There are times when the walleye are in less than 5 feet of water, which to me is the maximum depth that one can effectively fish streamer type flies with a floating line. Typically, however walleye are deeper than that so a sinking line will certainly help get the fly down. I would go with minimum of type 4 sinker or a 275 to 350 grain sink tip. With these lines, you should be hooking the odd rock at 8 -12 feet deep. Anything less will not get down quickly enough and just as importantly keep the fly in the strike zone very long when you start retrieving. To fish effectively deeper than that, you'll need even heavier sinking lines and more patience than I have to get them down.
When the walleyes are active, they will eat a variety of flies readily. Think about which flies will do a reasonable job of imitating your favorite jigs in terms of size, colour and action,,, and you're in business. I like 3- 4 inch long lead eyed leaches and wooley buggers. Clouser minnows are also good bets. These flies cast best with 7 to 9 wt rods.
To my way of thinking, pike on the flyrod are lot more fun but I will target walleyes from time to time. Under the right conditions, the long rod is not a major handicap. Last Thursday night, I went to Pigeon to tag out my 3 'eyes for the frying pan. Using a set up as described above I caught in the neighbourhood of 3 dozen walleye in 2 1/2 hours. Without bait the bites are often very light and the trick can be detecting the strike and setting the hook.
Good luck and tight lines!
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