Spring Walleye

[FishinJack]

I would like to get some information from yall in regards to spawning walleye. This is a very closely guarded secret in my neck of the woods. I fish Lake of the Ozarks. I know these few weeks are the prime time of the year, Right? They make spawning runs up rivers into creeks all the way into where they can find running water? Up north, where lots of people actually walleye fish, creeks are illegal to fish. I assume that is because they are so easy to catch. How far up the rivers do they run? Is live bait fished in the slightly deeper holes the best technique?

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, you can't fish for them at night during the spawning season (starting at the end of February) in Missouri, either, because they were easy to snag (and gig) when on the spawning riffles at night.

The native Missouri walleye were river strain fish, and when the lakes were built they did well in the lakes but continued to run up the rivers to spawn. At various times northern lake strain walleye have been stocked in Ozark reservoirs, so some of the walleye in lakes like Ozark probably spawn in the lake, but there are still enough river strain genetics for a lot of them to run up the streams. In the unimpounded rivers like Current River, the native walleye begin spawning in late February, but a lot of the lake spawners are probably just now getting into it.

I think it depends upon how high the rivers are above the lakes when the walleye make their move. If the rivers aren't very high, they probably move not much farther than the first good riffle they come to. But water levels seem to make riffles change characteristics, and a good spawning riffle at low water might not be good at higher water. And not all riffles are good spawning riffles at any time, so it's no wonder that the people who know where the good riffles are keep quiet about it. What I'd look for is a nice gravelly riffle with a good, deep pool just below. The walleye will spend the day in the pool, and move up into the riffle to spawn at night. Live bait works well in the pools, but minnow-shaped deep diving, suspending crankbaits are good, as are jigs tipped with minnows or with a curly tail grub. I'd think the soft plastic swimbaits would work well, too. Fish near the deepest parts of the pool.