January Walleye is in the Boat !

[bfishn]

1 hour ago, dan hufferd said:

I read this same thing somewhere else. These fish are wonderfully odd, spawn like salmon, eat like bass. I guess they fill their own place well enough. I sure wish that they were better spawners.

I guess you have experience, do you think these Stockton Lake walleye reproduce without moving water, or maybe they do just not many. What do you think bfishn?  

I'd defer to MDC on that, but if Stockton walleye spawn success is like the WR chain, I'd say there's a very small successful recruitment rate. Cannibalism isn't really a factor in wide open, fertile lakes or rivers that have a good early zooplankton bloom like it was in my confined hatchery tanks. Walleye need live food from day 3 after hatching. Fry are super tiny, approx. 1/20th of an inch and only slightly bigger around than a good beard stubble;

Obviously, the live food menu selection for something so small is pretty limited. Daphnia, some copepods, and a few other species of zooplankton are pretty much it for the first few weeks. If the weather, water conditions, and fertility don't combine just right to produce a healthy population of zooplankton by walleye day 3-5, most of them die. Then there's the white bass hatch that shortly follows, often in the same vicinity, and white bass fry are way bigger than walleye, and they want live food too. The few 'eyes that make it to an inch are then on the menu for yearling crappie, bluegill and bass. MDC and AGFC stockings that are successful are 1-2 inch fingerlings that they raised in ponds prepared specifically to produce boocoo zooplankton at the right time.

As to moving water, walleye don't require that for a successful spawn like stripers do. Here on the southern edge of their range river spawners can have an advantage though. It all depends on the conditions each year. Stockton has a lot of 'eyes that never run the rivers though, spawning instead on the dam riprap and similar lake spots. Some of that is broodstock genetics, and a whole 'nother story.

[MOPanfisher]

If you are fishing up a river or feeder creek  during the spawn and see a log in the water that looks like a place you would catch a bass later, do not pass it by.  Wallys love to hide behind a log in a river with a little current, and ambush prey.  They do in a way seem like bass they hang around in loose groups and come spawn they seem to want a little more space.  But they all like the same sort of things, and when the feed bag is on it can happen fast.  You may be fishing your secret spot for 2 hours and catch nothing, then they turn on or move through and limit in 20 minutes.  Of course you may also fish another 2 hours and finally go home, cold, wet and depressed,  wondering when you can go again.  Or you may be standing right next to someone who arrives after you do and promptly catches a couple, while you chew on your beef jerky supper and try to get a look at his lure, only to discover it looks exactly like yours.  I have bennon both sides of all those scenarios.  Seems there are two basic ways most people catch them, either cover a lot of water by trolling or working crankbaits et.  Or they pick a good spot and wear it out, both can be productive.  Man o man I am getting jack fever BAD right now.

[inshore]

don"t have any problem with any one eating any fresh water fish as long as it was caught legally . I myself am to lazy to clean the darn things. use to be a charter boat captain in fl. and I wouldn't clean the clients fish but if someone would give me some cleaned glad to take them. one thing that does pee me off is people just filling the freezer with them way over the limit or catching a limit giving them away and continue to fish and keep them.

[dan hufferd]

2 hours ago, MOPanfisher said:

If you are fishing up a river or feeder creek  during the spawn and see a log in the water that looks like a place you would catch a bass later, do not pass it by.  Wallys love to hide behind a log in a river with a little current, and ambush prey.  They do in a way seem like bass they hang around in loose groups and come spawn they seem to want a little more space.  But they all like the same sort of things, and when the feed bag is on it can happen fast.  You may be fishing your secret spot for 2 hours and catch nothing, then they turn on or move through and limit in 20 minutes.  Of course you may also fish another 2 hours and finally go home, cold, wet and depressed,  wondering when you can go again.  Or you may be standing right next to someone who arrives after you do and promptly catches a couple, while you chew on your beef jerky supper and try to get a look at his lure, only to discover it looks exactly like yours.  I have bennon both sides of all those scenarios.  Seems there are two basic ways most people catch them, either cover a lot of water by trolling or working crankbaits et.  Or they pick a good spot and wear it out, both can be productive.  Man o man I am getting jack fever BAD right now.

Don't forget the spoon, it works very well when properly used, you write well, loved it.

[MOPanfisher]

Lol, I couldn't catch a cold with a spoon.  Not sure I even own one.

[nomolites]

3 hours ago, bfishn said:

I'd defer to MDC on that, but if Stockton walleye spawn success is like the WR chain, I'd say there's a very small successful recruitment rate. Cannibalism isn't really a factor in wide open, fertile lakes or rivers that have a good early zooplankton bloom like it was in my confined hatchery tanks. Walleye need live food from day 3 after hatching. Fry are super tiny, approx. 1/20th of an inch and only slightly bigger around than a good beard stubble;

Obviously, the live food menu selection for something so small is pretty limited. Daphnia, some copepods, and a few other species of zooplankton are pretty much it for the first few weeks. If the weather, water conditions, and fertility don't combine just right to produce a healthy population of zooplankton by walleye day 3-5, most of them die. Then there's the white bass hatch that shortly follows, often in the same vicinity, and white bass fry are way bigger than walleye, and they want live food too. The few 'eyes that make it to an inch are then on the menu for yearling crappie, bluegill and bass. MDC and AGFC stockings that are successful are 1-2 inch fingerlings that they raised in ponds prepared specifically to produce boocoo zooplankton at the right time.

As to moving water, walleye don't require that for a successful spawn like stripers do. Here on the southern edge of their range river spawners can have an advantage though. It all depends on the conditions each year. Stockton has a lot of 'eyes that never run the rivers though, spawning instead on the dam riprap and similar lake spots. Some of that is broodstock genetics, and a whole 'nother story.

That is awesome info, thanks!  I have known that recruitment is low but your explanation fills the gaps!

Mike

[dan hufferd]

6 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

Lol, I couldn't catch a cold with a spoon.  Not sure I even own one.

We should get together I will help you out, then you can maybe show me some crappie secrets 

[dprice]

What is a normal mileage per say for a mature walleye to migrate ? 

[bfishn]

7 hours ago, dprice said:

What is a normal mileage per say for a mature walleye to migrate ? 

It varies a lot. Dam spawners often winter within a few miles, while river spawners  may run 50 miles or more. The long runs are progressive though, spanning several weeks. Individual fish find others in certain staging locations, often hanging out there for several days before moving up to the next spot as a group. At this time they're still actively feeding, often roaming a mile or more each night in loose packs only to return to the staging area for the day. By the time they reach the pools near spawning riffles they feed much less often if at all. I think the most important tip I could share here is to focus on the pre-spawn. Around here, that's about 5-15 miles downstream from spawning sites, and 2-6 weeks before the spawn. Find those staging spots when they're occupied and you're in business.

...And when you do, for God sakes keep it to yourself. You found it. You earned it. Resist the all-to-human urge to show off. Back in the day you could ruin a spot by being overheard over bacon and eggs after a successful outing. Now you just tell a "buddy" and he posts it on the freakin' web from his cell phone as soon as you're out of sight. Remember this line from a popular Eagles song;

"Call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye"

[dprice]

most walleye fisherman I've been around idle by and ask if you have caught any    Those sneaky son of guns  ?