Walleye is the species where the opener is an event. In the north the season is a possession season with a hard opening Saturday, and the date moves every year because the rule is written as a weekday, not a date.
State by state
Each block is one rule as the agency writes it, with the calendar band underneath. Where a state runs the same species on two different calendars — inshore against offshore, one peninsula against the other — both are here, because that is exactly the distinction people get wrong.
Michigan Michigan DNR
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.
Indiana Indiana DNR
Statewide
No closed season, but the minimum size changes when you cross State Road 26. That line, not a date, is the Indiana walleye rule worth remembering.
- Size
- 14 inches south of State Road 26, 16 inches north of it, with named exceptions at Bass Lake, Wolf Lake and Lake George.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Indiana fishing guide, the designated publisher for Indiana DNR.
New York NYSDEC
Statewide
A long season with a six-week spring closure over the spawn. Northern pike, pickerel and tiger muskellunge run on exactly the same dates, which makes May 1 the real opening day of the New York season.
- Size
- 15 inches.
- Limit
- 5 per day.
Read on 2026-09-14 from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Pennsylvania PFBC
Commonwealth inland waters
Two windows with a spawning closure between them: January 1 to March 14, then from 12:01 a.m. on the first Saturday in May to December 31. The gap is the walleye spawn, and it is the reason the state has no continuous walleye season.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
Minnesota Minnesota DNR
Statewide inland waters
Statute 97C.395 sets the open season for walleye and sauger as "the Saturday two weeks prior to the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through the last Sunday in February". That is Minnesota Fishing Opener, the closest thing the state has to a public holiday, and the rule puts it on May 9 in 2026 and May 10 in 2025.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The DNR website blocks automated access, so these dates are read from Minnesota Statutes 97C.395, which is the law that sets them — a stronger source than the summary page, and the reason the opener can be calculated years ahead.
Wisconsin Wisconsin DNR
General inland waters
The general inland season — walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and most else — opens the first Saturday in May and closes the first Sunday in March. That gave May 3, 2025 to March 1, 2026, and May 2, 2026 to March 7, 2027.
- Limit
- 5 a day.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Vermont Vermont Fish and Wildlife
Statewide
The first Saturday in May to March 15. An 18-inch minimum is a big walleye and a serious restriction; three fish is a modest limit for the northern states.
- Size
- 18 inches.
- Limit
- 3 a day.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Vermont fishing guide, the designated publisher for Vermont Fish and Wildlife.
Ohio ODNR
Inland waters, statewide
No statewide inland season. On Lake Erie the walleye daily limit is set each spring rather than fixed in rule, which is why Ohio publishes it as an announcement in late April instead of printing it in the digest.
- Limit
- 6 in any combination of walleye, sauger and saugeye.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Ohio fishing regulations, the designated publisher for ODNR.
Tennessee TWRA
Statewide
Walleye and sauger are separate lines in the Tennessee table with different sizes and different limits, which catches people out on the Tennessee River where both are caught in the same session.
- Size
- Walleye 16 inches, sauger 15 inches.
- Limit
- Walleye 5 a day, sauger 10.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Kentucky KDFWR
Statewide
Walleye, sauger and their hybrids share one line and one limit here, which is simpler than most neighbouring states and worth knowing if you are used to them being counted separately.
- Size
- 14 inches.
- Limit
- 6 a day for walleye, sauger and hybrids combined.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Kentucky fishing and boating guide, the designated publisher for KDFWR.
Arkansas AGFC
Statewide
No closed season, though walleye here spawn in the upper White River system in late winter and several stretches carry their own restrictions in that window.
- Limit
- 6 a day.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Oklahoma ODWC
Statewide
No closed season. Paddlefish, by contrast, is capped at one a day and two a year, and the state runs a research station on the Neosho that anglers are asked to use.
- Size
- 14 inches.
- Limit
- 6 a day for walleye, sauger and saugeye combined.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Oklahoma fishing regulations, the designated publisher for ODWC.
Kansas KDWP
Statewide
That river exemption is the Kansas rule worth carrying: the same fish, the same day, legal below a dam and undersized in the lake above it. Tailwater walleye fishing here is a winter and early-spring game and the exemption exists to make it workable.
- Size
- 15 inches, except in rivers, streams and tailwaters where it does not apply.
- Limit
- 5 a day for walleye, sauger and saugeye combined.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Kansas fishing regulations summary, the designated publisher for KDWP.
Iowa Iowa DNR
Inland waters and boundary rivers
Continuous season across the state — except on West Okoboji, East Okoboji and Spirit Lake, where walleye runs from the first Saturday in May to February 14 with a reduced limit of three. The Iowa Great Lakes are the state’s premier walleye fishery and they are managed as their own world.
- Limit
- 5 a day, 10 in possession.
The Iowa Great Lakes: Spirit, East and West Okoboji
May 2, 2026 to February 14, 2027 — the first Saturday in May, the same rule Wisconsin uses. Muskellunge on the same lakes is closed from May 21 to November 30, which is the inverse of what you would expect and exists to protect the fish through the warmest months.
- Limit
- 3 a day, 6 in possession.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Iowa fishing regulations, the designated publisher for Iowa DNR.
Nebraska Nebraska Game and Parks
Statewide
Same structure as the bass rule — a minimum at the bottom and a cap at the top — which is how Nebraska protects the spawning-size fish without closing the season.
- Size
- 15 inches, with only one over 22 inches a day.
- Limit
- 4 a day, 8 in possession.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Nebraska fishing guide, the designated publisher for Nebraska Game and Parks.
North Dakota ND Game and Fish
Statewide
Open all year, which in a state where the lakes freeze hard means the season is really defined by the ice rather than the regulation. Sakakawea and Devils Lake carry the bulk of the effort and both fish through the winter.
- Limit
- 5 a day, 10 in possession.
Read on 2026-09-14 from North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official North Dakota fishing guide, the designated publisher for ND Game and Fish.
South Dakota SD GFP
Statewide
The one-over-twenty rule is the whole South Dakota walleye philosophy in a line: keep a feed of eating fish, put the breeders back. Several lakes run their own length rules on top, and the handbook lists them water by water.
- Size
- Only one 20 inches or longer in the daily bag.
- Limit
- 4 a day, 8 in possession.
Read on 2026-09-14 from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official South Dakota fishing handbook, the designated publisher for SD GFP.
Utah Utah DWR
Statewide default
A ten-fish walleye limit is among the highest in the country and reflects how Utah manages walleye in reservoirs where they compete with trout: keep them.
- Size
- Only one over 24 inches.
- Limit
- 10 a day.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Utah fishing guidebook, the designated publisher for Utah DWR.
West Virginia WVDNR
Statewide
An eight-fish walleye limit is the highest on this site. Muskellunge is the opposite end of the scale: one fish at thirty inches, and on stream sections designated catch-and-release every musky must go back at once and none may be in your possession at all.
- Limit
- 8 a day, 16 in possession.
Read on 2026-09-14 from West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official West Virginia fishing regulations summary, the designated publisher for WVDNR.
Massachusetts MassWildlife / DMF
Statewide freshwater
No closed season. Landlocked salmon runs to two a day at fifteen inches, also year-round. The species that cannot be kept at all are listed rather than seasoned: sturgeon of any kind, sea-run Atlantic salmon, burbot, bridle shiner, lake chub and four others must be released immediately — hook out or line cut, no photographs, no stringer.
- Size
- 14 inches.
- Limit
- 5 a day.
Read on 2026-09-14 from MassWildlife and the Division of Marine Fisheries. Freshwater from the MassWildlife regulations page; saltwater from the Division of Marine Fisheries table, which DMF describes as an unofficial copy of 322 CMR and last updated April 28, 2026.
How to read these dates
A season date is one of four things, and confusing them is how people end up on the water on the wrong day. Some are fixed and will be the same next year. Some are written as a rule — a weekday rather than a date — and we calculate those for 2026 from the regulation instead of copying a figure that goes stale. Some do not exist until the agency announces them, and no amount of searching will produce next season's date early. And some states simply do not close a season for this species, managing it with sizes and limits instead.
On this page 10 of the rules fall into the last two groups, and their calendar band is left empty on purpose. An empty band means nobody has published a date, which is different from the season being shut — and a page that paints both the same colour is telling you something it does not know.
The fish itself
The glass-eyed prize of northern lakes. Low light, wind-blown structure and live bait. The activity row in each calendar above comes from our own monthly curve for this species, which is what makes the legal band useful: an opening day in cold water and an opening day in a feeding window are not the same trip. The full treatment — where they hold, what they eat and how to fish for them through the year — is on the walleye page, which is about the fish rather than the paperwork.
Questions
When is walleye season?
It depends entirely on the state: Michigan is april 25 to march 15, Indiana is no closed season published, New York is may 1 to march 15. There is no national walleye season, and the dates below are the ones each agency publishes.
Can I keep walleye outside the season?
No. Where a season is closed, harvest is closed, and in several states the water stays open for catch-and-release. Sizes and bag limits apply on top of the season and are listed per state above.
Why does this page not give a date for every state?
Because 10 of the rules listed here are not published as dates at all. The agency either sets them each year or regulates the fishery with sizes and limits instead of a calendar. Publishing a made-up window for those would be the easiest thing on this page and the most dishonest.
Compiled and checked by Pablo Ruiz Quintero. Dates move: tell us if one has and it goes in the verification log.