New to Walleye!

[Gary Frost]

Well the wife and I went to The Spokane arm this past weekend for a long weekend of camping, fishing and hanging out.
First of all I don't think that I will camp labor day weekend again there, what a zoo! The yellow jackets were ravenous and plentiful. I only caught one eye and couple of small mouth, all to small to keep. I must be doing something wrong I noticed a bunch of guys using downriggers and I think they were fishing fish down around 100'. Were they fishing walleye or trout? I noticed on the graph that there were a bunch of fish hanging down close to the bottom at around 100'?

[Anglinarcher]

The downriggers at 100 feet were almost certainly going after either trout or kokanee. You can catch the Walleye at that depth, but not many and never big.

If you are new to eyes, it may take some time to learn them and get the hang of it. This time of year, look for the weed beds and fish the deep edge of them. Otherwise, look for the points with mud lines.

With eyes in Washington, always keep bottom contact. It is the rare eye that is caught suspended.

[swb69]

I have had luck catching eyes on Roosevelt using jigging raps by rapala. I seen it several years ago on a fishing show and gave it a try. Its an ice fishing jig that works very well anytime of year. As stated before the eyes will nearly always be found near the bottom. Just let the jig go to the bottom, then start jigging, raising the rod tip about two feet then let settle, basically bouncing it off the bottom. Speed of jigging depends on temp and fish activity. Be sure to remove the treble hook on the bottom of the jig, it likes to grab the lake bottom and you will end up loosing it. The eyes will generally hit it on the way down. When pulling up on the rod it will feel heavier, set the hook, fish on. This can be done at anchor, but I prefer to drift or slow troll to cover more area.

This method will also catch some SMB that are in the area. Good luck.

[Gary Frost]

Thank you guys for the responses, I had only been out early in the year prior to labor day weekend. And we were mostly fishing shallows and the lake was higher. I'll have to give your ideas a shot next year, elk huntin you know.

[Anglinarcher]

Got you there. Don't discount winter eyes. Often they are the biggest.

[Gary Frost]

You know I get most of my fishing done in the winter months, just more enjoyable that time of year. Well I don't have the deer and elk bugging me to come and fill the freezer. I have always been a salmon and steelhead freak, but I have finally gotten the bow mount on the boat which make wally's more accessible

[fishinChristian]

Yeah, good electronics help, and locating them can be tough, but standard jigs and bottom bounced worm rigs still get the most. That Rapala idea is a really good one, too.