Columbia river walleye report

[Arc burn]

Fished all day saturday daylight to dark. Didnt even have a nibble. We fished downstream of the John Day boat ramp. Around noon we decided to try for sturgeon. We had better luck with sturgeon. Caught two 49"s, one 26" and one 61". Tried walleye again in the afternoon around Miller island, still no nibbles. Water temp was 41 deg all day. May try again in a couple of weeks.

[ 03-14-2004, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: Arc burn ]

[Hunt'nFish]

Well, picked up one walleye Sat. up at Rufus, little male 19" & ~4.5-5lb.
Pretty slow fish but some folks did better.
No large females caught that I heard of, just small males. Mostly off harnesses from what I saw.
20-25ft seemed to be the common depth.
Weather was good. slight east breeze. Sun shining. Nice day.
Water temp about 42F.

They were pulling a power line across the river below the dam, so they had every above Preachers Eddy closed to boat traffic. But I did hear they'd let ya sneak by the drooping power line over near the shore if ya asked.

Did see a couple boats tied up on a sturgeon along the cliffs above Maryhill Park. Should've thrown in a sturgeon rod.

Walleye Tracker

Bassfucious say:
May you have a tight line with a fish in the air.

[Arc burn]

Walleye tracker, Am I correct in thinking that the water was to cold, the color looked ok, maybe a little high. From what I have read we are looking for a temp between 42 and 48, correct??

[fishtracker]

We fished below McNary on Sunday and caught two nice walleye. Picked up one female about 27" and one male about 25". Fished 20' of water and trolled worm harnesses slowly upriver. Didn't see many others caught.

[hookumhi]

have you guys heard of any good bugeye spots near Portland? My Dad is coming in May for a couple weeks and I would love to take him out for them but I have never caught one and dont know how,where, when or what to use.Any help would be much appreciated. Jim

[shalom]

Try trolling worm harness and jigs around ouch reef near CAMAS Wa. Or you could come to the Oregon Bass And Panfish Club < it is a family oriented club to help people have a good time and catch more fish .Drop me an e-mail if you would like more info .
:dance: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Arc burn]

Fishtracker, Sounds like you guys did pretty good. What was the water temp at McNary???

[fishtracker]

I didn't check to see what the water temp was, guessing I would say it was in the low to mid 40's.

[Fish mojo]

We fished Irrigon last weekend. It was slow for us. 1 walleye. We saw one fish C&R'd that weighed 14 pounds. The wind came up quickly Sunday making things tough.
Keep trying!

[Hunt'nFish]

Arc Burn,
The warmer the water the better. Color looked great to me. It's just that the fish don't need to feed as much when the water temp is this cold. The warmer the water the more they feed. Remember they're cold blooded. Think it's mainly a matter of finding the fish and working slow so they don't have to move too fast to get it.

Hookumhi,
May might be tough for walleye. They'll be going on spawn about that time and will go close mouthed. Also the water will most likely be high & dirty about that time til June. Not saying fish can't be caught, but it's a tough bite. As far as where to fish around Portland..... Shalom's advice about Ough Reef is sound, but watch your depth finder is a dangerous place to fish if your not careful. Thiers some real shallow rock points in their. A safer place to try might be the Wash side of Gov Island near the middle of it. And the Wash side just above I205 bridge from marina down past bridge, actually all that side is fair. A fella might also look for some 20ft water on the upper point of Ackerman Island near the green cans just out of Chinook Landing. The Wash side just opposite 42nd Marina is also fished. I'd focus on a slow presentation, a couple chartruse cheaters and a green smiley blade dragged/dead drifted down river would be my choice. A small tohmahawk blade #3-4 green w/ red seems to be working as well. The common thing right now seems to be 20-25ft of water, and it seems that slower is better right now. Sounds about the same as Fishtracker, 20ft & slow. But by mid May I think the spawn will hit and we'll have to wait till their hungry again.
Me.... I'm going to toy around w/ drop shotting. Was thinking about forgetting the weight and using a jig & crawler instead. Also thinking I'd come up another 6" or so and tie off a chartruse floating jig hook w/ a crawler & stinger hook. A regular walleye buffet if you will! Get it right in their face and I doubt they'd resist it.

Bugeye fishing sould get better & better as the water temp comes up.....right up until it blows out from spring run off that is.

Walleye Tracker

[gottafish]

They must be different here in Oregon I allways knocked them dead in may during the spawn in michigan :shrug: