Question,Eating habits pre and post ''walleye''

[croixflats]

On rivers being water temp ,St.Croix,so close to spawning temp do walleye's shut down eating , I gather shut down for healing or do they become more aggressive.

[UncleKes]

Pre Spawn they go on a minor feeding frenzy to bulk up. A walleye can lose up to 1/3 of his or her body weight during the spawn. This is especially true for females. The males remain on the nest for a few day after the eggs hatch and care for the young until they have eaten the egg sac and attained sufficient size to go their own way. They fry will eat plankton for the first year or so and if they survive will switch to a minnow diet thereafter.

The adult females will swim off into deep water and rest and usually (not always) start rooting around in the mud for blood worms, crustaceans, worms and other insect type prey until they are recovered.

Males will usually NOT lose as much body weight and recover more quickly. Some will root around in the mud and others will look to their normal food source.

Believe it or not but bloodworms (tiny mosquito larvae) make up a good portion of a walleyes diet during the year and probably is the reason you will find them so close to the bottom. They don't want to get to far from their food supply.

[TrophyEyes]

Post spawn I have always caught the females in about 12-24 FOW, usually on sand or mud bottoms. If you slow down your presentation and drop it right on their head, that is your best bet. They will eat, but they don't want to expend a bunch of energy. I have also heard, but have not confirmed, going with a slightly bigger presentation with a very slow action. Shinners, jumbo leeches, 6" crawlers on Jigs, lindy rigs, and slip bobbers tend to be the best route IMO. They want to get the most nutrition with the least amount of effort. Males will tend to stay on the rocks a little longer or at the mouth of the streams. These are usually the smaller fish that may be slightly more aggressive.

[Black_Bay]

 Originally Posted By: UncleKes

The males remain on the nest for a few day after the eggs hatch and care for the young until they have eaten the egg sac and attained sufficient size to go their own way. They fry will eat plankton for the first year or so and if they survive will switch to a minnow diet thereafter.

Just for clarification, walleyes don't nest nor do they provide any parental care. Once females spawn they leave the area. Males will hang around since they can spawn with multiple females. As you say fry eat plankton at first and as they grow through the year so does the size of food they eat, insects, larval fish...

[RiverBassGuy]

Yup, The males will only hang around for additional spawning purposes. Aferall, they are males! There is no protected nest in walleye breeding patterns. Not like those you see with the Bass. Once she dumps her eggs, it's likely she cruises out to the mud or gravel to lay low and pick for easy food.

[Team Otter]

Great topic and even better information!

[Northlander]

In rivers this time of year I will fish very shallow. Less than a foot at times. Most of the time 5' and less. If I dont find eyes there then I go deeper or find more moving water and work seems and eddies/current breaks. Later on, like in a week or so I will start fishing shallow flats and or weed lines. Heads and tails of drops out of or in flats can hold a lot of fish too. You never know til you get out and experiment. Some times the fish will be in the craziest places.

[Stick in Mud]

I think a lot of the fish on the upper Mississippi are exactly that--shallow. I've caught them before flipping jigs to flooded trees and bushes...just like bass fishing. And because the water (at least where I'm at) is very high and fast, the fish will probably be right next to shore. I like to take the fly rod out and just vertical jig them without even casting.

That being said, while I was out sucker fishing yesterday there were three guys "crappie" fishing with big twisters and jig/minnows, but they didn't catch a thing. Thankfully. But it tells me that the fish aren't exactly jumping in the proverbial boat.