By Mark Schram, myfishingpartner.com

A week of near normal/slightly above average temperatures launched the annual walleye runs across northeast Wisconsin.

With air temperatures pushing toward the upper 60’s on Sunday, water temperatures have continued to rise consistently.  April 10th is the average spawn date on the Fox River (Green Bay), with April 15th the average on the Wolf River.  In 2017, those bodies of water may have flipped in terms of spawning order.

Fox River DePere:

On Sunday 4/9/17, water temps were 47 degrees in the Fox River in Green Bay.  These temps have spiked since Tuesday (42 degrees).  With a north wind backing up the river for about a week, the wind changed to the south allowing the cold water to release out of the river which resulted in the walleyes pushing up the river to spawn.

Several new batches of walleyes entered the system early in the week, and some of those fish spawned late in the week.  Overall, approximately 60% of the walleyes we caught this weekend were spawned out.

The walleye bite has been very inconsistent from the mouth of the river to the Dam.  Some days trolling was key, while other days Ripping Raps and jigs/minnows were preferred methods to attract fish.  One thing was for certain, the sand flats were the places to fish on sunny days.  The sand warms up faster and water temperatures were running a degree or two higher on the sand flats.  This drew post spawn walleyes into feed.

The De Pere Dam/Island were very active starting on Friday.  There were excellent populations of larger fish near the dam.  Many of these fish were swatting at the bait rather than consuming the bait.  Unfortunately, foul hooked walleyes were common in this area.  It was not uncommon to see walleyes more than 26 inches being hooked.  We found Rapala Shad Raps and Flicker Shads to work best, especially with white bellies on the bait.

Our predominate success came on the sand flats this week.  Although we sorted thru many “Green Bay average” fish (18-24”), we did find some massive fish on the flats (30.5” was the largest).  Day time trolling was best with smaller baits like a Salmo Hornet.  Night trolling required a bigger profile such as a #7 Flicker Shad or Smithwick’s Perfect 10.  Chrome baits were the shiny ticket in the heavily stained water.  Musky and carp were common.

I would expect most of the spawning activities to be completed prior to Good Friday in DePere based on the current weather forecast.  There appears to have been an abundant spawn on the Bay this year, versus in the river.  At points last week, the Bay was up to five degrees warmer than the river.

Mark Schram with a Green Bay Post Spawn Walleye

Oconto has been hit ‘n miss with a few post spawn walleyes showing up.  Peshtigo has low water, but is just starting to turn on with nearly all walleyes pre-spawn.  It is important to get away from the crowd in this area.  The walleyes will move away from pressured areas to seek solitude.  It is best to look for these fish via the graph, rather than fishing in the community holes.

Wolf River:

I personally did not fish the Wolf this week, but Nate did put some time in here.  According to Nate most of the walleyes have migrated north of New London, with many heading into the marshes to spawn.

Water temperatures on Sunday April 9, 2017 were above 52 degrees at New London.  Normal spawning temperature for walleyes is approximately 45 degrees; a revealing sign that spawning is occurring or completing right now on the Wolf River.

When the fish come out of the marshes you can expect many of the downstream hot spots on the Wolf River to fire up quickly.   Areas like New London, Red Banks and Fremont should be picking up later in the week as the females make their way back down to the upper lakes.  Males tend to stay in the marshes a little longer than the females after spawn.

Downstream areas like the Fox River in Oshkosh and the Winneconne Bridge (Wolf) have been very slow, and will likely remain that way until late in the week or the following week based on normal movement trends.

Remember that the returning fish will be coming back higher in the water column, and techniques should be adjusted to maximize catch rates.   We are still several weeks to a month away from the white bass run.

Just a quick note that the channels of Lake Winnebago are starting to produce pan fish.

The window is closing for the pre-spawn trophy fish in 2017.   Areas to the north of Green Bay are ripe for pre-spawn giants currently.  Get out into the great walleye playground of Northeastern WI.  [email protected] is my email for questions and comments.  Happy Easter!