Prespawn Walleye

[Gilles]

I'm going to be trying for some pre-spawn and spawning walleye soon and wondered what tactics are best during this period?

[gunflint]

It depends on alot of different factors. Are you going to be fishing in a lake, a reservoir, or a river? Water clarity and current can also be factors.

In general walleyes spawn in water temps in the mid to upper 40's so I would use a very slow live bait presentation. Good luck.

[only-eyes]

I usually am only fishing pre spawn on rivers, and things can vary greatly from day to day. I love plastics on both river systems I fish for prespawn, I always bring live bait, but usually end up going with the plastics, unless its a tough bite for the day or sometimes livebait is all they want. Walleyes can be absolutely on fire during this time, but can also shut off just as fast.

[Gilles]

I'm going to be fishing in a reservoir, most of the fish spawn near the dam area where there are large bolders. But the division of wildlife sets up nets each spring for egg collecting and fishing is prohibited during this time. Huge fish up to 16lbs are captured and released during this collection. It seems like the areas where they set up the nets are in fairly shallow water like 20 to 40 feet, just wondering what depths you guys have found them in during the spawn. The other problem that I might have is getting live minnows, probably have to stick to crawlers and plastics. Has anyone had success with small swim baits? Thanks for the information!

[CrappieJohn]

The inland season for walleyes closes at the end of this month. If this water is in Minnesota it is illegal to target walleyes even for c/r. Better check regs before you embark on this adventure.

[Gilles]

The post above states the rules and I'm fishing Colorado.

[Xplorer]

Cherry Creek??

Try casting rapalas along the riprap at night, try husky jerks and a reel and pause retrieve. You can also try a lighted slipbobber at night, maybe a glow hook and live bait underneath. Or if you are in a boat either casting to the rocks, or running a planer board with a shallow crank would work. Try to match the crankbait to the forage in the res (ie rainbow trout, shiners)

I fished Cherry Creek years ago and caught some nice fish but not any of the pigs that were in the nets.

[Sportland_Bait]

I have a lot of experience on pre-spawn fish. Lots of techniques can work well this time of the year. Jigs and minnows have worked real well for me but plastic tails are a great substitute. Try tails such as berkley power grubs or lindy's munchies rigged on a 1/16-1/4 oz leadhead. A slow cast and retrieve or vertical jigging will work great. As the water warms up look to shallow rock flats and shorelines. During this time casting or trolling small cranks can be deadly. Many times if you find the warmest water you will find fish close by. Walleyes feed pretty aggressively during the pre-spawn period.

Jason Erlandson

[Northlander]

My favorite way is a jig n minnow. Lately though I have been using more plastics and in the early spring I catch walleye of all sizes on big plastics on a jig. Anything from twister tails to power shiners and even big thumper tail bodies. Fish shallow rocky areas below dams and and the ist mile below it.

Also tossing shallow running cranks and sticks can be very effective. I have even caught eyes that time of year tossing meps spinners shallow.

[Ed Carlson]

On a reservoir, I would watch for two Pre-Spawn patterns to develop.

The first is one your already wise to, the Rip-Rap areas. On RR walleye will often cruise fairly shallow and herd prey fish into corners and into the bolder. Corners are often important spots as is current draws leading into the outlet or spillway of a dam. The biggest galls come out to feed at low light and at night, just as they do in late fall. At night larger minnow bait style cranks will run slow and wobble widely and will get action. Smithwick Suspending Rattling Roughs in larger sizes do wonders on Rip-Rap walleye. Make long casts at a 45 to the face of the dam, or even closer in yet..Almost parallel. You will keep the crank in the view of a walleye on the hunt longer by quartering your presentation to the structure.

On soft to hard transition areas larger Shad Rap style cranks can be cranked down to make contact with the bottom and allowed to float back up a few feet..then crank them down again. This vertical zig-zag retrieve covers a lot of vertical water and horizontal water. The coverage is key because they may be high or on the bottom depending on what the big girls are feeding on. A good third choice is #11 Countdown Raps, again you can dial in the depth and retrieve rate. One last mention is big plastic shad bodies on jigs. I often use 4-5" shad bodies on 1/4 - 1/2 wedge style jigs on pre-spawn walleye...they work well.

The second place to hunt is any creeks feeding into the NW or W end of the res. These warm quickest and will first attract high numbers of pre-spawn males. Latter on they will bring in the big girls. Key spots are hard bottom points in any narrows that will concentrate migrating fish. Often at this stage, a day bite is far more common then a night bite. As the spawn nears they will be less likely to hit a bait day or night, it just dies. You may score a few big fish just after the spawn in these areas on large Chubb’s set on bottom slip rigs on these same areas. Post spawn walleye are sluggish at first and they commonly scavenge off the bottom instead of hunting. I have caught 30" plus eyes on cut bait set for cats at early post spawn. After 4-5 days and they start to feed again in a big way to build up lost energy.

If you mission is to target a sumo trophy, get them cranks tuned and ready to go.

Good hunting and please practice Selective Harvest.

[Gilles]

I'll be fishing both Cherry Creek and Pueblo which is two hours south of Cherry Creek. Both lakes have fish over 16 pounds that are caught in spawning nets each spring but are rarely caught. Both have huge consentration of gizzard shad, which are really easy to catch during the summer but are now two deep.

Which leads me to my next problem no one has minnows in my area so I'll have to stick with plastics and cranks. Has anyone had luck with nightcrawlers around this time of year, what about the new swimbaits? If this is as predictable as the fall full moon bite it will be awesome for fish in the 20 inch range and the occasional larger fish, but hopfully the spawn will bring in a few more hungry big girls. Thanks to all thats very useful information.

Good Fishing,

Gilles