Fishing Magician Report - May 27th

I did something new and different last weekend. I fished for channel catfish off the mouth of the Walla Walla River, where it enters the Columbia. Don Huffman, a guide that lives in Wenatchee, goes down there every year in the spring, and this is the first time that I got a chance to join him. The numbers of catfish that enter the Walla Walla River to spawn is amazing, and the size that they get impressive. Huffman has put over 1,700 pounds of channel cats in his boat this spring, and the big fish are still there. He has caught many in the 20 to 25 pound class. The big spawning females will move into the river soon, but the smaller males come in later and they come in hordes. Thousands of them show up and the numbers that sport anglers catch is incredible. These are prime eating, migrating fish, and you can fill your freezer with them in June. Rollie Schmitten and Jim Passage, both of Lake Wenatchee joined Don and I on this trip, and I want to thank Bill Ballantine, who arranged the trip, but wasn't able to come. We had a great time and caught channel cats weighing over 16 pounds.