Most anglers don't realize the best places to catch spawning walleyes are also some of the most common areas on the river. In the spring, when walleyes run upstream to spawn, the best fishing is found in the tailwater below dams. This is, of course, a misconception. When river walleyes move upstream in March, they are doing exactly what walleyes do in lakes-seeking suitable spawning habitat.
Dams are merely man-made obstacles where female fish are forced to wait and ripen.
As spawning time approaches and temperatures rise, migrating females feel an urgency to deposit their eggs in any suitable place, and riprap fills the bill. To fish for walleyes from the shore where the current skirts the riprap, toss diving crankbaits across the current and let the lure swing in an arc downstream before retrieving it upstream at a crawl. You're retrieving the crankbait slowly enough if you occasionally feel it drag across the bottom. If this tactic doesn't produce fish, use the same technique but wait to start your retrieve until the lure is within a few feet of the bank. Depending upon water depth, temperature, and clarity, spawning walleyes will sometimes lie above riprap in only a foot or two of water.