Help!! Walleye questions!!

[Jellyhead]

Maybe somebody can help me out here. I wanna try walleyes this weekend on the Lower Columbia. But I have some questions I need to get answered. First, My guess is it is going to be pre-spawn. I know that walleyes will migrate upstream to find proper spawning habitat (Like below the John Day dam). So, what I'm wondering is will there still be fish around down lower? How about Ough Reef or the Mult. Channel? What about right below Or. City falls?

I guess I just need to know if anyone has any experiance pre-spawn fishing on the lower river, where should I start looking for fish.

Thanks,

Aaron

[Jellyhead]

Gonna send this one back up to the top. Somebody's gotta know about lower columbia pre-spawn walleyes.

Heck, if you know sumthin' bout em', I'll provide the boat, let's go fishing!

Thanks,

Aaron

[bajaspecial]

http://www.ifish.net/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002610.html
http://www.ifish.net/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001647.html

OK, can I go fishin with ya now!?

[bajaspecial]

ok, nevermind...I'm a dumba**...since I didn't notice until afterwords YOU already posted to those.


aaaarg!

[Steve]

Pick up a copy of Columbia River Walleye II by Ron Boggs...very comprehensive. February and March are considered the best month for Trophy Walleye...they are at their top weight for the year..sluggish and light biters...according to Ron he has caught spawning walleye in late Feb...thru April...so just troll and forget the spawners...nothing better than walleye fillets dipped in beer batter and deep fried..

[Trout,myster]

Jelly-

While I haven't put in alot of hours on the lower river this time of year, the walleyes don't all just swim upriver looking for a dam. They are around. Look for anyplace that has calmer water (back eddys, current seams) and is anywhere from 10 to 40 feet deep with gravel or rock bottoms. Big depth range here, but I've sat in nearly one spot and jigged up fish after fish out of 42 feet of water in an eddy below JD dam. There are places around your area that I've heard are good, just haven't tried much down there yet.

Best method to hunt for fish after you find the appropriate water is a regular old bottom bouncer and nightcrawler rig. Spin & glows work well for the floater instead of a spinner blade since they don't sink. Find your spot, go upstream and drop your bow motor and then go downstream just slightly faster than the current. I like to zigzag up and down the ledges until I find fish, but you have to keep on top of things reeling up and letting out line to do that. Often worth it and, after all, you are out there fishing. If you find fish, you can mentally mark the spot and go through with jigs (3/4 ounce with a half or whole crawler). If you get tired of all that, put on a deep diving plug like a Mag Wart or Hot Lips on about 100 - 120 feet of line and head upstream along the breaklines. Again, I like to zigzag around and cover different depths until I catch something. One advantage to doing this is, when salmon season is open on the Columbia, you never know what will hit the plug! Fighting a springer on a walleye rod with 10 pound line can be interesting.

As far as colors of plugs and jigs, if you like it and have confidence in it, it will probably work. I use alot of greens on jigs and tend to go heavy on blues or shad colors for plugs. Just my own preference. I've watched guys reel in fish on more colors than I can think of, so if one isn't working, just switch. I'll e-mail you a couple of spots to try that I've had success in.

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Troutmyster