Post spawn Walleye

[Canadian Bacon]

Walleye guys.....
What do you think the best way to fish Walleye is in the post spawn early season?
Live Bait like minnows and leeches, crankbaits., susspending baits....fishem deep or shallow...
Can you give us some hints, tips and techniques??

[Wall-I-Guy]

Interesting question. For me this is the time I dread most when fishing these puppies. My experiences have been that with PSW's the bite is generally "off". Therefor, I spend my time chasing crappies usually.

The females are exhausted and the males are guarding the fort so to speak. Usually need a good week or two for them to get active again. Short of dropping a jig right on their snout, you'll likely find the going slow. I haven't had much luck with crank baits, stick baits or minnows with PSW's.

Now that I've totally depressed you. Go out and catch a good dinner's worth

Goodluck CB

PSW's=post spawn wallies

[Rob]

hey guys how's everything? I was just reading a article on post spawn walleye's and would like to send you the link but I don't know how to do it.

[eye-tracker]

Post spawn walleyes...

This is the easiest time of the year to target large numbers of male walleye (95 percent of the walleye will be in 5 percent of the lake/river), note the males are the small ones. The male walleyes will stick around the spawning areas and feed on minnows during the post spawn (later in May they will start to spread out all over the lake), so you have to look for flats and structure close to spawning areas where the males will be holding. The Females leave the spawning area as soon as possible after the spawn and head out to the open water and mid lake structure, they travel in small numbers, so catching lots of big females in the spring is a challenge.

For the male walleye you will have to try finesse rigs if they are on bottom, live bait, slip bobbers, light jigs and minnow. If they are up off bottom and the water temp is above 50F you can get out the cranks and try to go after the active feeders.

The females will be found by trolling open water, mid lake structure and breaks. Look for schools of minnows or perch and you should find some walleye around the area. I find that small 3” stick baits (Rapala Original, Rouges, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow) work best at this time of the year. If the water is below 50 F you could slow down the troll 0.9-1.3mph and use spinners with worms or minnow.

Watch the water temps…the warmer the water the faster the troll or approach. Often anglers fish walleye way to slow to catch the active feeders. They are a very aggressive fish in shallow warm water. During a cold front they will stick to bottom and move deep so pull out all of the finesse rigs and force feed them, some times I will speed troll at 2.5 -3.5 mph during cold fronts with diver crank baits just off bottom to trigger a reaction bite.

[Cancatchbass]

Male walleye, like most fish (and some men ) have nothing to do with the eggs they fertilize or fry they father. Like many other fish, their job is done once they drop their supply of milt on any eggs they are fortunate enough to pass their genes on to.

I'm posting this just in case any readers feel that post-spawn males shouldn't be targeted, thinking they could be protecting eggs or fry. If anything, they could be mowing down on the fry.

They're definitely fair game- go gettem'!

CCB

[eye-tracker]

Thanks CCB,
That is a good point The males hang close the the spawn area to feed on the forage fish that are eating the walleye eggs...walleye will also eat their fry.... like I said walleye are a very aggressive predator fish.

Go get em'

[McQ]

The prime reason male walleye hang around spawning areas is to service late spawning females. Like all males they are opportunistic.

Walleye are canibalistic and do eat their young, I'm not at all convinced that they are there to feed on the predator attraction.

In river situations post spawn, slow your presentation down - jigs and minnows will get those smaller males to react. There are times when a real heavy jig thumped on the bottom will provide the attraction needed.

This is the time of year when slow and easy gets the best results, the fish have expended a lot of energy during the spawn and they need protein - the feed bag is on and location is everything. The majority of females will drop deeper and seek out structure that breaks current. They will patiently wait for the river to bring lunch to them. The best sizes for baits are 3"s and smaller - matching what mother nature has set the table with.

If there is one time of year when a jig bite is #1 then this is it.

Trolling cranks for earlier spawned out females is an option best conducted in shallow water ( 6' or so ) at this time of year, throw out what the book says and concentrate on the shoreline down current from the spawning area. Look for current breaks around points and rock humps. If fishing lakes then shallow humps and sunken islands should be your primary target especially those within proximity of the river or spawning creek mouths. There aren't tons of fish following this pattern but they are big.

[eye-tracker]

McQ,
Opportunistic is the right word!

[M.T. Livewell]

You know, it all seems so simple when you guys put this on electronic paper. Funny though, at the Baitcasters tourney last year, I believe a record of 4 walleye were weighed in.

Hope I can capitalize on some good advice guys.

Sheldon, I knew I should have gone to school!!!.

thanks
M.T. Livewell

[BASSSTALKER]

Guys, If walleye are such predators, why do there populations decrease if there is an abundent of of bass in the lake as well?

[BENLEGER]

I fish shallow from 1 1\2 foot to 5 foot as for the Baits from harnesses to shallow diving minnow type baits.

BEN

[MichaelVandenberg]

Basstalker,

A fish can be the top of the food chain but if it can't spawn successfully every year the numbers will go down.

Cheers,

Mike

[eye-tracker]

Basstalker,
I am not a Fisheries Biologist but I would think most walleye end up in the frying pan. The weekend anglers and ice fishing season take a large number of eyes out of a lake every year.

[Wall-I-Guy]

Post spawn walleyes...
This is the easiest time of the year to target large numbers of male walleye (95 percent of the walleye will be in 5 percent of the lake/river), note the males are the small ones. The male walleyes will stick around the spawning areas and feed on minnows during the post spawn (later in May they will start to spread out all over the lake), so you have to look for flats and structure close to spawning areas where the males will be holding.

See now, that's why you should never buttume anything, me that is Just figured they watched the nest like other species ....Who knew

[BASSSTALKER]

Gotcha!