Alright I cave.. When's the best time for walleye around the burgh?

So I have been and will continue to learn the lessons about when walleye are are on and more importantly, when they're not, but I'd love pointers on types of weather, temp of water, water level, times of day, go to baits, etc.

I spent Sunday in the Ohio casting baits between ice chunks trying jigs, then even got welcomed in with a few guys that let me use some of their creek chubs. Guess a bait trap is in order, the chubs do more than fatheads on any day. Makes sense I guess.. Creek chubs are native bait, although on Sunday the fishing was less than productive. I also don't guess I have the feel for dragging a jig over a rocky bottom yet, because I don't have the slightest clue when I have a bite or a rock. I'm hoping as the water warms the bite intensity increases. It was definitely cold this last week.

Needless to say, I've frozen my butt off, stood in the rain, and spent glorious days out on the river all with varying success.

I have searched and will continue to read, learn and live through lessons, just hoping y'all might divulge a few pointers for a beginner walleye fisherman. If I don't catch them, it won't ever be due a lack of trying that's for sure!

Lock walls when the ice is out.

Having live & grown up locally I've spent the better part of 15 years chasing walleyes on the river.  The majority of my experience is fishing the lower Allegheny, but all 3 rivers share the same general patterns.
 
Typically spring and fall are prime time. When waters temps hit about 50-55 degrees the fish will be really active. Once summer comes along the walleye fish slows down considerably...
 
You can catch dozens of juvenille/small walleyes [12-14 inches] in the spring and fall when the bite is good. There is always a handfull of 16-22 inch fish mixed in with these fish too.  These smaller walleyes are voracious eaters when the water temps are right, and are pretty easy to catch.
 
The big fish are awhole different creature. Obivously not as plentiful as the smaller fish, but they are there in decent numbers. The rivers give up plenty of 8/10/12+ fish every year. You need to be just lucky or use different techniques to get the big girls.
 
Your best chance at big ones however is during the winter months. Think big baits. In late Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb you might fish all day long for maybe only 1 or 2 bites if you're lucky. But there is a better chance at catching a trophy fish.
 
That is not to say that big fish can't be caught year round. It just requires more effort and different techniques. The fish mainly become nocturnal during the the hotter summer months. 
 
Personally the few times that I've fished during the winter months I've been skunked, so don't get too discouraged...It takes a ton of patience, a good spot,  and a little luck to entice them too bite when the water is really cold.
 

spoonchucker

"When's the best time for walleye around the burgh?"

Lunch time
Dinner time
Midnight snack time

Seems to be the best time for perch and crappie too...
 
Pretty much what Lovgren said.  Although, not sure about the dead of winter logic personally, but probably due to not getting into that type of fishing.  I'm sure if you hit below the dams enough in the cold and talk to the regulars, they might have the same thoughts.  I've caught a handful in the rivers over 25" (10 years of pretty avid river fishing and 10 additional casual years = one Erie trolling trip...).  Most were either March/April or Oct/Nov time frames, but I didn't usually venture out below freezing temps.  Those unseasonable winter days that I did head out, they might have been turned off due to the temp change, as they never seemed to produce much.  The time frames that I did do well in, had a mix of dinks to nice fish, and many other species mixed in.  The warmer it is, the later in the evening the bite turned on.  Although, in the spring and fall, twilight will almost always turn them on if you weren't already getting some.  Usually making a transition from the deeper water to a shallower feeding flat.  Most areas below dams have this, as well as the sand bars below creek mouths.  Since you are fishing the Ohio, I'm going to bet that once you hook into a 25" wiper, you'll soon lose interest in walleye (unless eating them)...  For my last few years of river ratting, walleyes were a bi-catch of what I was targeting.        

Creek mouths in the spring produced for me. I cast for em with jigs. You will know when you have a bite its nothing like the bounce you feel when the jig drags on the bottom. The stream I fish in particular has a big drop off just after it dumps into the river. that drop off has produced a lot of fish. Once the water warms up during the summer months i switch to trolling and try to cover as many spots as possible, keeping track of where i caught every fish.

Seems like in the Freeport -Kittaning area of the Alleg. every year people get a few eyes in the 10-12# class. Usualy by throwing jigs at night at creek mouths. Also we have done very well on sauger in the same area on twister tails,but I haven't done that in a few years so I could not tell you if it still works. Basicaly it seems that although the bite is slow & the fishing at night in the winter is tough,that seems to be when they get big eyes.  sam

Try throwing BIG double jointed Rapalas. Slow is the ticket. You might only get one or two strikes but there is a good chance it's a hog. It's a game of patience this time of the year.

i fished last weekend trying 4 some eyes all i got where crappie now thru may the bite will be on some days u get alot some days not so much fish slow and lite now and go bigger an more agessive tward may [bigger lures in fall ]
last yr got 2 a24& 28 in oct on small musky plugs
its fishing it takes time and luck
the more time u put in the luckier u get