Part 2

The introduction of walleye into the Columbia River was regarded with apprehension by Pacific Northwest fish officials.  I suppose that fear still applies in some quarters.

I've talked to some who say these Columbia River newcomers do not appear to be eating young salmon or steelhead.  Could be, but I find that a tad hard to believe.

There are those who think it's just a matter of time until some lucky angler on the Columbia River slides the net under a record sized walleye.  For years now the big river has been producing some of the largest walleyes caught anywhere in the country.

If walleyes don't gobble the Columbia’s infant migratory fishes, it won't be because they aren't predators.  The walleye is known for the way it eats just about anything smaller than it is.  The walleye's appetite for smaller fish is one of the reasons live minnows are so popular as bait among Midwest anglers.  While minnows are favorite baits in places where they are legal, walleye also respond to a variety of lures.

I've fished with some of the top walleye guides who operate on the middle Columbia.  Jigs are one of their favorite walleye lures.  Whatever jig they use, they invariably tip it with a nightcrawler.  The jig-crawler combination is dropped to the bottom, then jigged up and down to attract fish.
               

If jigs fail to produce, experienced guides may have you troll a neutral buoyancy spinner.  These spinners are rigged so they float up from the bottom.  The hook used with them is again tipped with a nightcrawler.  

Today Columbia River anglers are finding what anglers in other parts of the USA already knew.  What they're discovering is that lures like the Mack's Lure Wally Pops pictured here can be dynamite for the big river's walleye population.

Half a century ago you couldn’t find a Pacific Northwest lure company that even listed a walleye lure in its catalog.  You won’t have trouble finding them in those same catalogs today.  Consider the Wally-Pop or the Double Whammy lures introduced in recent years by Mack’s Lure, a company now based in Wenatchee.  These dandy lures have attracted attention of walleye fishermen from all over the United States.  I know this is true because I’ve interviewed some of the country’s top professional walleye anglers who have used them in tournament competition.

As I mentioned in my previous column, the current Washington State walleye record was caught by an angler using a Mack’s Lure Smile Blade ahead of his worm bait. That fish weighed
19.3-pounds.  That’s a whole bunch of walleye!  I know experts who are convinced the world walleye record will be broken on the Columbia.

That new record is a possibility.  The largest walleye of all time weighed 22-pounds, 11-ounces.  It came out of Greer’s Ferry Lake in Arkansas in 1982.   With Columbia River walleye of more than 19-pounds already on the books, anglers along both sides of the Columbia do indeed have a shot at a new record.

Walleyes aren't always easy to catch.  They can be hard to find and difficult to hook even when you've got their location pinned down.  The angler pictured here is obviously happy to have this one in the boat.

Walleye have been steadily moving downstream since they first showed up in the Columbia.  They still aren’t numerous in the Portland area but some of them are already there.  You'll likely see more area fishermen prowling the shorelines and the sloughs of the lower river looking for them.  If they ever start showing up down there in large numbers---look out.

The walleye is a great fish.  It might not fight as hard as do some of the other species, but it's one that presents a tremendous challenge.  They are hard to find and difficult to catch. They are every bit as fickle as a pot bellied largemouth bass or a lunker brown trout.  And few fish rate higher as table fare.

As I said in the beginning of this two-part series, the only thing that never changes is change itself.  The coming of the walleye has certainly brought major changes in the Pacific Northwest angling picture.  It will be hard to convince an increasing number of both Washington and Oregon anglers that the change isn’t a good one.

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