Spawning

Was at Red Wing on Tuesday. Water temp was 45-46. Has it started, is it over, or in the process?

42 on the lake same day. Havent seen very many big fish being caught myself… I think give it a few weeks.

hasn’t started

it will be earlier then normal due to water stability but not by more than a week or 2….. Photo period is just as/more important to the spawning process. IMO

Caught a nice number of spawning age fish this past Monday….. females still firm and males were under full control of bodily fluids.

I’d bet on last week of march/first week of april.

The river needs some serious water added to it to get any really decent spawning that results in a good hatch.

^Not a single .01″ of rain forecasted here along Pool 4 for the 7 day forecast. The river is going to be low and warm early…and my morel mushrooms are going to be non existent.

In regards to the OP it will be a bit yet for a lot of fish, but fish don’t all magically spawn at the same time. There’s also a regression back to “normal” temps over the next 10-14 days for the area here that could slow the upward trajectory of water temps

Kept 4 male walleyes yesterday. Only walleyes we caught all day and all of them were after the sun had set. Plenty of saugers in the day. All 4 walleyes kept were between 16-18″es. Two of the four milted on unhooking in the boat. While cleaning the fish at home the other two were completely empty of milt. Water temp was 46 ish and the white bass were surfacing all over in the spot we were in right at dark. Caught an 18″ healthy large mouth on the Wisconsin side by the culvert just east of the dam. First lmb off the main river channel ever for me in the spring. Big, fat, healthy fish. We threw the book at them and couldn’t find any big females. Very little flow and never seen the river this low in the spring. I can’t image the bulk are spawning yet, but some must be? Loading the boat around 9pm the air temp was still in the mid 50’s. Felt unbelievably warm for March 13th after dark. Two best boats we saw do well were dragging orange plastics a touch faster than everyone else and covering a lot of water not afraid to go right up along the banks or deeper across the main channel, and one boat was vertical jigging slipping in the main river channel in 18-20′ just a touch slower than what little current there is. The vertical jigging guys had on some small jigs from what we could see.

Spawn isn’t only triggered by water temperature but a combination of water temperature and photoperiod. It’s just a bit early yet.

On Tuesday we caught 8 and kept 3,2 sauger and one walleye. Had our best luck for size down in front of the tepee.

Article from Hunt Fish Manitoba states the photoperiod (i.e. amount of daylight) and water temperature are the key factors that trigger walleye spawning.
A 2-year Pool 4 telemetry study showed for those years the walleye spawn started April 7-13 and peak spawning lasted about 9 days. Water temp was 43 – 50 F.
“The photoperiod is a key signal for the walleyes spawning journey from their deeper winter environment to their shallower spawning grounds to begin. The amount of light a walleye is to encounter throughout the day will eventually hit a critical point. This amount of light will trigger an internal signal in the body which initiates the releasing of hormones to begin preparing the walleyes for the spawn. The photoperiod is one of the only factors that allows for an exact date every year in relation to the spawn. No matter the weather or temperature, the amount of sunlight during a specific time will always be the same year after year.”

https://huntfishmanitoba.ca/blog/making-sense-of-the-walleye-spawn/

Very interesting, Jim. Thanks

Do they know about daylight savings time ?

47 degree water yesterday and none of the fish we caught had spawned. So, at least some are holding off for now. Can’t be long though as the fish looked like they were going to bust.

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Nice fish . I haven’t seen many big ones being caught . I’m guessing the crowd will be thin with the wind this weekend .

Ive heard high water during and right after the spawn is a good thing in general. Anyone know if the current high water conditions have any effect, good or bad, on the recently hatched eyes and saugers?

ScottSchreiber wrote:

Ive heard high water during and right after the spawn is a good thing in general. Anyone know if the current high water conditions have any effect, good or bad, on the recently hatched eyes and saugers?

High water before and during is good. Walleyes want that flooded shoreline structure and weeds to spawn in.

I would assume this rush of water is bad for the small fry that have now emerged. Maybe they can stay protected in the flooded weeds and trees but I assume they are getting washed out.