I think that it's important…

I think that it's important to protect the walleye population more diligently during their spawning season.
In the event of an "early" spring, when the waters warm to near 40 degrees before the season is closed, the spawning population can be under tremendous pressure from anglers out after "the big one."
Even in a catch & release situation, I think many of the large spawning females are stressed by the fishing activity and a great many could be injured or die from the trauma of being caught & released.
I live and fish on the Rainy River and have noted a surprising increase in the spring fishing activity where the river is inundated with fishermen (primarily from the American side.)
The numbers of fish being caught must be astronomical & many of those caught are large females still full of spawn.
I have witnessed downstream from the "hot spots" where many large walleye are floating on top of the water and dying from being caught & released.
I think closing the season at the end of March to ALL angling for walleye would go a long way to protect them during this delicate time and would likely increase the chances of a successful spawn for the species.
A large female can produce in the neighbourhood of 400,000 eggs and if more of them are allowed to do so successfully, without outside pressure from anglers, we are far more likely to have a healthy population of young walleyes to grow into adulthood over the years.