Walleye Reproduction Success?

[powerdive]

As I understand it, natural spawn success here is heavily dependent upon water level. The fish spawn every year, but the fry struggle to survive in most years. Extended spring high water = higher success (for all species, but especially for walleye due to their narrow window of survivability based on seasonal food and cover). Thus with the high-water years we've had lately, there are a lot of walleyes in the lake right now.

Relatively speaking, anyway--don't try to confuse this with northern waters where walleyes are the most abundant predators. Bass is still king down here, for some unfathomable reason. Probably because they can reproduce in a septic tank and bite stuff a lot.

[lonkm]

I saw one caught under the 160 bridge on Beaver and it had to make an effort to come upstream. However that was the only time I've heard of one caught there, not that that is evidence of anything, but there doesn't seem to be any scuttlebutt about them like there is at powersite.

I'm not a fan of the Walleye stocking, they've always been here, parts of Missouri, but there has never been a crowd chasing them.

There are probably more people chasing them than you notice. we don't beat the bank like most bass fisherman, but some will drop shot for them. if you see a boat with rods sticking out, watch out, especially if there are yellow or orange things out to the side. those are planer boards and an out board will wrap up a lot of line in a hurry. i use braid and that will eat the seals out of a lower unit in a hurry. I love walleye to eat along with crappie. The bull is mostly a put and take lake, like Taneycomo.

[taxidermist]

There has been walleye in Bull Shoals since the beginning. I can remember back int he late 1960's early 1970's that we caught a lot of walleye under the lights fishing for whites and crappie from Long bottom at Peel to the Bluffs across from Tucker Hollow.