Walleye - Muskie relationships

[understudy]

The walleye seem to like to, or at least don't seem to mind laying right on the bottom at times. Goby and suckers will always be on the bottom. Bass and musky like to have at least a little water under them. I'm Diving in the day, and it seems to me we often caught these fish resting. For a fish, walleye zone out pretty good, Ron. We can slide right buy, two feet away, and they never awaken.

We were poking around in the wreckage field of a sunken tug in lake Erie years ago, when we came across this giant walleye laying upright on the bottom. We moved in really close, but the fish never moved. We just looked at the fish for a while, thinking it was an easy 12lb. It still didn't move when we turned a dive light on it. Maybe it's dead. So Phil touches it. The fish wakes up and Rams me right in the chest.

Jim

That is some fascinating video. Have you seen the musky during feeding time? What is it like then?

[orchard frank]

A factor may be the feeding styles of the species. Muskys are ambush feeders and opportunity-takers, and pretty curious too. They are known to "rest" while digesting food, and have short bursts of feeding activity, much to the dismay of musky chasers. Huge propellor surface baits and figure-8's are examples of this. Large muskys become energy efficient in their feeding, expending the least possible for the greatest reward. I think the walleye/pike activity mentioned at Lac Seul is also triggered by the vibrations and flashing of the walleyes being caught, as well as regular predation. I don't give credit to fish for too much "thinking", but they are attuned to their environment. My guess is that the body language of the muskys reflect a non-predatory stance, hence the lowered alert level. A good friend who grew up in the bush of NW Ontario told me that there was a high spot on Pipestone Lake where he could observe smallmouths bedding. If a musky would cruise through (Pipestone has some real slugs), the smallie on the bed would very aggressively charge the musky, without hesitation, and run it out of the neighborhood. Have the same smallie cruise over the top of a musky hiding in the rocks of a deep point, hungry, different story. Not sure anyone has muskys figured out too good, just ask the folks who chase them. Hard core musky fishing has a pretty high incidence of borderline insanity. (I'm getting a little better now, it's been a while) Great video, Thanks.

[understudy]

I'm pretty sure, that these fish just don't have a real strong predator / prey relationship. I only know what I'm seeing in this river. It might be different where the fish are really abundant.

Why does the Walleye ALWAYS follow off after the Muskie?

I don't think the blemish on the side of that walleye was caused by another fish. Looks to be recovering from an infection.

A muskie, cruising through, stopping a hot bite has just protected the walleye from his greatest predator, if you think about it!

[understudy]

I would expect a small mouth to do this. We have had them come after us when they are on the spawn. We have had guys bitten. I always admired the fearless aggression of the smallmouth. a bass will swim hard 30 ft to get in my face. This kind relationship that these muskies seem to have with walleyes does not carry over to any kind of love for the bass. I have had Bass crushed by musky when fighting them.

Walleye and Bass get along very well down there though. The Eyes are very social.

[Jim Ordway]

Very cool video. Thanks for presenting it, it makes we question a lot of preconceptions I have carried for years.
take care,

[understudy]

Thanks everyone. If I find anything else interesting, or strange, I will post a link to it here. You can see some of my Footage on Jason Mitchell outdoors.

[Robert M]

I dont think a walleye is the Muskys prefered meal but Im sure they will eat them.Its not uncommon to see bait swiming among preditors weather it be in the ocean,lake or fish tank.However overnight some might disappear.A lot of fish will eat each other if they need to.