I heard this story about a guy catching walleyes on poppers at a certain time of the year. Of course it was a friend of a of a friend type story, bordering on urban lengend. Anyone else hear of this ?

Maybe at night, but Ive never caught a walleye even close to the surface during the day. Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

Walleyes are gamefish or predators which are similar to any other fresh water gamefish.They can be opportunistic feeders.They generally dont like to feed shallow in a clear open water situation.But it can all be relative to light penetration, water clarity, food & cover available.Especially on a clean or clear water body they generally wont hit surface type lures during daylight.But if your fishing weed cover areas or if there is possibly over hanging tree cover near by they will feed shallow or on the surface.This shallow feeding or surface pattern can hold true more so on stained nutrient enriched bodies of water throughout the day feeding on shallow baitfish.Also during certain bug hatches they will actually slurp bugs from the surface as the bugs try to emerge from the water.Like I stated earlier it can all be relative to available feed ,water color or clarity & light penetration.Low light or night time conditions being best,which generally are when the bugs emerge for this type of activity.

I pressed this guy for more details on the story. He told me it was a spring, with stained to muddy water. After that he doesn't have anymore details, he claims. The shallowest I've ever caught walleye is in about three feet of water on a river. The water was muddy to cloudy and the presentation wasn't on top. If fact shallow running Rapalas were used. Other than very specific conditions I don't think walleyes on poppers is possible to repeat on a consistent basis.

During tough conditions which can happen during certain bug hatchs such as mayfly or when frogs are present is going to be your best times for this type of surface activity on waters that hold walleye.Spring time-early summer evenings being the most prevelant.This is not something that will catch walleyes on a consistant basis.But if a person pays attention to what might be happening at the surface around them during these periods,you may be surprised on what just took that surface lure or popper offering.Best of luck fishing! WHITETIP