Pre spawn walleye - Nebraska Fishing – General Discussion - Nebraska Fishing – General Discussion

Boos- I’m not real familar with Johnson’s Lake that time of year but I could picture the walleye spawning on the rip rap areas near the dam. The walleyes will more than likely start heading to these type of areas before the ice even comes off the lake. They will follow shad in the area and can probably be found in a little deeper water as soon as the ice is off the lake. You’ll want to pay close attention to your electronics and one of my favorite techniques just after ice out is live bait rigging mixed with some verticle jigging. Slow is one of the keys to success and light jigs if you verticle jig. Try to go with the lightest jig you can get away with and still keep good bottom contact while staying verticle.

As the water temps start to warm and the females really start to stage you may want to switch up and focus on shallow water. This is my favorite time of year to pitch some plastics. The males will be the first ones to move into the spawning areas and they are gennerally very aggressive. I like to use a 3/16 or 1/4 oz. H2O Precision Jig tipped with a 4″ Ringworm. These fish will move into shallow water toward evening and stay there throughout the night.

Just a reminder for this time of year. It’s easy to distinguish males from females this time of year. Be sure to put those females back. They are full of eggs and are the future of our fisheries. The males are generally plentiful and are very good eating coming from the cold water in the spring. I myself will take a couple of weeks off from walleye fishing when the females start moving shallow to drop their eggs. I think it’s only fair that I give them a chance to do their thing without being bothered.