| 5 Successful Walleye Fishing Tips for Rivers are | | | | always head downstream with bottom bouncers. |
| location, speed, direction, presentation and depth. | | | | If you want to pull crankbaits, then it's best to |
| Let's explore all of these characteristics now. | | | | troll upstream. That is why we have at least 2 |
| 1. River Walleye Fishing Locations | | | | rods in the boat when we are walleye fishing. One |
| Out west we walleye fish a lot on the Columbia | | | | is used for bottom bouncing and the other is used |
| River. It's a big river and if you are new to it, | | | | for crankbaits. |
| then it is best to find a map, study it, mark your | | | | 4. River Walleye Fishing Presentations |
| hot spots and head out to the river to see if you | | | | Presentations are straightforward. Either the |
| are correct. While you are on the river, look at | | | | walleye will see a crankbait or it will see a crawler |
| the other boats and it won't take long to | | | | harness. When we use a crawler harness our goal |
| determine if they are walleye fishing, bass fishing | | | | is to allow enough worm beyond the last hook to |
| or sturgeon fishing. Pay attention to the walleye | | | | make sure it will wiggle. When we use smiley |
| fisherman not for presentation sake, but to find | | | | blades we cut the worms in half and when we |
| the locations. If you notice one boat in an area for | | | | use blades we use a whole worm. |
| an extended period of time, chances are good | | | | 5. River Walleye Fishing Depths |
| they are catching walleye. Usually it is a drift or | | | | Depth is another key factor in your success rate. |
| trolling method and it's not that hard to get your | | | | Depth is always changing depending on where you |
| boat positioned in the drift. | | | | fish and the surrounding structure. The Columbia |
| Walleye Fishing hot spots can change from year | | | | River is a long winding river and depths can |
| to year. What was once a great hot spot is now | | | | change from 10 feet all the way to 300 ft. Prime |
| dead as a piece of drift wood. You are smart | | | | walleye waters are dependant of food sources. |
| enough to know that walleye migrate to spots | | | | Think like a minnow for a minute and tell me |
| that contain easy food and a bolder or two to | | | | where you would want to hang out for safety |
| rest behind during the day. My personal favorite | | | | and to find food sources. During the evening |
| locations to catch river walleye is to find a bend in | | | | hours where can you go to hide from Mr. Walleye. |
| the river and fish it. Next is finding islands that | | | | I've caught walleye on the Columbia in depths of |
| have considerable drop offs on one side. | | | | 8 feet all the way down to 100 feet. Generally |
| 2. River Walleye Fishing Locations | | | | we catch most of our fish in the 30 foot range. |
| Using our fish finder we will begin bouncing bottom | | | | We've had many fishing trips that started out by |
| walkers at about 2 mph. If the current is stronger | | | | targeting bass only to catch a bountiful harvest of |
| we will slow down our troll and if the current is | | | | walleye and we've had days when we target |
| slower then obviously we will speed up. During the | | | | walleye only to catch bass and perch. During |
| summer and early fall, it really doesn't matter | | | | September one of our favorite things to do is |
| how fast you go, these fish will nail it, if you can | | | | multi-species. That means we will target steelhead |
| get it within a reasonable distance from their | | | | in the am hours and then fish for walleye in the |
| resting spot. | | | | pm hours. The past 2 years we have been able |
| 3. River Walleye Fishing Directions | | | | to catch walleye bigger than the steelhead we |
| Direction is critical if you are in the main body of | | | | caught earlier in the day. That's the beauty of the |
| the river. Using bottom bouncers and trying to | | | | Columbia River, it contains all sorts of fish and it is |
| move upstream is very hard, therefore we | | | | basically very hard to go home empty handed. |