Walleyes: The Springtime Spawn

Walleyes: The Springtime Spawn

By Nick Johnson

With the close of the ice season, many anglers dream about the rivers or lakes opening up and the hunt for big walleyes. Often times this transition is only a few weeks apart. Timing and water temperature are crucial along with depth and water levels in the river. A lot of variables to put together!

If you miss the spawn by a few days then a lot of time is spent practice casting. When river levels swing it really throws the whole production into a questionable mess. Knowing how walleyes react to the springtime changes and the patterns they follow during the spawn can really help to bring more success. In this article I plan to outline a few key elements that dictate walleye spawning and focus more on the when and where rather than talk tackle and presentation.

Timing
If there is one thing that is unpredictable year after year it would be the exact timing of when walleyes spawn. Mother Nature tends to be a little less constant during late March and April and it may be 50 degrees one day and 25 degrees the next. I guess one could say the same about the winter we had this year but you get my point.

The first fish to stage for the spawn are the males and many anglers who fish early enough have experienced this. Lots of smaller fish that can be somewhat challenging to catch because they move around a lot throughout different periods of the day. The females who are generally larger wait for the exact temp, location and time of day to make their contribution. Some females may spawn a couple times over the course of a day or more while many females are generally one and done.

Walleyes in rivers generally spawn before walleyes in lakes because the water warms up a little quicker. This temperature isn’t gospel but generally happens around 44-52 degrees. Another big factor with rivers would be water level. If the levels are way up and the rivers are running hard then many walleyes will either seek out smaller tributaries or negate spawning all together and absorb their eggs in an effort to conserve the energy they spent to make them. Older fish that have spawned before and have seen conditions change in the river can sense when this spawning success would be minimal. They need the right conditions such as temperature, flow and rocky bottom where the eggs can be well oxygenated yet not rapidly swept away or covered in silt.

Walleyes in lakes also look for a similar temperature range and will spawn somewhere between 48-52 degrees. Their locations often involve a rocky windswept shoreline, a stream that flows into the system or gravel bottom at varying depths. The walleyes will spawn in a wide range of depths too and it may be as shallow as 1 foot or as deep as 20 feet.

One thing that both types of water systems share in common is that seasoned adult fish will often return and spawn in the same general areas year after year unless a disturbance in habitat occurs or conditions are unfavorable. The spawn in both rivers and lakes tends to be quite rapid and can sometimes be over in as little as a week for the females. Locations tend to include rock or gravel. Pretty straight forward right? I can see you now, shaking your head thinking “not really”. It’s about the timing for all variables.

Temperature is clearly a big factor in all of this. Not only does it dictate when the fish spawn, but also the success of the eggs and fry. If the water warms too quickly after spawning, the eggs may hatch prematurely and the success of the fry is greatly reduced. This also happens when the water warms too slowly. The hatching is prolonged and many die before they even break free of the egg. A cold snap can also suppress the production of zooplankton that larval walleyes eat and thus hamper their vitality. Being a baby walleye is tough isn’t it?

Day or Night
Many of you reading this have caught a fair share of walleyes during the day in the springtime. Some of these fish are the females but many are males searching for mates and moving around a lot to search for their next hot date. What many people do not realize is that most of the fish movement and spawning actually picks up right at dusk and will taper off just before midnight. If you’ve ever night fished in the spring when that water temp hits the magical 44+ degrees you may have witnessed this and caught a lot of fish in areas that produced little to nothing during the day.

The moon phase also plays into this and it is thought that when the full moon nears and the water temps and conditions are favorable is when the spawn will be at its peak. Walleyes will spawn during the day but not near as much. Something about the darkness triggers them. Possibly to avoid the egg predation from smaller fish like minnows that are normally active during the day and rely heavily on sight to feed.

Locations in Rivers
Many of our smaller rivers in the state like the Des Moines and the Cedar are pretty shallow on average. Walleyes that are pre-spawn and getting into the spawn like to seek out the deepest water with low to moderate current which can sometimes be a challenge for bank fisherman to either cast to or locate aside from dams. When many of these fish move to spawn they will avoid strong current areas for the most part and focus on gravel bars and rocky banks. In years past locations like these are where I have had the best success on early spring eyes.

In larger rivers like the Mississippi and Missouri, many fishermen focus efforts on deeper water out of the main channel over rocky or hard bottom. Bank fisherman find similar structure along shorelines and focus efforts on wing dam current seams and other obstructions to flow. Areas like these at night can be killer.

Shallow Lakes
Shallow lakes like much of our bodies of water in the state react more closely to rivers than deeper lakes for timing, mostly because they warm up faster. In these bodies of water, any rock or gravel on the bottom can be a gold mine. Generally these lakes lack this sort of structure so many anglers focus on shorelines with rock and points that have any sort of contour. The fish can often be found in depths of less than 10 feet and I have fished them much like bass, trolling along the shorelines and fan casting with a crankbait or jig.

They won’t always be shallow though, especially on sunny days. If you have a windy day or an overcast day, this is prime for catching them near the shore. Night time, like I mentioned before, is also a great time to catch them shallow. In fact, night time is when you will likely have the most success in shallow lakes. Keep in mind that although wave action can be beneficial for catching fish, they tend to avoid shorelines where strong wave currents pound and stir up a lot of sediment, at least when they spawn.

Deeper Lakes
Deeper lakes can be a little tougher to pin down. Many of our deeper lakes in Iowa are man-made and therefore have a lot of man-made structure or contours. Walleyes during sunny days in spring will generally spend a lot of their time deeper in the 15-25 foot range unless the water is fairly turbid. Some areas that can really produce, especially at night are along the faces of dams or along jettys. Rocky structure during this time is hard to beat. If there happens to be some wind either during the day or at night then spend time jigging and casting around the shorelines that experience some of the wave action.

Springtime walleye fishing is definitely a gamble for a lot of anglers. The timing can be quite narrow and environmental conditions weigh heavily on all sides of this as well. Pay attention to water temps and weather conditions and don’t be afraid to fish hard right after dark. Good luck on the walleyes this spring!