Clinton Lake walleye spawn??

[Captain Dan]

Would someone please let me know when the walleye start moving into the dam at night on Clinton lake?
I've missed it the last 2 years, so I'm hoping to get into it this year.
Thanks, Dan

[Crappie Chatt]

Usually they show up around 43degrees surface temps. Sometime the middle of March,,, I think <*)}}}><

[Tucker]

I talked to the fisheries biologist the other day. He said they were setting their nets at Hillsdale on March 19th. He also said that during warmer years the males can start moving up on the dam towards the 1st of March.

[springhillwantabe]

seen em at hd the first march then next time may be the middle of april like chattman said it's all in the temp not sure what it is exactly??

[wheels70]

I would suppose most all lakes in this area would have approximately the same timing wouldnt they? Melvern, Pomona, Hilldale and Clinton are all geographically fairly close so I would assume they would all take off about the same time. What do you guys think?

[walleyecrazy839]

TJ at Perry said the middle of march is when they will start netting surface temp the 23 rd was at 40 already.

[Craig Johnson]

Would someone please let me know when the walleye start moving into the dam at night on Clinton lake?
I've missed it the last 2 years, so I'm hoping to get into it this year.
Thanks, Dan

Dan, year in and out the 'normal time' for walleye would be roughly mid-March through mid-April for the walleye 'spawn'. The definition 'spawn' is used quite widely by anglers and can cover a very wide time frame. Most of the time the pre-spawn period is often encompassed with the term 'spawn' when it shouldn't be. Walleye will begin moving to the dam well in advance of the actual spawn. Usually, walleye are already staging along the dam in deeper water by late February and can be found near the dam through mid-April. The thing to remember is that not all walleye spawn at the same time so there will be early spawners and later spawners which increases the chances of survival of the species by not putting all the walleye eggs in one basket so to speak. You'll often hear people talk about the 'peak of the spawn' and this is when the biggest concentration of fish move up shallow to spawn on the dam (and any other favorable rocky substrates) during the night. Anglers will often see walleye cruising the shallows, males chasing females, thrashing and rolling, and wader fishermen will have walleye bumping in to their legs. The sometimes misunderstood part of the 'peak of the spawn' is that although this is the most concentrated the walleye will be all year long, it is not necessarily the best time to catch the fish as their attention is more focused upon procreation than eating. With that being said, anglers do catch walleye during the spawn and some very large fish. Better times to catch walleye are actually the pre-spawn period when fish are staging for the spawn and females are seeking the warmest water available near the dam to assist in the ripening of their eggs and later in the year when the walleye hit the flats. Don't feel like you 'missed the spawn' as this period is usually 4 to 6 weeks in length again beginning early to mid-March and lasting to mid-April sometimes later.

Usually they show up around 43degrees surface temps. Sometime the middle of March,,, I think <*)}}}><

Chatt is on the money. Mid-March with temps in the mid-40's gets the walleye near the dam (and any other favorable substrate). Textbook temps for walleye spawning are 48F to 52F but spawning does take place outside of these ranges. For example, if it is April 1st but the water temp is only 46F the walleye will be spawning in Kansas lakes.

I talked to the fisheries biologist the other day. He said they were setting their nets at Hillsdale on March 19th. He also said that during warmer years the males can start moving up on the dam towards the 1st of March.

Both Cedar Bluff and Hillsdale will put out nets on March 19th. Fish could be caught earlier (those early spawners) but egg take is often much lower and not many biologists want to stock walleye fry when water temps are still in the low to mid 40s so it is preferred to set nets a bit later to miss the early, lower density spawners in favorable of a higher daily egg take when water temps favor plankton blooms in lakes to receive stockings of walleye fry.

seen em at hd the first march then next time may be the middle of april like chattman said it's all in the temp not sure what it is exactly??

Spawns of Kansas fishes are triggered by both water temperature and photoperiod. Walleye catch with KDWPT nets at a given lake will vary very little from year to year and the 'peak' is usually within just a couple days from one year to the next. The spawn can be quite spread out some years with spawning fish found as early as the first week of March and lasting until the third week of April but year in, year out the 'peak' will fall in to the same 4 or 5 days.

I would suppose most all lakes in this area would have approximately the same timing wouldnt they? Melvern, Pomona, Hilldale and Clinton are all geographically fairly close so I would assume they would all take off about the same time. What do you guys think?

Wheels, you are correct that all lakes take off about the same time. However, there a couple of lakes that have been traditionally a bit later than the others and these are Melvern and Milford. These lakes take a bit longer to warm up than the others so they lag a bit behind. Netting operations at Milford will begin April 1 whereas Cedar Bluff and Hillsdale will begin March 19th. Again, following the early March to mid-April time frame will get you in to the early part of the spawn through the later part of the spawn at virtually every Kansas walleye lake.

TJ at Perry said the middle of march is when they will start netting surface temp the 23 rd was at 40 already.

Nick, TJ always starts earlier at Perry as he is netting for sauger instead of walleye. Sauger spawn earlier and at cooler water temps than walleye. He is usually a week or so ahead of the walleye lakes when looking for his sauger.

[Postman]

Craig, thanks for taking the time to connect all of the dots. Useful information!

[Captain Dan]

I agree with Postman, thanks Craig for the good info. The dots connected spelled out I better get my pontoon boat back in the water ASAP.
Has anyone here had any experience fishing for pre-spawn walleye? is it best to troll deep diving cranks, drift crawlers or what works good.

[Postman]

Hey Dan - We've never made it out too early in a boat. It seems most of the time we start wading the rocky shorelines having best luck as sun is coming up or going down. When we do get the boat out, some of the fish have already spawned but as Craig mentioned, they come in waves. We slow troll road runners. When I say slow troll, its referring to 1.0 -1.5 mph. You can troll faster but I prefer to troll just slow enough to make the little blade turn and keep the lure close to bottom. Using this method, we have limited out on walleyes, but we do good with crappie and whitebass too. I'm more familiar with central lakes of the state. I've relocated to the KC area and I haven't walleye fished around here yet. Sorry I cant give you more specifics about Clinton.