Columbia walleye

Here's the pix of my 4 walleye trips since November. This is becoming one of my favorite fisheries. I've fished from the Tri Cities area down to below McNary dam but there are spots further down river that are really good. I'm still learning how to target them but if you are interested in learning how, go check for open invites on FB from Jim Davis. He is the walleye guy with all of the info. He will usually have open invites on the Tri Cities kayak anglers FB page and has a walleye social in Nov.

We've been using blade baits, spoons, bottom walkers, and whistle pig type jigs with crawlers. Pro-Cure trophy walleye on hard baits will usually get you more bites. 10-15# braid to 10# leader will get your gear down quickly and you must stay vertical on your drift. Medium drop shot or similar rod is a good rod to use. We fished from 50 to 130fow depending on where the fish were staged.

It's a finesse game when using blade baits and it take a little practice to get it right. We used jigs with crawlers on Friday and the fish seemed to hang on to the bait longer so it was just setting the hook when you feel weight.

Like I said I'm no expert so the best way to learn is to get out and try. This is my third season and I'm only now getting the hang of it.

That's a ton of good eating!

I still need to try my hand at that species,  was bummed I didn't make it to the social.

Have ya gotten any bigger ones? Anyway to specifically target larger ones?

Thanks for the info, keep up the good work!

That's a ton of good eating!

I still need to try my hand at that species,  was bummed I didn't make it to the social.

Have ya gotten any bigger ones? Anyway to specifically target larger ones?

Thanks for the info, keep up the good work!

There are ways to target bigger ones but that's an advanced technique that I'm not an expert at yet. I have not gotten anything huge this year. We are targeting eater size fish but will come across big fish fairly often. Anything over 22" or so gets released to spawn. Anglers in the group will regularly catch fish that are up to 27 inches or so but Magic Mike got this massive fish using the same bait in the same area in 2021. He's in a new Outback and that board is 31" to the end.

Oh, so they have to get pretty sizeable before they're able to reproduce.  Good on you for being responsible about that!
As someone who's yet to catch any, I appreciate that!

Awesome job man! Id kill to have a stringer like that one day. Practice makes perfect.

Wow, your walleye daily limits are are sure greater than mine (six)......

Awesome job man! Id kill to have a stringer like that one day. Practice makes perfect.

Thanks KillerBeaver, there are usually a bunch of first timers at the Walleye social in November. I think there were about 35 total anglers on the water that day and probably a third or more had never fished for Walleye before. Jim does a great job at trying to work one on one and teach people how to catch them. The guys that have done it before will offer help as well. It's a great way to get into the fishery. Here's the pic from last Nov.

Wow, your walleye daily limits are are sure greater than mine (six)......

The States are literally trying to eradicate them from the river so there are no limits on Walleye and Small Mouth Bass on the Columbia. I don't know if that makes us lucky or not.

Wow, your walleye daily limits are are sure greater than mine (six)......

The States are literally trying to eradicate them from the river so there are no limits on Walleye and Small Mouth Bass on the Columbia. I don't know if that makes us lucky or not.

Kind of like Lake Trout in Yellowstone Lake.  Illegially introduced many years ago and devestating to the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout.  Any Lake Trout caught in Yellowstone Lake MUST be killed. 

Its a great time! I highly recommend the walleye social.