Spawning Walleye?

[johnson-liner]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Yep....can't wait until that 1st Saturday in May! My last day of ice fishing for the marble eyes was the weekend before May 15th...caught a couple perch and one 8" Walleye. The bite was VERY slow pretty much the whole ice fishing season, but was good towards the end. Nothing over 20", but quite a few 16-19 range. Reports for Oneida Lake are saying there should be a good number over 20" for this coming season since so few left the ice this winter.<br /><br />I managed to take one weekend off fishing after season ended....so ready to start again, I went up to the Salmon River for my first time this past weekend for Steelhead! The action was fairly slow, but I managed to hook up with a couple and holy sh*t!! incredible fight with lots of airial acrobatics tossed in too! <br /><br />Hoping to be able to ditch the dingy..14' Bayliner with a 48 Johnson..and pick up a decent 18-20' walkaround before opening day. Kills me to get rid of the little bugger, great condition and it runs great, but I'm needing something bigger that I can sleep on here and there. And now that the snow's G O N E it's time to put the little girl out front with a sign! A little sad but....mmmmmm...a real fishing boat!

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Hard to part with a favorite, isn't it???

 

[Barlow]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Originally posted by KaGee:<br /> Ohio banned treble hooks from March 1 through April 30th in all the main walleye spawn tributaries. A few years ago they even reduced the width of the hook opening for jigs.<br />They also reduced the daily bag limit to 3 in order to try to improve the hatch. <br /><br />It's amazing how many scumbags there are out there. They busted a restraunt the other day for illegaly serving poached walleye.

I've wondered about them doing the same thing here Kagee with the tighter regulations and such..<br /><br />Damn poachers and double-baggers get my goat too.. especially this time of year durring the spawn runs. Wisconsin should regulate the same penalties as Minnesota and a few others that get you for the violation itself then tack on "restoration" fees.. we could probably use the $$ to actually restore/suppliment the fish population(s) instead of the 10,000 other things our DNR monies go to..

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Kinda fall into an "ethics" thing when it really comes down to it, but ya give them an inch by letting them fish during the spawn, and it gets abused

 

[jtexas]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Originally posted by KaGee:<br /> They busted a restraunt the other day for illegaly serving poached walleye.

I've never been too fond of poached fish, but maybe I just didn't have the right recipe. Don't care too much for poached eggs, for that matter. The way some restaurants serve fish around here should be illegal!

 

[KaGee]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

J......<br /><br />Somebody had to say it...! <br /><br />Here in Ohio, any restraunt that offers "Fresh Fish" should be fined for false advertising.

 

[fireman57]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

The problem with the fines and fees that the DNR gets in Indiana is that they go for everything except fishing, hunting, and outdoor recreation. It gets put in the general fund and the purpose the money was collected for gets spent on everything but.

 

[Rockchalk]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Well I finally got out and gave this all a shot. Fished late as suggested by walleyehed (9:30 - 11:30). Left the boat at home and walked the damn (Hillsdale lake E. Kansas). Right off I spot a nice female right on the shorline doing her thing. She was 4 pound easy. Really neat to see. Start throwing a 3" black and chartruse curly tail. Couldnt keep it out of the rocks so I switched to a floating Rapala. That did the trick. First fish was a milty male that went 17" so he went back in. Shortly later got hit again. Had nice little fight with him. Clearly a larger fish! Got him in and to my tape. Went 20"+ and onto the stringer. Wind really started picking up so I called it a night. Cleaning confirmed this fish was a male as well. Going again tonight. For the record... Both fish struck. There was no snagging here! Thanks all!!!

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

That's good to hear..<br />My fish have all come on jigs this week.<br />If you catch a milty male, don't feel like you need to turn it back...there will most likely be 15-20 males chasing 1 female. There will be no impact by keeping any males..<br />Which Rapala were you using?? jointed??? which model and size??? Jr. thundersticks work at times in Nebraska...I think they are about 4" in length.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

34 males last night, all on 3" grubs. 2 of us fishing. Largest was 22-1/2", most averaged about 17". Limit is 4 a piece, but we brought 2 each, home. The spawn is in full-swing as fish were thrashing all along the Dam, and for those that think they don't bite during the spawn must understand they don't all start at the same time, nor do they finish at the same time, but the later the spawn period gets, the better the males will bite.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Well I finally got out and gave this all a shot. Fished late as suggested by walleyehed (9:30 - 11:30).

River waters here are closed from sundown to sunup until May 1st.

 

[Rockchalk]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Nice walleyehed!!! I caught them on a Rapala shallow running Shad Rap. Silver/grey pattern. What depth are you catching yours in and what jig set-up. The fish we are seeing/hearing here are very close to the shore. I dont think the number of fish here at Hillsdale is all that great (do you get reports?) but the lake is close. The last two nights have been slow. Last night I saw only one caught and there were quite a few people out. There was less spashing of the females as well. Very nice nights but almost no wind. The fish do not seem to be moving around much with the light winds. Or maybe the spawn is ending? I will give it a shot again later in the week. Guess I better switch back to the jig. Thanks once again...

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

As the females begin to move out, the males stay until all spawning is over and they get real aggressive.<br />The Jig is best suited to calm nights...the Rapala or other minnow baits work best when you have some wind. The wave action causes higher O2 levels and they become more active and the minnow bait has a much greater sillouett (sp??)<br />which is easier to see in the choppy water at night.<br />I just use 3" curly-tails in white or chartruse on 1/16-1/8oz heads...1/8 if it's a bit breezy and 1/16 heads if it's calm...keep it slow.

 

[neumanns]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

Walleyehed, Thought you may find it interesting that here in centeral Minnesota the DNR runs a netting operation on my home water. The river temp hit 40 degrees and they had there first run last night, it was a warm and very sunny day so the spawn run should be in full swing tonight. The nets are only about 4 miles from me so I go up there several times each spring. Fishing season generally protects most species spawn here in Mn so fishing them is out. It is amazing to see some of the specimens that come throught the nets...Gives me hope that maybe somday I'll catch a REAL walhanger on the Whitfish Chain.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Spawning Walleye?

In your part of the woods, Walleye go up-stream to spawn as they are a native river fish.<br />They close the rivers to protect females and of course, to collect eggs. Some people are mis-informed and believe this hurts the natural population, but in reality, walleye have a higher survival rate if a smaller number actually hatch so there is less competition for food to the fry, creating a very strong, fast growing year-class.<br />In my neck of the woods, we have zero natural lakes and the walleye find the closest thing to current and river-rock they can...the dam and wind, current and rocks.