bait style fishing |
| Stickbaits and jerkbaits | Rapala Husky Jerk, Rapala Original Floating, Bandit Walleye Shallow, Berkley Flicker Minnow | Spring, fall, night fishing, trolling flats |
| Crankbaits | Rapala Shad Rap, Berkley Flicker Shad, Cotton Cordell Wally Diver, Salmo Hornet, Storm Original Hot 'N Tot, Dynamic Lures HD Trout | Casting and trolling 5–20 ft |
| Deep divers | Bandit Walleye Deep, Rapala Deep Tail Dancer, Reef Runner 800 Series Deep Diver | Open-water and deep trolling |
| Vertical and cold-water lures | Rapala Jigging Rap, Berkley ThinFisher, Strike King Red Eyed Shad | Deep structure, fall to spring, ice fishing |
Best Walleye Jigs and Soft Baits
A jig is the most versatile walleye lure. Tip it with a minnow, leech or piece of crawler, or dress it with a soft plastic. Use the lightest jig that keeps bottom contact: 1/8 oz in shallow, calm water, 1/4–3/8 oz in deeper water, wind or current.
Lindy Fuzz-E-Grub
- Jig weights from 1/16 to 3/8 oz; soft grub body with a marabou tail
A long-time walleye favorite that combines a soft grub body with a marabou tail that breathes even when the jig sits still.
Most anglers tip the Fuzz-E-Grub with a minnow in spring and fall. The marabou keeps moving when you pause the jig, which is exactly what cold, inactive walleye want.
Berkley PowerBait Ripple Shad
- Sizes from 2 in to 5 in; segmented body with PowerBait scent
A ribbed paddle-tail swimbait that swims at slow speeds — ideal on a jig head for swimming, hopping or snap-jigging.
Paddle-tails on a jig head are a top choice for snap jigging weed edges and rocky flats in summer and fall; 3–4 in sizes match most forage. The Ripple Shad replaces the Lindy Watsit Jig from our earlier list, which is no longer in Lindy's catalog.
Berkley Gulp! Nightcrawler
- 6 in; colors include Natural, Green Pumpkin, Pumpkinseed and Chartreuse
Biodegradable scented crawler that stays on the hook and works on spinner rigs and jigs when live bait is hard to keep.
Gulp! crawlers release scent and hold up to several fish. Thread a whole one on a spinner harness or use half on a jig, and keep them in their liquid so they don't dry out.
Northland Baitfish Spinner Harness
- #3 or #4 Colorado blade; two-hook harness on a 60 in leader
A ready-tied spinner harness for nightcrawlers or Gulp! crawlers, pulled behind a bottom bouncer in summer.
A harness behind a bottom bouncer is the classic summer rig on flats and breaks. Troll or drift at roughly 0.8–1.5 mph so the blade spins and the bouncer ticks bottom.
Best Walleye Stickbaits and Jerkbaits
Slim minnow baits imitate shiners, ciscoes and perch. Cast them over shallow flats at dusk and after dark, twitch them in cold water, or troll them behind planer boards.
Rapala Husky Jerk
- HJ10: 4 in, 3/8 oz, runs 4–8 ft; sizes HJ06 to HJ14; rattle chamber
A suspending jerkbait that hangs in place on the pause — deadly in cold water, and just as good trolled.
Work the Husky Jerk with a jerk–jerk–pause retrieve; in early spring and late fall, pauses of several seconds often trigger the strike. It also trolls well behind planer boards.
Rapala Original Floating
- Balsa; F09: 3-1/2 in, 3/16 oz, runs 3–5 ft; sizes F03 to F18
The lure that made Rapala famous: a balsa minnow with a tight wobble for shallow walleye at night and early in the season.
It casts best on a spinning rod with thin line and floats up when you stop reeling, which helps over snags. It shines when walleye move shallow at night; add a snap weight to troll it deeper.
Bandit Walleye Shallow
- 4-3/4 in, 5/8 oz; dives to about 12 ft on a long cast, deeper when trolled
A walleye-specific stickbait with a strong wobble for trolling shallow flats and casting points.
Heavier than most balsa minnows, it casts farther and tracks well when trolled. Choose perch patterns where perch are the main forage.
Berkley Flicker Minnow
- Size 7: 3 in, 14–17 ft; size 9: 3-1/2 in, 18–23 ft; size 11: 4-1/2 in, 18–23 ft
A slim, deeper-running minnow bait built for trolling, with published running depths for each size.
It takes a stickbait profile deeper than most minnow lures, ideal for suspended walleye in open water. It replaces a generic jointed swimbait from our older list that we could no longer verify.
Best Walleye Crankbaits
Crankbaits cover water fast, which is how you find scattered summer walleye. Choose by depth: the dive chart on the box shows roughly how deep each model runs.
Rapala Shad Rap
- Balsa; SR05: 2 in, 4–9 ft; SR07: 2-3/4 in, 5–11 ft; SR08: 3-1/8 in, 8–15 ft
A balsa shad-shaped crankbait with a tight, natural action that works cast or trolled.
Few lures have caught as many walleye as the Shad Rap. Its tight wiggle suits cold or clear water; cast it along rocky shorelines in spring and fall, or troll the SR07 and SR08 along summer breaklines.
Berkley Flicker Shad
- Size 5: 2 in, 9–11 ft; size 7: 2-3/4 in, 11–13 ft; size 9: 3-1/2 in, 11–13 ft
A small shad-profile crankbait in dozens of colors — a go-to for summer trolling on many walleye lakes.
It is affordable enough to run several colors at once until you find the pattern of the day. It replaces a battery-powered "robotic" lure from our old list that we couldn't trace to a reputable brand.
Cotton Cordell Wally Diver
- CD5: 2-1/2 in, 6–8 ft cranked, 11 ft trolled; CD6: 3-1/8 in, 9–11 ft cranked, 14–18 ft trolled
A slender, tight-wobbling diver designed for walleye, in two sizes for shallow and mid-depth trolling.
Run the CD5 over shallower flats and the CD6 along deeper edges. Both track straight and are inexpensive, which helps when trolling near rocks.
Salmo Hornet
- Foam body; floating, sinking and super deep runner versions; sizes 1 in to 2-3/8 in
A short, chunky crankbait with a lively action and a tough foam body.
Its stocky body and wide lip give an aggressive action. The larger sizes suit walleye best: floating for shallow casting, sinking to count down, the deep runner for trolling.
Storm Original Hot 'N Tot
- AH size: 2-1/2 in, 3/8 oz, 7–20 ft; H size: 2 in, 3/16 oz, 5–14 ft
A metal-lipped crankbait with a wide, erratic side-to-side action that stands out in stained water.
A trolling standard for decades, its hard-thumping wobble calls fish in stained water. We now recommend the Original Hot 'N Tot in place of the MadFlash version, which is hard to find in stock.
Dynamic Lures HD Trout
- 2-1/4 in, 1/10 oz; slow sinking; runs 1–2 ft
A tiny, shallow-running crankbait designed for trout that also catches river walleye in skinny water.
A niche pick for shallow rivers and very shallow spring flats; for most lake fishing, the lures above are a better choice.
Best Deep-Diving Walleye Lures
When walleye suspend over deep water or hold on deep summer breaks, you need lures that dive 20 ft or more. Thinner line, more line out, lead core or snap weights all add depth.
Bandit Walleye Deep
- 4-3/4 in, 5/8 oz; rated to about 27 ft, deeper when trolled
A slim, deep-diving stickbait developed for walleye trolling, with a large round lip.
One of the most popular open-water trolling lures on big walleye waters: it gets deep without extra weight and comes in a huge range of colors.
Rapala Deep Tail Dancer
- Balsa with rattle; TDD09: 3-1/2 in, 20 ft; TDD11: 4-3/8 in, 3/4 oz, 30 ft
A banana-shaped balsa diver with a wide tail action for trolling deep structure.
Its wide, rolling action stands out on days when walleye ignore subtle lures, and the TDD11 reaches deep breaks and humps without lead core.
Reef Runner 800 Series Deep Diver
- 4-3/4 in body, 5/8 oz; rattle; trolls to about 28 ft
A long-billed, rattling deep diver popular with Great Lakes walleye trollers.
Built for deep, open water where big walleye follow baitfish, and easy to run off planer boards. Availability varies by color, so check a few retailers.
Best Vertical Jigging and Cold-Water Lures
When walleye hold tight to deep structure, or you fish through the ice, lures you lift and drop trigger reaction strikes.
Rapala Jigging Rap
- W5: 2 in, 5/16 oz; W7: 2-3/4 in, 5/8 oz; sizes W2 to W11
A weighted swimming jig that darts out and circles back when you lift and drop it.
Famous among ice anglers, it works just as well over deep rock piles and humps in open water. Lift sharply, let it swim back on slack line and pause; most strikes come on the pause.
Berkley ThinFisher
- 1-1/2 in 3/16 oz, 1-3/4 in 1/4 oz and 2-1/4 in; three line-tie holes; rattle
A metal blade bait that vibrates on the lift — a cold-water classic for river and lake walleye.
Blade baits shine from late fall to early spring, especially in rivers below dams: use short 12–24 in lifts. The ThinFisher (formerly sold under the Johnson name) replaces the heavy generic metal jigs from our old list.
Strike King Red Eyed Shad
- From 2 in 1/4 oz to 3 in 3/4 oz; rattles; sinking
A lipless rattle bait you can count down to any depth, then rip, yo-yo or retrieve steadily.
Rip it off the bottom or out of weed tops and let it flutter back down; the rattle and flash call in fish from a distance, even through the ice.
How to Choose Walleye Lures
Match the depth
Walleye usually feed near the bottom or near a depth where baitfish hold. A lure is only good if it runs at that depth; our fishing lure types chart shows which families work which layer. Check the running depth on the package, and remember that trolling depth depends on line diameter, line length and speed. Thin braid runs a crankbait deeper than thick mono; lead core and snap weights get small baits deeper still.
Match the water temperature
In cold water, walleye are less willing to chase, so slow presentations — a jig and minnow, a paused jerkbait, a blade bait — work best. As water warms into summer, faster trolling with crankbaits and spinner rigs lets you cover more water and trigger active fish.
Match the forage and clarity
Walleye eat perch, shiners, shad, ciscoes, insects and crayfish. Pick a lure size and profile close to the local forage: slim stickbaits where shiners and ciscoes dominate, wider shad-shaped baits where shad are the main food. In clear water start with natural colors (silver, perch, shad); in stained or muddy water try chartreuse, orange or firetiger. Our fishing lure color selection chart explains color choices in more detail.
Tips for Fishing Walleye Lures
- Slow down in cold water. Below about 50°F, walleye rarely chase. Slow trolling speeds, long pauses and small jigs catch more fish.
- Keep contact with the bottom. When jigging or rigging, you should feel the bottom regularly. If you can't, use a heavier jig or thinner line.
- Run a spread when trolling. Use different colors and running depths on each rod until one produces, then switch the others to match.
- Fish the low-light windows. Dawn, dusk, overcast and windy days put walleye on the feed, especially in shallow water.
- Use the right rod and line. A sensitive fast-action rod for jigs and a softer moderate-action rod for crankbaits help you hook and land more fish. See our guides to the best walleye rods and the best fishing line for walleye.
- Check local rules. Some waters limit the number of hooks, lines or rods you can use, or protect walleye during the spawn.
Walleye Lure FAQ
What is the single best lure for walleye?
If you could only have one, a jig — 1/8 to 1/4 oz, tipped with a minnow or dressed with a soft plastic — catches walleye in every season, in lakes and rivers. For trolling, a Shad Rap or Flicker Shad and a deep diver such as the Bandit Walleye Deep cover most summer situations.
What color lures do walleye like?
In clear water, natural colors that match local baitfish — silver, perch, shad — are a good start. In stained or dark water, chartreuse, orange, firetiger and glow colors are easier for walleye to see. Always carry both and let the fish decide.
Do walleye bite lures at night?
Yes. Walleye see well in low light and often move shallow to feed at night. Casting or slowly trolling shallow stickbaits such as the Husky Jerk or Original Floating over flats, rocky shorelines and weed edges after dark is a proven technique.
How fast should I troll for walleye?
Crankbaits are commonly trolled around 1.2–2.5 mph, and spinner rigs slower, around 0.8–1.5 mph. Go slower in cold water and faster in warm water, and watch the lure's action next to the boat before letting it out.
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