Lower Columbia Walleye Club, Inc.

Lower Columbia
Walleye Club, Inc.
February 2015
Volume 22.2
The Secrets
To Successful
Walleye Fishing
Part 3
By
Stan Fagerstrom
You’re all set and ready to go.
You’ve read my last couple of
columns dealing with successful
walleye fishing. You’re aware I’ve
told you how the man whose business is developing fish catching lures
does his own fishing. You’re also
now know about certain lures this
man uses when he’s out there after
walleyes himself.
As you’ll recall, the man I’ve
been telling you about is Bob
Schmidt, general manager of Mack’s
Lure. As I’ve also pointed out, some
of the lures Bob’s company turns out
have established new size records for
a variety of sports fish.
Let’s assume you’ve read my last
couple of columns. You’ve got yourself an assortment of the lures Bob’s
recommended. You’ve also taken
the time to determine the forage
If you're going to go trolling for walleye always remember this: Watch your
trolling speed. You might find it necessary to speed up or slow down to start
getting results.
base and just what the fish in the
lake you’re planning to fish are most
often feeding on. You know that
selecting lures that do the best job
of matching the lake’s forage base is
probably one of the best things you
can do to increase your chances for
putting fish in the boat.
Having the lures and that other
important information is certainly of
prime importance. But how are you
going to put all this newly acquired
information and hardware to work in
a productive fashion?
I asked that question of the man
I’ve been talking about ever since
I started this column series. Bob
Schmidt
had immediate answers for
me. Once again the information he
provides is based on the steps he
takes in his own fishing and from the
knowledge he has gained in sharing a
boat with Mack’s Lure pro staff and
guides all over the country.
“There are any number of different approaches to successful walleye
fishing,” Schmidt says, “but for purposes of simplification most of them
can be boiled down to five primary
points if you’re going to be trolling.
You’ll never get your share of
fish until you consider these five essentials.”
There’s no mystery about the five
steps Bob names. They are fishing at
the right depth, determining the best
trolling speed, the action of your
lure, the size of your lure and your
lure color. I asked Bob to share some
of the thoughts he has about each of
these essentials.
1
“The excellent electronics now
available can be a tremendous asset when it comes to finding fish,”
Schmidt says. “You can’t go wrong
by learning how to use them effectively. Once you’ve determined
the depth at which the walleyes are
holding you’ll know where the lures
you’ve decided to use need to be
presented.”
The second point Bob mentions
comes into play once you have an
idea where the fish are holding.
“Sometimes,” he says, “things
just aren’t going to work out right
unless you’re using exactly the right
trolling speed with the lures you’ve
selected. Don’t hesitate to vary your
boat speed until you start getting
results.”
There’s another thread that connects every darn one of these points
that Bob has listed. It’s that you
simply can’t go wrong by varying
your lure selection and trolling speed
until the fish start telling you what
they want.
This certainly applies to the
third of the points Bob lists dealing
with lure action. You’ll find it easy
to change action with certain of the
lures Mack’s Lure now makes available to walleye anglers. Now and
then I still find newcomers to fishing who don’t know zip about those
remarkable little fish attractors called
Smile Blades.
As an ever growing number of
anglers worldwide now know these
wondrous little spinner blades can
be slid right onto your line or leader.
They can be placed at any distance
you choose in front of your lure.
“Spinning to attract fish is not all
they do,” Schmidt says. “The way
they’re constructed makes it possible
for them to impart a wiggling action
to whatever is trailing along behind.
And don’t forget that you can make a
Smile Blade spin faster or slower
as it is trolled. Simply spread the
wings of the blade out to slow it
2
Note the shape of the two Mack's
Lure Smile Blades pictured here.
Want your Smile Blade to spin
faster? Just bend the wings closer
together. Do the reverse if you want
the blade to spin slower.
down. Pinch the blade’s wings closer
together if you want it to speed up its
spinning.”
As Bob will tell you, sometimes
just a slight change like this can
make the difference in getting hits.
Once again you’re giving the fish a
chance to tell you what they want.
Schmidt says much the same
sort of thing applies to his final two
points regarding lure size and color.
Both can and often are the difference
between heading home with some
fresh walleye for dinner or sneaking in the back door smelling like a
skunk.
“We know our lures get fish,”
Bob says, “but sometimes the fish
may show a definite preference
where either size or color is concerned. Never keep trolling the same
lure, the same lure size and same
color set up hour after hour if you’re
not getting any action. Change until
you start getting hits. This is exactly
what you’ll see top professional anglers and experienced guides doing
all over the country.”
I was curious how Bob personally felt about colors. “Well,” he
replied, “Once again I’m always
going to give the fish a chance to tell
me what they want. Their preference
is what really counts. I’m gener-
Always remember that the color of the lure you're using might well determine whether or not you'll catch fish. Change colors if you're not getting
results. Let the fish tell you what they want.
ally going to give first consideration
to darker colors on dark days and
brighter colors on sun shiny days.
“That said, I do have some
personal favorites. I’ve found, for
example, that chartreuse sometimes
works well regardless of light conditions. It’s simply a great color as far
as I’m concerned.
Sometimes I’ve also had particularly good success using bright gold
shades. I’ve also done well sometimes with blue colors. Sometimes
color combinations, something like
chartreuse and orange have worked
well.”
And there you have it. As I said
in the beginning of this column
series, nobody wants you to catch
fish more than the man who sells the
lures designed to get the job done.
I’ve told you how Bob Schmidt, the
general manager of Mack’s Lure,
goes about doing it.
I’ve shared boats with this man.
I’m fully aware of just how much
time he and his crew devote to bringing all of us the lures as well as the
tactics needed to get the most enjoyment out of the time we spend on the
water.
Be assured I’ll be following the
tips and the techniques you’ve read
in my last three columns in my own
search for walleyes. I’m convinced
you’ll be wise to do the same.
-end-
Sometimes the size of the lure or the
Smile Blade you're using to troll for
walleye can be of great importance.
Once again, change if you're not getting results.
Remember, club dues
need to be paid by the
end of February in
order to recieve the
newsletter in March
Take a kid fishing
Today Before
Tomorrow Becomes
Yesterday
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3
The club will receive a
plaque and WDFW will keep
the trophy as it is one that
goes from year to year.
Our club won the trophy
for turning in the most pikeminnow of all the clubs in
2014. We need to do better for
2015, because there are several clubs looking to topple us
from the top club ranking!
The pikeminnow rewards
program season begins in
May and ends in September.
4
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5
President
Lyle Amundson
(503) 625-6296
[email protected]
Activities Committee
Chris Schacht - Chairman
(360) 521-7469
[email protected]
Vice President
Don Merill
(503) 667-9169
[email protected]
Lonnie & Caroline Handsaker
360-571-0422
[email protected]
Secretary
Lonnie Handsaker
(360) 571-0422
[email protected]
Treasurer
Jim Gurtisen
(503) 492-2338
[email protected]
Editor
Larry McClintock
(503) 257-0553
[email protected]
Membership Chairman
Louise Moudy
(503) 658-2097
[email protected]
Web Master
Jim Gurtisen
(503) 492-2338
[email protected]
Kevin Hollingsworth
(503) 665-7332
[email protected]
Club Meeting Place
Grace Baptist Church,
200 SE 76th Ave,
Portland’ Oregon
2 blocks north of Stark on 76th
7:00 pm
Club Dues are due January 1st and
expire December 31st of each year.
New Member Dues
Individual
$30.00 per year
Family
$50.00 per year
Renewable Dues
Individual
$25.00 per year
Family
$40.00 per year
Lifetime Member
$250.00
Lifetime Family
$300.00
Make all checks payable to:
Lower Columbia Walleye Club, Inc.,
PO Box 30454, Portland, OR 97294
http://www.lowercolumbiawalleyeclub.com
Our Members are our greatest asset to the Chapter. We welcome visitors to join the Lower Columbia
Walleye Club.
6
2015
Dan Tuinstra
Jeff Moore
Chris Schacht
11.56 Pounds
10.00 Pounds
9.00 Pounds
The weight to beat this year!
19 lbs 15.3 oz, the Oregon
State Record and was caught
in1990.
Drop-Shotting for Walleye
by
Larry McClintock
During the fall unpredictable
weather, winter cold spells and
even thru late spring when the
walleye are finicky and tend not
to bite readily, and they are harder to catch, using drop-shot rigs
allows you to work the bait slowly
and keep it in the strike zones for
very long periods of time. By adding movement to your bait and
holding it in the walleye’s face
may be all that is necessary to
trigger a strike.
Walleyes must be targeted
near bottom of the Columbia
River and dropping bait to the
bottom is the most common tactic. A drop-shot rig in its simplest
way to do this. This is where you
place the weight below the hook
and how much weight you use
will change the way your bait is
presented to fish, and this can
make all the difference in your
fishing success.
Basically you can use any
any type of hook, weight and line
to accomplish this. However you
must fine-tune your rig to match
the conditions you are fishing in
to catch walleye.
Drop-shotting works particularly well for snaggy or weedy
bottom and brushy conditions.
Drop-shotting is placing a
weight at the end of the line, with
your hook and bait some distance above it. The concept has
long been used by crappie, bass
and perch anglers, This keeps
your bait a specific distance from
bottom and suspends your bait
in the strike zone for walleyes.
By placing the weight on bottom,
you have complete control of the
lure’s working depth, and it keeps
your bait free of debris.
Drop-shot rigging is a great
option for pitching into flooded
timber or brushy areas when the
Columbia is running high and
weedy and brushy areas are
flooded in the spring.
Disturbing bottom sediment
sometimes will help to attract and
trigger fish. When your weight
comes in contact with the bottom, it is like a small explosion
of sand or mud happens and it
seems to attract fish and can stir
them into activity. Drop-shotting
allows you to create a cloud of
sediment and keep your bait
above this cloud so fish can see it
much better.
Drop-shot rigs are simple to
tie and easy to fish. The technique allows the bait to be above
the weight. It is imperative to tie
the hook so it is perpendicular to
the line and your bait will be horizontal to the bottom of the river.
The best knot to tie the hook
on is the palomar knot and you
must insert the tag end of the line
through the eye of the hook from
the point side to get it to be perpendicular to the line. When you
tighten the knot, the bait will be
positioned correctly. The length
of the tag end of line determines
the distance from bait to weight
and should be a minimum of 12
inches and a maximum of 18
inches. This will keep the bait in
the strike zone for walleye.
The most important part of
this is to make sure you tie the
hook so the point is in the up
position. If your hook is pointed
downward you will most likely
miss the fish when setting the
hook.
Any hook type will work but
the octopus in sizes 1 and 2 are
probably the best choices for
walleye. Size 4 can also be used
but the larger hooks will work
better.I personnally use the drop
shot hook made by Gamakatsu
for all my drop shot rigs.. Soft
plastic baits or nightcrawlers will
both work for walleye.
There are several different
weights that can be used for
drop-shotting. From small canon
balls, bell weights, bank weights
and there are weights specially
designed for drop-shotting. The
weights used need to be such
that the bait can be kept in the
strike zone and allow you to work
the bait by jiggling the rod tip and
creating movement of the crawler
or plastic bait to assist in enticing
walleye to take the bait.. Weights
up to half ounce are typically
used but in heavy debris it may
be necessary to use a heavier
weight. In many situations a
heavy split shot is pinched on the
end of the tag line and if caught in
debris it will just slip off allowing
for the retrieval of the hook and
bait.
The best lines to use in the
Columbia River will range from 8
to 12 pound test and preferably
monofilament. Some fishermen
do use the braided lines because
of the small diameter but the
mono is the best to use for this
presentation. One can also use
the braid for the main line but add
a swivel and tie the drop-shot
leader to it.
As far as a rod is concerned
the choice is primarily what the
person is comfortable with however, a six and a half or seven
foot rod with a medium action is
normally used by most fishermen
drop-shotting.
In order to learn what is happening, you can practice in the
bath tub or in a clean garbage
can filled with water and see just
what the bait is doing as you jiggle the line. Drop-shotting is best
done from a vertical presentation.
Since the bait is in front of the
fish instead of above them it can
cause the walleye to decide if it
wants to eat or not. Drop-shotting
is one of the easiest techniques
to master and one that can be
used any time of the year, and
works exceptionally well in cold
and very unstable weather.
7
Click Here
Aaron Marten developed
the G-Finesse Drop Shot
Hook. As Marten says, it's
"improved my hook-ups by
30 to 40%...I rarely miss a
fish with these hooks." The
G-Finesse Drop Shot Hook
features a point that's slightly
angled out for optimum effectiveness along with Gamakatsu's exclusive TGW
(Tournament Grade Wire)
that has 20% less diameter
for easier hook penetration
without any loss of hook
strength. The G-Finesse
Drop Shot Hook also features Gamakatsu's proprietary Nano Smooth Coat, a
finish that's slick with less
resistance than conventional
hooks. Nano Smooth Coat
further enhances hook penetration making this hook the
very best Drop Shot hook
available. Matte charcoal
finish.
8
Just a Reminder! It is only 1 month til the Sportsmen’s Show and
we need to complete the planning of our time for volunteering
at this event. It is important to the club to be there and have our
members in the booth. Also since it falls during the first week of
the month this year our board meeting and the general meeting
will be during the second week of February.
JANUARY
1 New Year’s Day
6 Board Meeting
8 General Meeting
19 MLK Day
FEBRUARY
2 Booth setup, ground hogs day
Klineline Kids Fishing meeting
@ WDFW 6 - 8 pm
3 Setup booth for sport show
4-8 NW Sportsmen’s show
10 Board Meeting
12 General Meeting
14 Fishout Maryhill, Valentines Day
15 Fishout Maryhill
16 Presidents Day
Klineline Kids Fishing Meeting
@ WDFW 6-8 pm
17 Mardi Gras
MARCH
2 Klineline Kids Fishing Meeting
@ WDFW 6-8 pm
3 Board Meeting
5 General Meeting
7-8 Don Merrill Memorial Fishout
Maryhill
8 Daylight Savings Time Begins
16 Klineline Kids Meeting
@WDFW
17 St. Patrick’s Day
25-27 Kline line Kids Fishing
@ 7206 NW 25th Ave, Vanc.
Rod Building
31 Board Meeting
30 Klineline Kids Fishing Sponsor
list to printer
APRIL
1 April Fool’s Day
2 General Meeting
4-5 Norm Flener memorial Fishout
Maryhill and Klineline Kids
Fishing Easter Egg Hunt
5 Easter
6 Klineline Kids Fishing Meeting
@ WDFW 6-8 pm
7 Klineline Kids Fishing assemble
bicycles @ 7206 NW 25th Ave,
vancouver
9 Klineline Kids Fishing 7:30 am4pm nets placed and fish to be
stocked
10 Klineline Kids Fishing Event
6:30 am -4:30 pm Special Needs
Day
11 Klineline Kids Fishing The Main
Event 6:30 am - 6:00 pm
13 Klineline Kids Fishing net
cleaning @ WDFW
21 Klineline Kids Fishing Special
ED conference @ Prairrie HS
MAY
4 Klineline Kids Fishing Meeting
6-8pm @ WDFW
5 Board Meeting
7 General Meeting
9-10 Fishout Maryhill
10 Mother’s Day
16 Armed Forces Day
Klineline Kids Fishing Hazel Del
Parade
25 memorial Day
JUNE
1 Klineline Kids Fishing Meeting
6-8 pm @ WDFW
2 Board Meeting
4 General Meeting
6-7 Fishout Multnomah Channel
12-21 Banks Lake Event
14 Flag Day
21 Father’s Day
AUGUST
4 Board Meeting
6 General Meeting
8-9 Fishout Camas
SEPTEMBER
1 Board Meeting
3 General Meeting
5-6 Fishout Camas
7 Labor Day
29 Board Meeting
OCTOBER
1 General Meeting
10-11 Tom Schindlbeck Memorial
Fishout at Boardman
12 Canadian Thanksgiving
31 Halloween
NOVEMBER
1 daylight Savings Time Ends
3 Board Meeting
5 General Meeting
11 veterans Day
26 Thanksgiving
DECEMBER
1 Board Meeting
5 Christmas Party/ Meeting
25 Christmas Day
26 Boxing Day
JULY
1 Canada Day
4 Independence Day
7 Board Meeting
9 General Meeting
11-12 Fishout Multnomah Channel
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News Release
Mack's Lure Inc.
2514 Easy Street,
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Website:
www.MacksLure.com
Mack’s Lure Partners with VMC
on New Product line
Mack’s Lure, headquartered in
Central Washington state is known
for their innovative products of which
several already hold state or national
weight records for game fish caught
in states such as Oregon, Nevada, and
North Carolina. General Manager
Bob Schmidt announced two new
products will be available in early
2015."One is specifically designed
for catching Trout and the other for
targeting Walleye, and both feature
the exciting new VMC Spindrift
hook" Bob stated.
Cyrille Mathieu of VMC Hooks
said: "We are pleased to have given
Mack's Lure the initial OEM partnership on the Spindrift hook. Our strong
premium Spindrift hook has an integrated swivel-to-hook system with a
unique technical bend, which enables
a free flowing corkscrew rotation
even at ultra slow speeds".
The Smile Blade® SpinDrift™
Walleye features the patented and
tournament proven Smile Blade,
which comes in almost any color for
added attraction. This off-set blade
creates a wobble action, even at the
slowest of speeds. Matched to this
lure is the time-tested Cha Cha™ pill
float, which allows anglers to fish just
off the bottom. The forage based colors; allow for a more natural presentation walleye can't resist.
The Smile Blade® SpinDrift™
Trout also features the patented Smile
Blade paired with the trademarked
Wedding Ring® and Tapered Beads.
The beads used on this Trout slayer
are extremely high UV. The combination of components helps to give
a distinct slow rolled, wounded bait
type action that increases the odds of
catching even the most lethargic fish.
This lure can be fished with any type
of bait as well.
If you’re looking for a new lure
for the 2015 fishing season, look no
further. The Smile Blade SpinDrift series comes in an assortment of colors
to fit any anglers’ needs. These and
many other Mack’s Lure products can
be found at www.MacksLure.com
Although these lures were designed for specific species, the Spin
Drift Trout will also work well for
walleye and should be considered for
them as well.
Spin Drift Walleye
FISH WILL LINE UP FOR A
SHOT AT YOUR LURE LIKE HUNGRY
LUMBERJACKS AT A BANQUET
WHEN YOU’RE USING OUR
DEADLY EFFECTIVE
PRODUCTS!!
Available at your local sporting goods supplier
in more than 40 different blends GUARANTEED to
work better than any scent/attractant on the market!
Choose from our wide range of Gels, Sticky Liquids
and Species Specific “FEAST” blends.
Catcher Company / Smelly Jelly Hillsboro, Oregon 97124
Dealer Inquiries (503) 648-2643
Spin Drift Trout
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