Spawning Question

[creepworm]

They say that walleye spawn when the water temp is 45 degrees or so. Tonight I was fishing walleyes and caught many males that were milting. Two weeks ago this body of water was in the mid 50's so they technically should have already spawned back then. The water temp has dropped down to the upper 40's now. Are they thinking it is time to spawn again based on water temp? Are some fish just late spawners? I guess I just dont understand what is happening here.

By the way, this was in SD where it is legal to fish walleye year-round.

[tunrevir]

It is a rather confusing year for the fish with the warming of the water so early and then it getting cold again but I think the spawn is driven by both the amount of daylight(photoperiodism) and the water temps. I ran into some milting fish last week but now the temps have dropped back into the upper forties. There was an article in the paper yesterday about the muskie spawn and it said the males were in and looking to complete the act but the DNR hasn't seen much for females and some they have seen, have already dumped thier eggs. This may be a bad year for class recruitment if we get an extended cold spell but eventually the fish will figure it out. I believe the spawn can last for a couple days to a couple weeks depending on the weather when the most ideal spawning conditions are present but I am by no means a biologist.

Tunrevir~

[creepworm]

After doing a little research, it seems that it is a lot like the whitetail rut, there is a lot of disagreement on what triggers it. Photoperiod, lunar phase, water temp seem to all have an impact. I kind of feel bad because I kept them and did not realize they were milting until I started cleaning them at home, but with the amount of them I caught, there should have been enough to do the deed with any female in the area.

[OnAFly]

The nice thing about males is that you really only need one to spawn with many females. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[FBMH]

I don't always follow suit with the whole "this species spawns when the waters this warm" deal. Yes, with the right conditions and water temp, spawning will occur. But with the spring we are having, I base it off of the sun because it is the only constant every year.

[james_walleye]

I can tell you this. I fish pool 4 on the big Miss. The water temp was right for them to spawn for 3-4 weeks before any post spawn fish started showing up. They spawned right when they normally do every other year. Bottom line is their body clocks weren't ready. The eggs aren't mature and ready to be dropped until a certain point in time.

[kfk]

It's a combination of photoperiod and water temperature.

[Bigtom]

I also was In SD this last weekend and only had 1 male with milk in him the rest were empty. But I also had a few fat females so I think it is so spiratic for every lake. So there has to be more facters then the lenght of days. By the way I let go the females over 28". fun fishing.

[TrophyBob]

Hello Creepworm, yep, i was following the spawn one year i forgot at what temp the females start dropping eggs, but just one degree differance and they dropped there eggs, it was really close. the temp was either somewhere between 35 degrees and 40. or it was 40 to 42 degrees. what ever number it was there it only took a degree and they dropped them. here on Rainey River, MN... On reopener weekend here, fishing season starts again in the Spring the males are always running, strong.