Michigan writes its walleye opener as a weekday rather than a date, which is why it moves every year — and why the two peninsulas open three weeks apart.
The dates
Open today by the rules below, worked out for 2026 rather than copied from a chart.
Lower Peninsula inland waters
The possession season runs from the last Saturday in April to March 15. The Upper Peninsula is on a different clock, which is the detail that catches anglers driving north for the opener.
Upper Peninsula inland waters
Three weeks behind the Lower Peninsula, and a fixed date rather than a weekday, so in some years the opener falls midweek. Northern pike follows the same dates in both peninsulas.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Legal dates were read on the agency’s own page on the date shown beside each entry. Seasons change: the agency link is always the last word.
Why Michigan is different
The Lower Peninsula possession season runs from the last Saturday in April to March 15. The Upper Peninsula waits until May 15, a fixed date rather than a weekday, so in some years the UP opener falls midweek while the LP opener is always a Saturday. Anglers who drive north for the opener without checking which side of the bridge they will be on are a recurring feature of the first weekend.
What to actually do
The gap between the seasons is the walleye spawn, and it is also the answer to why the dates sit where they do. Northern pike runs on identical dates in both peninsulas, so the opener is really two species at once. Note that the closure is March 16 to the opener, not the whole spring: fishing on March 10 is legal in the Lower Peninsula and fishing on April 1 is not.
The activity row in the calendar above is our own monthly curve for this species, and it is there to answer the question the dates cannot: whether the fish will be feeding when the season lets you fish. How walleye behave through the year is a separate page, about the fish rather than the paperwork.
Where to fish it
We publish a daily report for 27 Michigan waters, each with live flow or tide.
- Lake St. Clair — Wayne County
- Manistee River — Manistee County
- Pere Marquette River — Mason County
- Grand River — Kent County
- Muskegon River — Newaygo County
- Detroit River — Wayne County
- Lake Gogebic — Gogebic County
- St. Clair River — St. Clair County
An open season is not permission to fish: Michigan requires a licence from age 17, from $26.00 for residents. What it costs and where to buy it →
Questions
When does walleye season open in Michigan?
The last Saturday in April in the Lower Peninsula — April 25 in 2026, April 26 in 2025 — and May 15 in the Upper Peninsula. Both run to March 15.
Why is the Michigan walleye opener a different date every year?
Because the regulation is written as "the last Saturday in April" rather than a calendar date. We calculate it here from that rule for the current year instead of copying last season’s date.
Checked by Pablo Ruiz Quintero. Dates move: tell us if this one has and the correction goes in the verification log with the date.