10-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 21
any other walleye technique
I was familiar with that I just
had to see and experience
it for myself.
We pulled up to our first
location and Todd handed
out rods loaded with
20-pound Power Pro and
one ounce, round jigs, To
the jig he added a 4-5” curly
tail plastic, and then a half
a night crawler threaded
several times with just a
one inch tail sticking out.
Again, very different from
the traditional nightcrawler
set up of a bottom walker
and worm harness. Todd
instructed us to let out our
line until we made contact
with the bottom.
“The trick to this fishery is
you have to feel the “tap
tap” of the jig as it bounces
off the bottom. If you don’t
feel that contact you aren’t
fishing. Also, don’t make
big jigging motions – 5-6”
is plenty. The fish are
deep and cold, they aren’t
chasing after bait.”
I let my line out and at 120
feet could see the braid go
slack. I closed the bale and
reeled up the slack, starting
gently upward motions
of my rod tip, raising and
lowering and being sure to
keep in contact with the
bottom. If I felt nothing
I let out a little line until
again making contact. I
continued this technique
for a few minutes and
then felt the distinct tug
and heaviness of a fish on
the other end of my rod.
Setting the hook, I reeled
with steady pressure and
soon enough brought up
my first ever deep-water
jigged walleye, a nice 15”
“eater”.
Over the next two days
the NWFR gang would
catch a lot of these “eaters”.
Looking over the vastness
of this stretch of the upper
Lake Roosevelt and seeing
the low angling pressure,
I was not surprised at the
steady numbers we caught
over the next two days. This
fishery, while not untapped,
is definitely under-utilized.
The bites came pretty
steadily throughout the day.
As with most fishing, we
had periods of fast fishing
and then slow, but over-all
it was pretty consistent.
Along with the good
numbers of fish we noted
they are definitely smaller
than what we have caught
on the lower stretches of
the Columbia River. Our fish
averaged mostly 13-15” with
a few fish on either side
of those sizes. Todd noted
that there are big walleye
to be had, but yes, the vast
majority were these eater
class fish. I’m OK with that
– nice stringers of whitefleshed walleye are always
welcome at my table! I
did notice that the flesh of
these upper Lake Roosevelt
walleye are a whiter shade
than fish we had been
catching in the lower
reaches of the Columbia.
When it comes to deep
water jigging for walleye,
wind is your enemy. Current
is not an issue on this
stretch of the Columbia,
but wind will cause the
boat to get pushed too
fast and, just like salt water
jigging, you’ll lose contact
with the bottom. When this
happens you’ll find yourself
letting out more and
more line in an attempt to
maintain bottom contact.
It’s time like this where a
good captain knows ways
to increase your chance for
success.
