When and where do walleye spawn?
At 6–10 °C (43–50 °F), starting at or just after ice-out — late February or March at the southern edge of the range, late April into May across most of Canada, June on the northern fringe. The sites are chosen for one thing, egg oxygenation: clean gravel, cobble, and rock rubble washed by current or waves — river rapids and dam tailraces, gravel shoals at river mouths, and windswept rocky reefs and shorelines, usually shallower than 1–3 m (3.3–10 ft). Adults show strong fidelity, returning to the same river or reef year after year, which is why individual spawning stocks are mapped, managed, and often protected as units. Males arrive first and linger for weeks; the big females come late, spawn over a few nights, and leave.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Spawning
Same topic, other species
- What temperature do crappie spawn at — and is it one event? — Crappie
- At what water temperature do largemouth spawn? — Largemouth Bass
- When and where do muskie spawn? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- When and where do perch spawn? — Yellow Perch
- Why do pike spawn in flooded marshes at ice-out? — Northern Pike
- Do smallmouth and largemouth hybridize in the wild? — Smallmouth Bass
- What is a redd, and why must I never wade through one? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)