Walleye season is back in the Columbia Basin

It's definitely walleye season on the lakes in our region.   The cold spring weather held many of the big females in the spawning areas longer than usual, but the fish are in post spawn mode now, and feeding.  Anglers should expect good fishing for walleye on Potholes Reservoir, Moses Lake and Banks Lake, just to name a few of the popular fishing waters in the region.  I have made two trips to Moses Lake in the past couple of weeks and am happy to share what I have experienced there.

The first trip was very different for a spring trip on Moses.  It was flat calm.  I have never been on Moses Lake when the water was so flat.  I don't really consider this to be ideal walleye fishing conditions.  A good stiff breeze is often better, especially when fishing in the shallow north end of the lake.

My two fishing buddies, Brian Nielson and his friend James, and I did okay, though.  We managed to put seven keepers in the Jetcraft on this trip and one catfish and big carp was snagged, too.  The trick was, as always to figure out what the walleye were going to hit that particular day.  We tried a variety of colors and styles of rigs behind our bottom bouncers.  We had a squidder out, and three different colors of spinners.  What turned out to work the best was white.  This was a clear, bright day, and this bright white blade and bead combination was the ticket.

The fish we landed were mostly the 12- to 13-inch fish that are dominant in the lake right now.  We did get a couple a bit larger, and one that was about 18 inches.  We had to release just one fish that didn't make the 12-inch minimum.  We missed a few fish, of course, but the bites we got were pretty aggressive.  We used 1/8th ounce bottom bouncers to get our rigs a distance from the boat, and trolled from 1 to 1.3 miles per hour.

I returned to Moses Lake just last week.  My fishing buddy Rollie Schmitten has caught just about everything that swims, including some pretty exotic species, but had never caught a walleye.  I figured we could probably cross walleye off his list with a trip to Moses this time of year, and he was eager to go.

After we launched at Connelly Park, I headed the boat in the direction of the north end of the lake, and the same area I fished last time.  I was pretty sure that we would find some hungry walleye in the same area.  I was starting to doubt myself, though, as we trolled for quite a while without even a sniff.  Both Schmitten and I have the two pole permit, so we were running four rods.  That really helped us find the color that would work that day.  I tried several different styles of rigs, sizes and colors of blades.  What worked for me last time sure wasn't doing the trick on this day.  I finally found a spinner blade and chartreuse bead combination that they liked, and a black-and-gold squidder that worked, too.

We finally started getting some action at about 11 a.m.  It was starting to rain by 1 p.m., so we didn't fish all that long.  We were pretty busy, though.  We got five fish and missed twice that many in that time.  Most of them were the 12- and 13-inchers like last time, but Schmitten did get one that stretched the tape to 22 inches.  Mission accomplished.  It was a short trip, but Schmitten was able to cross walleye off his list of species, so we were happy.

I have a busy Saturday coming up on June 4th.  That's the date of the Kids Fish-In Day at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery in Leavenworth.  I want to remind folks with kids age 4 to 13 years of age that they must register prior to the event.  It's very easy.  Just log onto FishingMagician.com and click on the Friends of NW Hatcheries logo on my Home Page.  This will take you to their web site and you can easily register on-line.  You will get a return e-mail as a confirmation.  The event is free.  Rods, reels and bait will be provided and the kids will get to catch two fish.  They will even be iced and bagged for the trip home!

The following week, on Wednesday, June 8th, is the next seminar at Town Ford, which is now in East Wenatchee, next to Town Toyota.  This will be the first seminar in their new location, and it will be a good one.  I have two great speakers lined up.  The first will be Lou Nevismal, from Coulee Playland on Banks Lake.  He will bring everyone up to date on the planned drawdown of Banks Lake this year, and what it will mean to the fishing on Banks, Lake Roosevelt and Rufus Woods.  He will also share his insights on the fishing on these three big waters for the coming season.  Also appearing will be Shane Magnuson, Upper Columbia Guide Service.  He will be talking about the spring salmon season going on right now on the Icicle River and the upcoming summer-run salmon season that starts July 1.  Magnuson will show in detail how he catches salmon in our region.  The seminar will start at 6 p.m.

I hope to get up to Lake Chelan soon.  The kokanee fishing is really hot right now, and I want to fish for some smallmouth bass, too.  Man, I can't wait!