Spring Fish Runs: Walleye, Shad and White Bass, River by River
59 spring runs in 24 states. Each starts when its river reaches the temperature its fish wait for, from 40°F for rainbow smelt to 62°F for striped bass, and 36 of them usually begin between March and May.
The runs at a glance
Read October 13, 2026
59
Runs
in 24 states
8
Species
walleye to eulachon
40 to 62°F
Spawning water
rainbow smelt to striped bass
December
First to start
American shad on the St. Johns River, Florida
31
USGS gauges
on the rivers of 27 runs
Each run’s months and spawning temperature come from the state agency page quoted on its state page. The verdict on each card is worked out in your browser against today’s date and, where a USGS gauge sits on the run’s own river, today’s water.
Is the run on?
Where each run stands today
The runs on now and the next to start, from the months each state names. Each card sets the river against the temperature its fish wait for once the page has loaded.
A spring run is fish leaving a lake, a reservoir or the sea for a river to spawn. The temperature under each name is the figure its publisher gives for the species; a state’s own figure, where it has one, is on its page.
Walleye
Walleye leave big lakes and reservoirs for rivers, tailwaters and rocky shallows to spawn in cold water.
The month each source names for the start of its run, from Florida’s shad in December to the Columbia’s in May. A cold spring holds a run back by weeks and a warm one brings it forward, so the month is a guide and the water is the answer.
Dipping for smelt at Tawas City, Michigan, on Lake Huron in April 1973. Smelt run at night in the first weeks after the ice goes out, and the gulls find them as quickly as the people with nets do. “Smelt Run at Tawas City”, Donald Emmerich, DOCUMERICA, U.S. National Archives, Public domain
How a run works
Water temperature, day length and the first warm rain
Water temperature sets the week
Each species spawns in a band of water temperature, and the agencies print it: the Ohio Division of Wildlife gives 43 to 55°F for Lake Erie walleye, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says American shad come in from the ocean when the water reaches 55°F. A run starts when its river warms into that band, which is why the same run can be weeks apart from one year to the next.
Day length sets the season
Lengthening days ready the fish to spawn, which is part of why these are spring runs: every one here starts between December, in Florida, and May, and none in the fall, however mild. Within that season, the water decides the week.
A warm rain moves fish
Anglers on walleye and white bass rivers watch for the first warm rain of spring. It raises the flow and the water temperature together, and fish often push upstream on the rise. Very high, muddy water can slow the fishing until the river drops and clears.
A volunteer measures an American shad at the Holyoke Dam fish ladder on the Connecticut River, around 1970. Counts at the dams are how the agencies know a run has started, and where it stands against other years. “American shad being measured for survey at Holyoke Dam”, Holyoke Water Power Company, Canal Park Committee, CC BY 3.0
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Everywhere else
Fishing in the other 26 states
Each of these states has its own best fishing times page, with the feeding windows for every day of the week ahead.
The earliest start before spring does: American shad on Florida's St. Johns River from late December, and on South Carolina's Santee and Cooper from mid January. Great Lakes walleye follow in March, river herring and Atlantic shad in April and May, and Columbia River shad from May until mid July.
Each species waits for its own. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service give walleye 45 to 50°F, white bass about 57.2°F, river herring about 57°F, hickory shad about 61°F, American shad 60 to 65°F and striped bass 55 to 67°F. Where a state agency gives its own figure for its rivers, the state's run cards use that one.
Walleye run first, in cold water. Ohio's Maumee and Sandusky runs start in early March, Michigan's Muskegon run below Croton Dam in late March, Oneida Lake's in late March right after ice out, and Iowa's in early April. Tennessee's walleye run rules apply from January 1.
Across their range, from February in the South to late May in the North, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On Virginia's Dan River they begin in early April; in Ohio they follow the walleye into the Maumee and Sandusky and peak in mid May; on the Illinois River they begin in May or early June.
American shad run in winter in the South and in late spring in the North: the St. Johns in Florida from late December, the Santee and Cooper from mid January, the Connecticut from late March or early April, and the Columbia below Bonneville Dam from May until mid July. Hickory shad reach North Carolina's lower Roanoke in late February and Virginia's James River Fall Line in late March.
31 USGS gauges on the run rivers report water temperature through the day, and each run card with a gauge sets the latest reading against the spawning temperature: more than 5°F below the spawning temperature is Not yet, within 5°F is Getting close, inside the range is On, and above it late in the run is Winding down. Runs with no gauge follow their usual months.
24 states: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Best Fishing Times covers every state, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming included, with the days and hours fish feed best.
No. The months are the usual window, and the water sets the day: a cold spring holds a run back, and a warm one brings it forward. That is why each run card reads the river temperature where a gauge sits on the run.
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Spring fish runs by state
Runs, months, spawning temperatures, places and rules read October 13, 2026 from the state wildlife agency pages quoted on each state page, with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a species figure where a state gives none. Water temperatures are the latest reading where a USGS gauge sits on the run’s river, fetched when the page opens; a run without one goes by the months. Rules change every year, so read the current regulations before you fish.
