WALLEYE FISHING ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER BY LANCE MERZ MACK S LURE PRO STAFF

Transcription

1 WALLEYE FISHING ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER BY LANCE MERZ MACK S LURE PRO STAFF Walleye fishing on the Columbia River is a destination hot spot for anglers who seek this predatroy fish. In fact, most walleye anglers will tell you that if you can catch a walleye, you can catch just about any species of fish. Departments of Fish and Wildlife in Washington and Oregon, over the last two years, have lifted the limites while fishing the Lower Columbia. Studies are showing that walleye are eating the salmon and steelhead smolts and they want to eliminate the speices altogether. Only one rod is authorized per angler, but there is plenty of fish to be had for all. I had the opportunity to fish with Mack s Lure Pro Staff angler Ted Beach, a professional walleye angler whose knowledge compares to that of an encyclopedia. When Ted talks about fishing, people listen. He gives various seminars throughout Washington Each year and loves to tech people how to fish. There is an art to fishing walleye. We launched in an area of the Lower Columbia, just below the McNary Dam in a place called Crowe Butte. We were fishing in attempts to find some fish to catch for an episode of Northwest Fishing Reports. Due to the harsh winter that was felt by all, the current of the river was moving quite fast. Instead of moving into the main current, Ted sought his attention to areas of the river where the current wasn t as swift. Normally, these areas are closer to shore and range in depts of 5- to 25-feet. We were trolling with bottom walkers with about a 5- to 6-foot leader, primarily using Double Whammy Walleye and Smile Blade Super Slow Death Rigs tipped with nightcrawlers. Walleye fishing on the Columbia River is a Destination spot for anglers who seek this predatory LANCE MERZ fish. It wasn t long after we started trolling that the first fish of the day came into the boat a 16-inch walleye that knocked the funk off of the boat. A slow troll downstream revealed a few more fish in the live well this was going to be a good day! There are parts of the Columbia River that can be very intimidating and, if you ve never been on that particular area of the river, I would recommend going out with a guide who knows the water. Channels can be very shallow, which can take out a lower unit very easily. There are even areas in the middle of the river that can be as shallow as six inches! Ted and I fished throughout the day a fish here, a fish there. The fishing was consistent, but it wasn t lights out. The water temperature for fishing was still a bit chilly at about 57 degrees and the clarity of the water was a chocolate milk color. Then the wind picked up. It is imperative that, if you re operating a boat on the Columbia River, you are aware of the water conditions at the time you are going to fish. Without warning, the chop on the water can product 5- to 6-foot swells and without enough knowledge of boat operations, it could be catastrophic. Since the wind was so severe on the main channel, Ted decided to tuck into a slough, which protected Page 1

2 us from the wind. Not only did we start to catch walleye, we also began to catch smallmouth bass and perch, as well. Since walleye are predatory fish, catching these other species was a good sign. The next day, we decided to fish in another area of the river, adjacent to the town of Plymouth, Washington. Ted made this decision because the forecast was calling for wind gusts of up to 22 mph that day with some rain mixed in, as well. the water and the preferred method was to troll up to the border a line just below the dam that no one is allowed and drifted down. All but one chute was open at the dam and the water was swift, to say the least. Even without wind, the swells were consistent at 5- to 6-feet. In all, 40 fish were caught over the two day period. Ted is an excellent teacher. I learned a different way to rig up the walleye rod and even learned a new way to thread a worm on a hook. What I learned the most from Ted was that preparation is essential for walleye fishing. As with any other fishery, having the line in the water longer will eventually lead to more fish. Ted s boat was filled with additional tackle and riggings that made it very easy to slide off each lure to try a different color. That same week, Bob Loomis and Richy Harrod took their shot at fishing the Lower Columbia, as well. They fished in an area of the Columbia adjacent to Maryhill, Washington, at a place called Peach Beach. Trolling was the preferred method, just off the main channel using Wally Pop crawler harnesses, as well as the Double Whammy Walleye and the Smile Blade Super Slow Death Rig. Although there are no limits on parts of the Lower Columbia River, it doesn t mean that all of the fish have to be caught. I have seen first-hand where anglers will go out fishing and catch in excess of 100 fish or more in one day. In my opinion, catch what you re going to eat. Set a limit for your boat, which will allow others anglers the ability to catch fish, as well. We met with the Northwest Fishing Reports crew and began to film the show. Mike Carey, owner of NWFR, jumped in the boat with Ted and I, and his crew was in another boat fishing, as well. We launched the boat and the conditions were perfect calm with no rain. We decided to take advantage of the early morning fishing in an area Ted called the Plymouth Slough, a branch of the Columbia just off the main channel of the river, which, if needed, could protect us from the gusts, which were on their way. The fishing was consistent and, again, we were using Double Whammy Walleye and Smile Blade Super Slow Death Rigs. The hot Smile Blade on this day, however, was the UV Glo Burst, which produces a tremendous amount of flash and attraction even in murky waters. We pushed the limits and decided to fish just below the McNary Dam. There was only one guide boat on Page 2

3 STAN S SPACE IS THERE A 10-POUNDER OUT THERE FOR YOU? PART II BY HALL OF FAME ANGLER STAN FAGERSTROM You re going to look long and hard to find anyone more knowledgeable about walleye fishing than Doug Allen. If you read my last column, you re aware I told about having had an message from a reader who had a question about walleye fishing. He wanted to know where he could go to have a good chance to boat a walleye of 10-pounds or more. I had told this guy that I thought the Columbia River would provide his best shot at getting the job done. I also mentioned that I d check with Bob Schmidt, President of Mack s Lure, regarding today s prospets for walleye on the big river. I d asked Bob who he d recommend I talk to regarding the present outlook for walleye on the Columbia River. Doug Allen was that man. That didn t come as a major surprise. If you dig very deep into the history of walleye fishing in the Pacific Northwest, Doug s name is certain to surface. I have written about Doug Allen before in these columns. The last time was several years ago. I was curious how he felt about the present outlook for Columbia River walleye. I knew something else. Doug is a real pioneer of Pacific Northwest walleye angling. He s been taking beautiful fish out of the Columbia since those whoppers began showing up there. He has boated walleye as large as 18-pounds, 5-ounces from the big river. Darn few walleye fishermen in the U.S. have taken fish that size. Allen caught that beautiful trophy-sized fish in I don t know how many fish of more than 10-pounds he s taken from the big river, but it s been a bunch. So, what does Doug have to say regarding your chances of getting a walleye of 10-pounds or more today? You don t have as many big ones today as we did when the Columbia walleye fishing was getting started, he said, but the number of sizable fish is still good. Allen agreed that the Columbia River does, indeed, offer some of the country s best prospects for fish of 10-pounds or more. He was, however, just as quick to add a whole lot of ifs to putting one of those fish in your boat. Many of the thoughts Doug shares in this regard are a cinch to provide tremendous help to anybody wanting to get serious about their walleye fishing. As I ve already indicated, Allen has a list of walleye fishing accomplishments as long as your arm. That list has been compiled over more than 40 years of effort. Doug has been a Washington state resident all his life. He was the Lund Boat dealer in Yakima for many years. His son now operates that business. Besides all the time he has spent on the Columbia River walleye fishing, Allen has also fished as a contestant in professional walleye tournaments all over the U.S. I ve mentioned some of the other accomplishments Doug has racked up in my previous Stan s Coner columns. He was, for example, the Angler of the Year for the Columbia RIver Walleye Circuits in he also, at one time, held the walleye size record for Moses Lake in Washington. As far as I know, Doug still holds the record for the largest poundage of walleye taken from the Columbia River in a two-day tournament. He did it by coming in with a two day total of pounds. That total takes on even more meaning when you realize the limit was six fish per day and that only two of those fish could be more than 24-inches. If you re a walleye angler yourself, you may have had the opportunity to hear Doug talk about these often perplexing fish at one time or another. Doug, a long time member of the Mack s Lure Pro Staff, is one of those qualified experts who isn t reluctant to share his abundant knowledge. You ll find the lures Doug uses right here at MacksLure.com. Keep an eye out for my next column. I ll be sharing some of the things we all need to consider when we go after walleye. They re of maximum importance whether you re fishing the Columbia River, Devils Lake, North Dakota, Greer s Ferry down in Arkansas or basically anwhere else. You ll find that column on the first of next month. Be sure to subscribe to the Mack Attack to follow along. Best of luck! Page 3

4 SONIC BAITFISH (SBF) TIPS & TECHNIQUES TROLLING THE SONIC BAITFISH (SBF) BY CAPT. PETE ROSKO Thirty years ago, I received a phone call that dramatically changed my mind set on how to fish a metal jig, including the Sonic Baitfish. The call was from Capt. Ed Ruuck, a respected Lake Michigan salmon trolling charter skipper. Ed wanted to share what occurred on a recent Chinook salmon trip with a Crippled Herring, the first metal jig I created in the early 1980s. Prior to Ed s call, I never bothered to consider trolling because I was having too much fun catching Pacific salmon and Lake Erie walleye by vertical jigging. I was shocked after listening to Ed, sharing his story about my 2 oz. pearl white Crippled Herring. Here s how that event unfolded: A group of five boarded Ed s boat that early morning to troll for Chinook salmon. One of the five anglers recently returned from San Francisco where he purchased a 2 oz. pear white Crippled Herring metal jig. After several hours of trolling with an assortment of trolling spoons, Capt. Ed was still waiting for that first bite. About that time, the fellow with the Crippled Herring started bugging the skipper about trying his lure instead. This went on for about another two hours until Capt. Ed couldn t take it any longer. In order to stop the badgering once and for all, Capt. Ed figured a way to finally silence the guy with the Crippled Herring. Unlike his trolling spoon setup, cagy Ed attached the Crippled Herring directly to the downrigger ball, about ten feet behind it. That was it, no attractor of any kind, just a plain Crippled Herring. Then, with a smile, the good captain returned to trolling once more. Well, it did not turn out exactly as Ed had planned. There was some good salmon that ended up being caught nine, as a matter of fact. Eight were caught on that lowly Crippled Herring and one was eventually caught on Capt. Ed s favorite trolling spoon. Thanks to that call from Capt. Ed, I have trolled metal jigs in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf of Mexico. What I have learned is that a metal jig can out-fish traditional trolling lures most of the time. The reason is its erratic and darting action. It does not need an attractor, especially a dodger, since a side-toside acting attractor deadens the lively action of a mteal jig, including the Sonic BaitFish. At times, for extra flash and sound, I will add a small Indiana blade on the back side of the single hook on the SBF. It s attached with a small snap to the split ring. Do not use a snap swivel because a 360-degree spin does not work as well as a sideto-side blade action. I always try to simplify any of my techniques, including trolling. I do not bother with downriggers unless I m on another boat with them. I flatline troll or use divers on my vessel. My favorite SBF trolling finishes are glow chartreuse for walleye, cutthroat trout and kokanee, then glow white and silver blue for rainbow trout and all salmon species. As always, thank you for subscribing to the Mack Attack. It is our sincere wish to increase your catch rate with our monthly tips. COOK YOUR CATCH PAN SEARED SALMON Ingredients (4 servings) 2 eggs; 4 (6 oz.) salmon filets; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tablespoons capers; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper; 4 slices lemon Directions 1. Preheat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes; 2. Coat salmon with olive oil. Place in skillet and increase heat to high. Cook for 3 minutes. Sprinkle with capers, salt and pepper. Turn salmon over and cook for 5 minutes or until browned. Salmon is done when it flakes easily with a fork. 3. Transfer salmon to individual plates, garnish with lemon slices and servce with your favorite side dish. Now eat! Page 4

5 PRODUCT RELEASE NEW Pip s BOX Mack s Lure, Inc., manufacturer of the industry s most effective leader holder, the Pip s Leader Caddy, has released a newly designed version of the Original Pip s Box. When it comes to success on the water, gear organization plays a major role. The more prepared and easily accessible your gear is, the more time can be spent fishing. This all new Original Pip s Box does the trick. The Pip s Leader Caddy is simply the most ingenious way to store your tied hooks, Mack s Lure president Bob Schmidt says, so when customers asked for a smaller version, we responded, not only with a more accessible, but also upgraded design that includes anti-reverse and a selflubricating surface for a smoother spin, mimmicking the features found on the Pip s Leader Caddy. The Pip s Box, available in six colors, is ideal for storing tippets and hooks tangle-free and its small 3 3/8 size fits easily in your pocket for quick and easy access, allowing for fast turnaround time when replacing or changing leaders when on the water. You can now purchase the Original Pip s Box at MacksLure.com and be sure to look for it in your local bait and tackle shop soon. For images or more information, please contact media@mackslure.com. GUEST COMMENTARY TOP 5 TACTICS FOR TROLLING RAINBOW TROUT IN DIRTY WATER BY DANNY COYNE, MACK S LURE PRO STAFF The spring can be a very challenging time for anglers to target Rainbow Trout. As the freshet sets in, so do the dirty water conditions in our valley lakes. If you have ever tried to catch rainbow trout in these murky water situations, you know it can be difficult. However, these periods can also offer some of the greatest fishing opportunities of the year. As anglers, we need to work extra hard to discover ways to increase the fish we catch in murky water conditions. Here s our top five tactics for trolling rainbow trout in dirty water to help increase your odds the next time you are faced with these conditions. Contrast & Fluorescent UV Colors While fishing in stained water, paying attention to color and contrast is very important. In fact, in my experience it s the time of year that changing your lure color can make the biggest difference. You need to think about contrast! There is a lack of light penetrating the water, so using darker colors will create contrast and stand out much better to the fish. Using attractors with brass and copper will out-produce regular silver or chrome four-to-one due to the low amount of light available for reflection. Using lures such as spoons with color combinations with brass and fluorescent or glow can be lethal combinations. Fluorescent UV and glow colors will give that eye appeal to the fish, as these colors require less light to reflect the lure s Page 5

6 color. Choosing lures such as plugs or spoons that have dark or fluorescent spots on them will also stand out to the fish. In extremely milky water circumstances using black dodgers or flashers with dark lures can payoff dividends. Sound & Vibration Rainbow trout are the apex predator in a majority of our fisheries. They are very good at homing in and attacking their prey. One of the ways they do this is by detecting the low frequency vibrations or movements by smaller prey fish by utilizing their lateral lines. Using lures that create a small vibration (sound) can help the trout locate your presentation from a fair distance, even during stained water conditions. Plugs that have small rattles in them have a tendency to out-fish non-rattle lures such as spoons. Another great way to put off an attractive vibration is to use lures that have spinner blades such as a Wedding Ring or spinner hoochie. These blades put off sonic vibrations that entice a trout to track down your gear and strike! Using attractors will also really put the odds in your favor. Using dodgers, lake trolls or flashers are a huge benefit during dirty water conditions. Attractors create displacement in the water that help the trout find your presentation. During these low visibility periods you can up the size of attractors without spooking the fish like it can in clear water conditions. Speeds Your trolling speed needs to adjust to the conditions. Unlike in clear water, when we troll a variety of speeds with pulses and intervals, I find it more productive to troll at a continuous speed. In murky water, the trout have to work extra hard to locate your baits. By trolling at a constant speed, the fish won t give up as quickly when hunting down your gear. The key to this is that you need to find the productive speed that your lure s action continues to work effectively and you start to get strikes. Once you start to connect with fish, pay attention to your trolling speed and keep with it. It s a fine balance from going too slow and too fast. Choosing lures, such as a variety of Mack s Lure Smile Blade lures that work in slow trolling applications will aid you in this process. Depth of Your Presentation Before the freshet arrived, you may have been hammering rainbows in the deepwater regions of the lake. However, rainbows behavior will change once the spring runoff starts to enter the lake. The tributaries are not only bringing in warmer water, but they are depositing a ton of nutrients into the lake. These elements attract small forage fish into the shallow shoals. The warm water can also provide extra comfort for the trout. Rainbows that were once chasing baitfish on the surface over a couple hundred feet of water can now be residing near shallow shoals or ledges, feeding upon baitfish while being in comfortable water conditions. A lot of the time, you will see a distinct divide within the water where the clean lake water meets the murky runoff water. These are excellent areas to target, as the trout will tend to hangout in these zones. Troll just on the edge of the clean water in these areas. It is important to note that during these spring runoff seasons, it is also the time of year with rainbow trout are staging in front of the tributaries to run up for their spawn. It s an ethical angling practice to release these spawning fish so they can complete their spawning cycle. Your lure depth while trolling is also extremely important to pay attention to. Unlike clear water conditions, the fish s strike zone is reduced during murky times. If you are marking fish at 50 feet on your sonar and your gear is and your gear is at 65 feet, you need to adjust your downrigger to the depth in which you are marking fish. This way, you can be confident that your presentation is within the fish s strike zone. During dirty water situations, rainbows tend to not move quickly throughout the water column chasing forage, but rather wait for an opportunistic meal to present itself. The cloudy water conditions aid predator fish like the rainbow trout in providing them an advantage in ambushing their prey. Surface Fishing Usually, on the bright spring days, the sun will push the fish down within the water column, as it s harder on their eyes, as well as they will follow their food. When the water clarity diminishes, the rainbows are more apt to stay near the surface because the murky water provides a filter like effect from the bright light. This can be a very good time to surface for rainbows no matter if you have bright or cloudy days. As noted above, the trout tend to use the low water clarity to ambush their prey. By trolling your lures on the surface, it delivers a silhouette effect to your lure, making for an easy target. Running dark colored plugs or other lures that have erractic vibrating action, like the Mack s Lure Pee Wee Wiggle Hoochie, is an excellent option for this method For more from Mack s Lure Pro Staffer Danny Coyne, visit BCFishn. com, follow him at Facebook.com/ BCFishn on Instagram. Thanks to Danny for stopping by! Page 6

7 QUESTION OF THE MONTH HOT DEAL OF THE MONTH Have a question? We d love to answer it for you! Shoot us an at media@ mackslure.com with your question and you may see it featured in an upcoming issue of the Mack Attack Magazine! Q: I started using the Double D Dodger. I see it comes with swivel hardware on one end. What hardware do you recommend on the other end? Also, how far behind would you run a hoochie? Would it be different by species? A: Thanks for the questions! The Double D Dodger comes with a split ring and a snap swivel on the end that goes to your leader. P H O T O O F T H E M O N T H Boone Harrod shows off a massive 15-pound trout that he caught on Wallowa Lake in Oregon. Harrod says he caught the lunker on a Hum Dinger & Sling Blade combo. On the other end, it is recommended that you rig directly to you mainline with only a snap swivel. To rig this, you would tie the swivel end of your snap swivel to your mainline and the snap end would be snapped directly into the desired hole on the dodger, which you will determine based on the diagram on the Double D s decal or on the back of the package, depending on which size you purchased. This rigging also allows the angler to be able to quickly change to a different hole as needed for spreading your lines. It is also best to run a very short leader length behind the dodger, about V I D E O PHOTO CREDIT: BOONE HARROD O F T H E M O N T H Mack s Lure Pro Staffers Mike Hall and Melissa Nokes target rainbow trout in a highly instructional episode of Angler West TV filmed on famous Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Follow Mack s Lure on Facebook and Instagram and tag us with #MacksLure. To submit your catch, send us an at media@mackslure.com or tag us on social media using #MacksLure. Page 7