Spring Reservoir Patterns

Canyon Reservoirs

Mountainous regions in the West support untapped walleye populations, and little is known about their movements in some canyon reservoirs. A few diehards, however, like Gregg Meyer, a Denver, Colorado, police officer, follow walleyes through the seasons in these abysmally deep sanctuaries. In late winter, walleyes are at 80- to 100-foot depths, usually near the mouth to halfway down bays or creek and river arms where they spawn.

Water temperatures during prespawn range from 38°F to over 50°F, depending on latitude. The best action takes place in the 46°F to 50°F range. At that point, big females move up rocky stairstep ledges. This could be early to late February in the south and late February to early March in the north. “Prespawn fish are still deep in lakes like Powell in Utah,” Meyer says. “I know it’s getting pretty close to the spawn when big females move from the chasms onto 25- to 45-foot rock-rubble stairsteps.

“Start looking about halfway down major creek and river arms, or in the back of spawning bays,” Meyer advises. “If walleyes aren’t on the caved-in walls that form stairstep ledges, they’re cruising cliff walls nearby, suspended in the 25- to 40-foot zone.” Meyer drops 1/4-ounce jigs with smoke or chartreuse plastic tails down the broken rocks, which are as big as houses and cars. If prospecting fails, he scans the walls with sonar, approaching visible fish with jigging spoons or 1/2-ounce jigs with twin tails baited with large chubs.

“Fish spawn anywhere from midway to the back end of bays and arms,” Meyer says. “They need shallow shelves of broken rock and rubble, which is the best habitat available in most of these reservoirs.”

Some postspawn fish (48°F to 59°F) move slightly deeper on the same rock-rubble shelves where spawning has taken place. These are small males less interested in biting than are the fish migrating back along canyon walls toward presummer habitat.