So when do they start?

[MoCarp]

this time of year is walleye watch time, from the end of Jan to April is your BEST time to catch a huge wall hanger, bull shoals and James river always started 1st,  below truman  the 1st two weeks of march

1st water we get after the end of Jan seems to push fish into staging areas, the trick here is to get them when they are making false runs, when they actually spawn they are not as easy to catch, many a year they are done before most folks even go after them, so now would be a great time to have a look or two for the big sows, they will hold in deep holes and make runs at night, in most places you can't keep walleyes during those times, the 1st deep water near by will hold fish...heavy jigs tipped with minnows are your best bet, as well as jigging spoons with a minnow head on the hook that rides up, hand tied marabou in 3/8 -1/2 oz some jigs that are 1/8 oz size can be customed with lead wire to fish heavy, wild caught minnows work best "slicks" or small chubs 3" or so  fished slow within 2 foot of bottom, the big sows like to get behind big boulders in current, dark cloudy days with no wind will get them running up river, if we get some water in feb on a moon phase, call in to work!  keep the males to eat if you must but turn back the big girls after a photo

[MoCarp]

best bait!

when chubs are spawning seems the males taste bad,.... but get a roed up slick and your golden