Today was the walleye fishing day on the Columbia River we were hoping for. We woke up to sunshine and the warmest temps of the week. It was at least mid-40°s at sunrise and it went up fast from there. Though the clouds would move back in throughout the day, our high would reach 57°.
We launched Mike LaSota’s boat from White Salmon at 10 AM and made a short jaunt upstream to where I caught the walleye Wednesday. While Granny and Mike grabbed spin rods and jigged, I took the bow and went to work launching an extremely heavy two fly rig that consisted of a chartreuse weighted fly on the point and a brown Wooley bugger dropper.
I casted with confidence. That’s saying something being we’ve caught one fish in two days. But that’s the way I always fish. Fishing is one of those things where miracles do happen. Sure enough an hour in, as I stripped my rig along I felt a thump. When I set there was a head shake, a tug and some weight. From the 39 degree water came a lethargic but sizeable smallmouth bass. No matter the fight, it was my first smallie of the year!
I’d continue to cast but with no more luck. We saw a few fish on the fish finder but they wouldn’t eat. It wasn’t a total blank however for the rest of the morning hours, Mike went tight on a Columbia River native and landed the predacious northern pikeminnow. Pikeminnows are cool fish but unfortunately hated because the prey upon steelhead and salmon smolt.
Noon passed by. Then 12:30. Then 1. We nibbled on lunch. I took a casting break and then realized I didn’t pack a single beer. Mike got me a case of Stormbreaker and I sadly forgot to pack a couple. I went back to work casting but nothing. It was Mike that came tight again at around 3 PM. His rod was in the holder and the drag started to scream. We thought it was snagged.
Only he wasn’t snagged. Mike felt some give and sure enough he had a fish on. The rod was bent so deep that we knew right away he had a white sturgeon. He went to work pumping the rod deeply and Granny grabbed the net. Lucky for us it was a tiny one because Mike’s walleye rig is small and only rigged with 10lb test.
Mike knows how to fight a fish and Granny can work a net. Before I reeled in they landed the modern day dinosaur. It turns out the sturgeon didn’t eat the jig at all but rather Mike snagged a mess of fishing line that the poor sturgeon was tangled in. We quickly clipped the line away then Mike posed for a pic and we let the creature go. A special situation where we released the fish back better off than it was to start.
Next we moved. As we were passing an area, Mike pointed out some rocks and told us about the smallies he catches during summer. I was watching the fish finder and could see a nice drop off and suggested we give it a try for walleye. It was a good move. Though we didn’t see much on the fish finder we saw one fish. My fly was deep at the time and lucky for us, the walleye ate and I landed him. The picture doesn’t show it but this was a dandy of a walleye. Especially on the fly!
While my day was over after that walleye, Mike’s rod would hook up again. And again it was resting in the rod holder. This time we knew he had a fish because it took off. Mike had another sturgeon and after a great battle we were snapping a few pics. This guy was about 3 feet long.
We worked hard to catch fish today but it was fun. I’m used to working hard because many of the fish I target are tough to begin with. Though my fish were awesome, I don’t get to set eyes on sturgeon very often. Hands down, for me they were today’s highlight.
We packed it in late. We didn’t crank the boat on the trailer until after 6. We returned to Mikes house and you guessed it, we had one heck of a walleye dinner!
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