A webinar presented by Dr. Suzanne Gray for Ohio Sea Grant's Freshwater Science series discusses the findings of research to understand the connection between various water conditions and how walleye, who are visual hunters, may find food and mates, and how changing water conditions may impact the selection of lures anglers use to fish for walleye.
Watch the webinar, "Can Walleye See the Bait on the Hook?"
Media Coverage of the Research
Ohio State studies show which color lures Lake Erie anglers should use to catch walleye, The Columbus Dispatch by Dave Golowenski
No longer a gray area: This study confirms walleye prefer certain colors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by John Hayes
dive deeper
Chelsey L Nieman, Andrew L Oppliger, Caroline C McElwain, Suzanne M Gray, Visual detection thresholds in two trophically distinct fishes are compromised in algal compared to sedimentary turbidity, Conservation Physiology, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2018, coy044, https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coy044
Chelsey L. Nieman, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, Eugene C. Braig, Suzanne M. Gray, You can’t just use gold: Elevated turbidity alters successful lure color for recreational Walleye fishing, Journal of Great Lakes Research, Volume 46, Issue 3, 2020,
Pages 589-596, ISSN 0380-1330, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.03.002.
Dr. Gray leads the Aquatic Physiological Ecology Lab in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University.