Tailwater Walleyes Today

The Spring Flood

In most years, high water levels due to snowmelt and spring rains cause rivers to flood. Walleyes typically escape to the shallows to avoid the strong current. They may, in fact, spawn back among the flooded forest if suitable rock or wood cover is present. Many anglers stop fishing rivers at this time, thinking walleyes are uncatchable. Not so. They’re not as easy to catch, because it’s necessary to use tactics that dig them out of shallow weed and wood cover. Adjust your strategy, however, and you can continue to catch fish during postspawn.

Lightweight weedless jigs tipped with minnows, or simply plastic tails, which withstand more abuse than livebait, are one of the keys to probing flooded cover. Weedless jigheads—wire or fiber weedguard models, or heads rigged weedless (Texas style) with plastic tails—slither through shoreline cover. Pitch ‘em into or between flooded willow bushes, logs, and brush, using a combination of swimming and lift-drop motions to ease them back to the boat. Use the same 6-foot medium-action spinning gear as for vertical jigging, though you may want to beef up to 10-pound mono to withstand abrasion, compared to the typical 6- and 8-pound line for midriver spots.

In modestly high water, focus on flooded cover immediately adjacent to the main riverbed. During periods of flooding, backwater channels or tributary creeks may be more appropriate. These are common conditions during late spring, when spring rains combined with snow melt send rivers over their banks, often coinciding with walleye spawning temperatures in the 40°F range. Fish clustered below dams during prespawn suddenly penetrate the shallows, often spawning far from the main channel. Jigs, spinnerbaits, shallow-running crankbaits, slip bobbers and livebait all are candidates for shallow exploration until water levels drop and walleyes retreat to the main channel.

“One of the best places to find walleyes in the upper Mississippi in early summer,” says Wisconsin DNR biologist Ron Benjamin, “is in flooded wood cover along deep outside river bends, miles downstream from dams. Fish disperse downriver after spawning, and for a time inhabit flooded cover in the transition zone between the upper, narrow, free-flowing river section and the flooded impoundment formed by the next dam downstream. Big females tuck into the calm water adjoining current. If you pitch a weedless jig into the cover and apply patience and skill, the largest fish in the system are catchable.”

Reading the Water

The ability to read and react to changes in river current and water level are paramount to angling success. Walleyes continually adjust to these environmental factors, shifting and moving to take advantage of prime feeding conditions out of current.

During low water, walleyes may use a variety of midriver spots. With rising water, they typically tuck tight to shoreline structure. And when a river floods, they often penetrate the flooded banks. Recognize these changes and adapt your presentation accordingly. By following the fish and placing a bait on target, you improve your chances of getting bit. And tailwaters are prime places to strike back.