Courtship may commence much earlier when water temperature is at 1°C. The males move to the spawning grounds first. These are usually rocky areas in flowing water below impassible falls and dams in rivers and streams, coarse-gravel shoals, or along rubble shores of lakes at depths of less than 2 m. The walleye may move into tributary rivers immediately after they are free of ice and while the lakes are still ice covered. Spawning takes place at night, in groups of one large female and one or two smaller males or two females and numerous males.

The male walleye is not territorial, and does not build a nest. Prior to spawning, there is a lot of pursuit, pushing, circular swimming, and fin erection. Finally, the spawning group rushes upward into shallow water, stops, the females roll on their sides, release their eggs and simultaneously milt is released by the males. Apparently females deposit most of their eggs in one night of spawning. The fertilized eggs are heavier than the water and fall into crevices in the stream or lake bottom where they stick to stones and debris. The maximum number of eggs released by one female has been estimated at 612,000.

The eggs hatch in 12 to 18 days on the spawning grounds and by 10 to 15 days after hatching the young have dispersed into the upper levels of open water. By the latter part of the summer, young-of the-year move toward the bottom. Growth is fairly rapid in the south, but slower in more northerly latitudes. Females grow more quickly than males.