Hello all,
I’m going to be switching it up this spring and fishing some lakes I don’t have a lot of experience on. They are all lakes with good numbers of walleyes but the entire population is stocked; there’s little or no natural reproduction.
My question is, Can I find fish in typical spring spawning habitat even if they’re not going to spawn? I’m talking shallow gravel, rocky, sandy areas, primarily.
Do fish who have no chance of getting properly laid still go to the ladies night at the bar?
Yes, generally they will still go through the spawning process. And some will not. I would fish it like a normal reproducing lake. If its not working switch it up and move deeper. They will be food driven so find the bait and you should be set!
I agree with Paul H.The fish still spawn,but the sucess isn’t there[Don’t tell the female fish!].I always start looking for areas a fish might spawn and then progress to food sources.
We have a lake north of Rochester that has had several plantings of walleyes. The lake offers nothing for spawning habitat and the fish are the put/take variety. Some of the earlier plants that have gotten past Mother Nature and anglers are in the 18-19 inch range now. One branh of the river that feeds the lake comes out of Rochester and runs pretty much right past my back yard. I see walleyes run up as far as the dam here but they don’t drop eggs. It makes me think that the urge to spawn is there and these fish follow those urges to run up-stream but the fish just aren’t able to get eggs to maturity to drop even if they did find a suitable spot.
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Do fish who have no chance of getting properly laid still go to the ladies night at the bar?
Every male species in the animal kingdoms train of thought on “spawning”. 
LOL, nhamm. I suppose I agree with you. 
Thanks, too, for the feedback. I’m usually fishing Mille Lacs year round. Not this year. It’ll be a fun (and challenging) year, that’s for sure.
The males just need to find the loose females who will spawn anywhere.
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We have a lake north of Rochester that has had several plantings of walleyes. The lake offers nothing for spawning habitat and the fish are the put/take variety. Some of the earlier plants that have gotten past Mother Nature and anglers are in the 18-19 inch range now. One branh of the river that feeds the lake comes out of Rochester and runs pretty much right past my back yard. I see walleyes run up as far as the dam here but they don’t drop eggs. It makes me think that the urge to spawn is there and these fish follow those urges to run up-stream but the fish just aren’t able to get eggs to maturity to drop even if they did find a suitable spot.
is this the lake up the road from fosters?
Zumbro
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The males just need to find the loose females who will spawn anywhere.
Those are my favorite. 
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