Walleye fishing near Marathon, ON

879 documented waters within 300 km, 3 of them with walleye as the primary species.

Where they are biting today

Fishing walleye around Marathon

The waters around Marathon give walleye anglers real options: 879 documented waters in range are on record for walleye in our Ontario catalogue, and their daily scores - built from weather, water temperature at depth and species-fit modelling - decide the order shown above rather than reputation or hearsay.

Weaver River leads today's ranking at a score of 78 (about 279 km from Marathon). Goulais River follows at 77 (about 268 km from Marathon). Lake Duborne (Elliot Lake), scoring 76, rounds out the current leaders (roughly 34 m of water at its deepest). Each number compresses the day's weather, modelled water temperature at depth and how well those conditions suit walleye into one comparable score.

Walleye have large, light-sensitive eyes that give them sharp low-light vision - the same trait behind their name (that eerie eye-shine) also explains why they feed most actively at dawn, dusk, and after dark, retreating to deeper, darker water on bright days. Early-season Ontario walleye hold near their spawning rivers and on windswept boulder or coarse-gravel shoals, sliding out to deeper weed lines, drop-offs and channel edges as summer builds. The jig-and-minnow worked near bottom is the default Ontario presentation - vertical jigging in clear water by day, with crankbaits and spinners over shallow structure once the light drops. Across much of Ontario the walleye season closes for the spawn in mid-March and reopens on the third Saturday of May - the traditional May opener - though dates differ by zone.

Treat this page as a living shortlist: the ranking refreshes daily (currently showing September 14, 2026), and a shift in wind, cloud cover or water temperature is often enough to reorder it.

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