Stan Fagerstrom
10-01-2003, 02:24 PM
“A Way To Win With Walleyes”
By Stan Fagerstrom
Part 1
There was no doubt about the size of the fish.
The man holding the rod had caught big ones before. He knew this was a dandy. As the fish began to tire, he eased it up next to the boat where his wife waited with landing net. Moments later the two had a chance to eyeball a beautiful Columbia River walleye. They weighed the fish and shot a couple of quick photos. Then just as quickly that fish, obviously a big female that hadn’t yet spawned, was eased back into the river.
That big walleye weighed 12-pounds, 3-ounces. It was caught earlier this year in the Columbia River. It’s not the first walleye of more than 10-pounds the guy who caught it has taken out of the Columbia.
The angler who caught that fish is Dave Eichler. Eichler is general manager of Mack’s Lure, a tackle marketing company based in Leavenworth, Washington. As experienced walleye fishermen know, Mack’s Lure produces some of the country’s most sought after walleye-catching lures and accessories. Eichler is not only is involved in the production of those things---he knows how to use them.
http://www.ifish.net/davewalle.jpg
Dave Eichler gets his share of trophy sized walleye out of the Columbia River. He's pictured here with one of them.
But Dave Eichler is a very modest man. That was one of the first facts to surface when I probed his thoughts recently for some of his walleye fishing secrets. I wanted to share those secrets with regular readers of this column. We’ll do that in this column and the one that follows.
“Please don’t call me an expert,” Eichler said. “I’m still learning. But I certainly have discovered why people get ‘hooked’ on walleye fishing. It continually amazes me just how many things that have to be learned to be able to catch walleye consistently.”
I’m no authority on walleye fishing myself. But I have had a chance to share a boat with those who are. That includes some of the county’s top pros like Mike McClelland, of Pierre, South Dakota. I’ve also fished with top Columbia River guides like Ed Iman and Mike Jones. Both have taken some of the largest walleye yet recorded from the Columbia River. I like to think I know a good walleye angler when I watch---or talk---to one. Eichler is such a man.
I don’t care where you fish for walleye, 10-pounders aren’t easy to come by. I fished the Columbia once with a good friend who had done lots of walleye fishing while he lived in South Dakota. He caught a 10-pound walleye on the trip I shared with him. He couldn’t wait to get that fish home and have it mounted.
You won’t find Dave Eichler following that procedure. He’s realizes just how important those big spawn-laden females are to the future of the sport. Those whoppers he and his wife, Deborah, put in the boat might have to pose for a quick photo. But that’s the size of it. Instead of being invited home to dinner, they are quickly and carefully put right back where they came from.
That doesn’t mean the Eichlers aren’t aware of just how finger-lickin’ good walleyes are fresh out of the frying pan. “We’re not going to destroy future generations of these wonderful fish by removing the big brood stock females,” the two say. “Besides, the 2 and 3-pounders are better eating and those fish aren’t yet contributing to the walleye population.”
Eichler has been fishing walleye in the Wenatchee area since 1990. The 46 year-old tackle executive has been fishing for one thing or another all his life. But he has concentrated on walleye since moving to Wenatchee. I asked him why.
“There’s a sort of mystique about walleye fishing,” he says. “ I find myself forever asking why are they here or why are they there? You’re never sure just what approach it’s going to take to get them. I guess a major part of the attraction is the constant challenge catching them consistently presents.”
You can’t stick to just one lure or one approach to catch walleye consistently. But I can tell you that Eichler uses some of his company’s own products to get the job done on one approach that has put some of the biggest he’s caught into the boat. I asked for the specifics on that particular procedure. He does it by using a Bottom Walker weight on 20-braided line. At the end of the line he attaches a brand new Mack’s Lure product called a Hot Wings flasher. The Hot Wings features two Mylar wings. These wings have a highly reflective coating on both sides. Even more important, because of their lightness they spin at boat speeds as slow as ¼-mile per hour. The two blades on the Hot Wings are designed so they spin in opposite directions. The counter rotation also sets up a different underwater vibration.
Dave ties a 4 ½-foot leader to his Hot Wings. At the end of the leader goes his nightcrawler-tipped lure. The lure itself is a scaled down version of one of Mack’s Lures products called a Cha Cha. Eichler puts together his own version of the lure. It features the smallest of the company’s Smile Blades in front of a small pill float. Behind the float comes a two-hook worm harness. What that amounts to is two #4 hooks tied three inches apart. Eichler’s nightcrawler is attached to the double hook set up.
I’ll have more of the details, along with pictures of the rigs Eichler uses to take those big Columbia River walleye, in a later column
It’s equally important to know where and how this walleye-fishing specialist employs the setup he often uses. For starters he fishes it in an area of the Columbia River that he knows very well. He knows the depth of the water and the contour of the bottom. “One of my most productive spots,” he says, “is an area where the water is about 28-feet deep at the upper end and drops back to 48-feet at the lower end. I run my electric motor just fast enough to keep the blades on my Hot Wings flasher and the Smile Blade at the lure turning. I’m actually slowly drifting back down river and presenting my lure to fish-holding stretches along the bottom as I go.”
Eichler mixes that modesty I mentioned earlier with a whole lot of common sense when he shares his thoughts about becoming a successful walleye angler. You won’t find him holding forth on this or that always being the one lure or the one approach that will always put walleye in your boat.
“Walleye do seem to follow their food source,” he says. “What that means is that one day you might have to jig vertically and the next day you might have to pull crankbaits. The day after that the best method might be bottom walking.”
I’ve provided the specifics on the way Eichler rigs for some of his walleye fishing for a purpose. I’m forever hearing from anglers new to walleye fishing. They want to know how to go about it. I’ve detailed one approach used by an angler who has put some dandies in his boat.
Finally let me share some of the other advice he passes along to anglers interested in polishing their walleye catching skills. “Try to fish with an experienced walleye angler to learn the ropes,” he says. “This might mean retaining the services of a guide or finding a friend who knows what’s required. Listen to what they say. Study what they do. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about what you don’t understand. If you have access to the Internet, the Walleye Central Web Site is a great place to learn. To get there, go to www.walleyecentral.com.” (http://www.walleyecentral.com.”)
http://www.ifish.net/sfdavere.jpg
Dave Eichler doesn't kill the big walleye he takes from the Columbia. He might have one pose for a quick photo. Once that's done the fish is released. That's what he's pictured doing here.
Like I said in the beginning, Dave Eichler is a modest man. But that 12-pound, 3-ounce beauty he slid back into the Columbia River last month isn’t the first time he’s released trophy fish. I could tell you about another one of 11-pounds, 8-ounces, and others not much smaller, that might have wound up on a wall someplace if another angler had caught them.
Like I said in the beginning, Dave Eichler is a modest man. But what that modesty tells me is that he’s also got sufficient smarts to know none of us have all the answers where fish are concerned---especially when it comes to those elusive critters we call the walleye.
I promised him I’d not tell folks he claims to be an expert. He doesn’t and I won’t. But just between you’n me he’ll do until a real one come along!
By Stan Fagerstrom
Part 1
There was no doubt about the size of the fish.
The man holding the rod had caught big ones before. He knew this was a dandy. As the fish began to tire, he eased it up next to the boat where his wife waited with landing net. Moments later the two had a chance to eyeball a beautiful Columbia River walleye. They weighed the fish and shot a couple of quick photos. Then just as quickly that fish, obviously a big female that hadn’t yet spawned, was eased back into the river.
That big walleye weighed 12-pounds, 3-ounces. It was caught earlier this year in the Columbia River. It’s not the first walleye of more than 10-pounds the guy who caught it has taken out of the Columbia.
The angler who caught that fish is Dave Eichler. Eichler is general manager of Mack’s Lure, a tackle marketing company based in Leavenworth, Washington. As experienced walleye fishermen know, Mack’s Lure produces some of the country’s most sought after walleye-catching lures and accessories. Eichler is not only is involved in the production of those things---he knows how to use them.
http://www.ifish.net/davewalle.jpg
Dave Eichler gets his share of trophy sized walleye out of the Columbia River. He's pictured here with one of them.
But Dave Eichler is a very modest man. That was one of the first facts to surface when I probed his thoughts recently for some of his walleye fishing secrets. I wanted to share those secrets with regular readers of this column. We’ll do that in this column and the one that follows.
“Please don’t call me an expert,” Eichler said. “I’m still learning. But I certainly have discovered why people get ‘hooked’ on walleye fishing. It continually amazes me just how many things that have to be learned to be able to catch walleye consistently.”
I’m no authority on walleye fishing myself. But I have had a chance to share a boat with those who are. That includes some of the county’s top pros like Mike McClelland, of Pierre, South Dakota. I’ve also fished with top Columbia River guides like Ed Iman and Mike Jones. Both have taken some of the largest walleye yet recorded from the Columbia River. I like to think I know a good walleye angler when I watch---or talk---to one. Eichler is such a man.
I don’t care where you fish for walleye, 10-pounders aren’t easy to come by. I fished the Columbia once with a good friend who had done lots of walleye fishing while he lived in South Dakota. He caught a 10-pound walleye on the trip I shared with him. He couldn’t wait to get that fish home and have it mounted.
You won’t find Dave Eichler following that procedure. He’s realizes just how important those big spawn-laden females are to the future of the sport. Those whoppers he and his wife, Deborah, put in the boat might have to pose for a quick photo. But that’s the size of it. Instead of being invited home to dinner, they are quickly and carefully put right back where they came from.
That doesn’t mean the Eichlers aren’t aware of just how finger-lickin’ good walleyes are fresh out of the frying pan. “We’re not going to destroy future generations of these wonderful fish by removing the big brood stock females,” the two say. “Besides, the 2 and 3-pounders are better eating and those fish aren’t yet contributing to the walleye population.”
Eichler has been fishing walleye in the Wenatchee area since 1990. The 46 year-old tackle executive has been fishing for one thing or another all his life. But he has concentrated on walleye since moving to Wenatchee. I asked him why.
“There’s a sort of mystique about walleye fishing,” he says. “ I find myself forever asking why are they here or why are they there? You’re never sure just what approach it’s going to take to get them. I guess a major part of the attraction is the constant challenge catching them consistently presents.”
You can’t stick to just one lure or one approach to catch walleye consistently. But I can tell you that Eichler uses some of his company’s own products to get the job done on one approach that has put some of the biggest he’s caught into the boat. I asked for the specifics on that particular procedure. He does it by using a Bottom Walker weight on 20-braided line. At the end of the line he attaches a brand new Mack’s Lure product called a Hot Wings flasher. The Hot Wings features two Mylar wings. These wings have a highly reflective coating on both sides. Even more important, because of their lightness they spin at boat speeds as slow as ¼-mile per hour. The two blades on the Hot Wings are designed so they spin in opposite directions. The counter rotation also sets up a different underwater vibration.
Dave ties a 4 ½-foot leader to his Hot Wings. At the end of the leader goes his nightcrawler-tipped lure. The lure itself is a scaled down version of one of Mack’s Lures products called a Cha Cha. Eichler puts together his own version of the lure. It features the smallest of the company’s Smile Blades in front of a small pill float. Behind the float comes a two-hook worm harness. What that amounts to is two #4 hooks tied three inches apart. Eichler’s nightcrawler is attached to the double hook set up.
I’ll have more of the details, along with pictures of the rigs Eichler uses to take those big Columbia River walleye, in a later column
It’s equally important to know where and how this walleye-fishing specialist employs the setup he often uses. For starters he fishes it in an area of the Columbia River that he knows very well. He knows the depth of the water and the contour of the bottom. “One of my most productive spots,” he says, “is an area where the water is about 28-feet deep at the upper end and drops back to 48-feet at the lower end. I run my electric motor just fast enough to keep the blades on my Hot Wings flasher and the Smile Blade at the lure turning. I’m actually slowly drifting back down river and presenting my lure to fish-holding stretches along the bottom as I go.”
Eichler mixes that modesty I mentioned earlier with a whole lot of common sense when he shares his thoughts about becoming a successful walleye angler. You won’t find him holding forth on this or that always being the one lure or the one approach that will always put walleye in your boat.
“Walleye do seem to follow their food source,” he says. “What that means is that one day you might have to jig vertically and the next day you might have to pull crankbaits. The day after that the best method might be bottom walking.”
I’ve provided the specifics on the way Eichler rigs for some of his walleye fishing for a purpose. I’m forever hearing from anglers new to walleye fishing. They want to know how to go about it. I’ve detailed one approach used by an angler who has put some dandies in his boat.
Finally let me share some of the other advice he passes along to anglers interested in polishing their walleye catching skills. “Try to fish with an experienced walleye angler to learn the ropes,” he says. “This might mean retaining the services of a guide or finding a friend who knows what’s required. Listen to what they say. Study what they do. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about what you don’t understand. If you have access to the Internet, the Walleye Central Web Site is a great place to learn. To get there, go to www.walleyecentral.com.” (http://www.walleyecentral.com.”)
http://www.ifish.net/sfdavere.jpg
Dave Eichler doesn't kill the big walleye he takes from the Columbia. He might have one pose for a quick photo. Once that's done the fish is released. That's what he's pictured doing here.
Like I said in the beginning, Dave Eichler is a modest man. But that 12-pound, 3-ounce beauty he slid back into the Columbia River last month isn’t the first time he’s released trophy fish. I could tell you about another one of 11-pounds, 8-ounces, and others not much smaller, that might have wound up on a wall someplace if another angler had caught them.
Like I said in the beginning, Dave Eichler is a modest man. But what that modesty tells me is that he’s also got sufficient smarts to know none of us have all the answers where fish are concerned---especially when it comes to those elusive critters we call the walleye.
I promised him I’d not tell folks he claims to be an expert. He doesn’t and I won’t. But just between you’n me he’ll do until a real one come along!