What does the walleye spawn itself look like — and can I fish it?
It is a night-time broadcast event, nothing like a bass bed: at 6–10 °C (43–50 °F), females escorted by several smaller males release eggs over clean gravel, cobble, and rock rubble in moving or wave-washed water — river rapids, dam tailraces, windswept reefs — usually shallower than 1–3 m (3.3–10 ft), and then leave. No nest, no pairing, no guarding. Whether you can fish it is mostly a legal question: across much of Canada and the northern US the season is simply closed until the spawn is over, and where it is open, spawning females bite poorly anyway while post-spawn males provide the action. The biology answer is: there is no bed to sight-fish and little reason to try; the calendar answer is: read the regulations for your zone, every year.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
Same topic, other species
- Why do muskie spawn after pike, and what does it cost them? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Can I catch perch during the spawn itself? — Yellow Perch
- What does pike spawning actually look like? — Northern Pike
- Can I fish for smallmouth in early spring anywhere I want? — Smallmouth Bass
- What does the spring rainbow trout run look like? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)