Spawn???

[Eyelander]

How can you tell what stage the walleyes are in in the spawning cycle, pre spawn, post spawn, etc. ?
Last year around the last week of May we must of caught at least 30 or 40 Eyes (mostly males) in a day, at one of our spots, this spot is located on the northern shore of the resevoir, where a creek flows in, it also has a very rocky bottom, and I would almost bet that this is where they spawn.
This year we're hittin em but the bite is slower again all males between 20 and 23 inches and one 31 inch female that definetly layed her eggs. Last year we were nailin them maybe 20 to 30 feet away from the shore line. We couldn't even sit down for a minute without feeling that tug on the line!
When we cleaned the ones we got this year they had little if any food in their stomaches.
Are they still in the resting stage before they go into a feeding frenzy or are they at the tail end of their hungry frenzy?
I know this may be a hard question to answer but how can we tell?
Thanks in advance!

[Eyelander]

C'mon now. It's hard to believe that nobody has any answer to this lengthy question. Or at least a guess.

[cisco]

Any one of us could guess, but is that what he wants? I'm curious to know, too.

Let's hear from the fishy biologists. (Opps, I mean fish.)

[Stezostedion vitreum man]

Eyelander,

The best way to determine what is occuring in the life cycle of a walleye is to look at the lake conditions. Spawning occurs shortly after ice-out when water temperatures reach 42 to 52 degrees F. This is Nature's way of triggering the mass production of eggs in females (although they do have eggs in them all year long, just not as many) and the milt (sperm) in males. Males appear on the spawning grounds first, preceding the females by several days. Once the female deposits her eggs, she swims off and leaves the spawning area, the males will linger on for several days after the last femal has departed.

With this in mind, if you catch pre-spawn fish (where permitted), the female will have a distended stomach due to the production of eggs. Slight pressure on the stomach area will allow for the release of some eggs, which will appear yellow in color. On the other hand, males will emit a white milt when handled in the same fashion.

Spawning grounds usually consist of shoals or tributary streams, so location may be a indicator of what condition the walleyes are in at that time. Post spawn females will usually not be found in the immediate area once they have spawned and their stomachs will have a sunken appearance. Often times they will head for deeper water and not feed for a period of time to recuperate from the rigors of spawning. Males, on the other hand, usually can be readily caught near the spawning grounds, since their role in reproduction does not seem to be as traumatic (same as in humans). Since they have spawned, when you catch them, they will usually not secrete milt at this time indicating a post spawn male.

In conclusion, a quick summary of what to look for to determine pre-spawn from post-spawn: time of the year, water temperature, location of the fish, the physical appearance of the fish and whether the fish secretes eggs or milt when caught. Armed with this information, you should be able to pretty well tell what phase the fish is in during its reproductive cycle. Hope this helps and good fishing.

Remember to keep your eyes open and your feet dry.

S.v.m