Lake Roosevelt Walleye

[clopie]

I am heading out to lake Roosevelt Spokane arm in mid April and I am hoping to get into some walleye. The problem is that I am new to Walleye fishing and I was hoping that someone could offer me some advice. It seems from what I have been reading on this website that jigging is often effective. I was wondering if anybody could lend me some advice on what jigs to buy. (Or any other lure that has been productive.) Again, I am pretty new to Walleye fishing and last year I had the unfortunate experience of catching and then eating a few of them while on a fishing trip at the Potholes Reservoir, which has doomed me... I must now obtain more. Please Help.

[Anglinarcher]

So many options for catching walleye, just so many options.

The following are links to past discussions we have had on WL.

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/forum/vi ... it=Walleye" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/forum/vi ... e&start=20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

First, I welcome you to Walleye Fishing Anonymous, my name is Steve and I am a Walleyeholic.
Second, I warn you, there is no cure, only treatments.

Jigging is often extremely effective for Walleye, but I seldom bother until I have located the fish. The type of jig, the size of jig, well in reality the subject could take days or even weeks to cover. In April, I would encourage you to work from Hunters to Hawk creek, that is where the pre-spawn schools are going to be for the most part. Some of them will be moving up the Spokane River, but if it is still running super dirty you will have a tough time. I suggest that until you know where the schools are you start off trolling with bottom bouncers.

Once you locate the schools, then jigs, of drop shot would probably work better.

OK, I could go on for hours, but I don't want to do too much too fast.

[clopie]

Thanks Steve. I am going to check out those discussions. Does anyone know if there is a good Bait/ Tackle shop in the vicinity of Seven Bays marina that could clue me in to what is working this year?

[Anglinarcher]

Thanks Steve. I am going to check out those discussions. Does anyone know if there is a good Bait/ Tackle shop in the vicinity of Seven Bays marina that could clue me in to what is working this year?

Sorry, none in the area. Because of the remoteness of the area, and the lack of private communities, you don't seem to have them.

You would think that there would be some in Kettle Falls, but I know of no bait shops/tackle shops there. You have one in Colville, but that is too far from the 7 Bays to call it "vicinity".

Davenport is the closest community to the 7 Bays area, but no bait/tackle shops.

It would seem strange that the Indians don't have a bait/tackle shop at their Casino at Two Rivers, until you consider that they want to kill the Walleye out, and they want to be paid to do it.

My best suggestion, other then this site, is the Spokesman Review paper in Spokane (who often plagiarizes WL reports), White Elephant in Spokane. I am sure there are places elsewhere, but I am not knowledgeable of them.

[hewesbob]

Check out YOU TUBE videos of SLOW DEATH hooks, in my opinion they are the best hook for Walleye. They can be used several ways but for walleye we use about four feet of 15# leader behind a bottom walker trolled very slow and as tight to the bottom as you can stay. When the worm is threaded on the hook properly(always check at the surface before lowering it) the worm spins like a cork screw. Be sure to pinch the worm off about 3/4 inch behind the hook, to much worm won't let you get good action. Another thing that we started doing is cutting the short leg off the bottom walker. We eave the circle at the top, snap a main line swivel on one side and a good quality leader swivel to the other side. By cutting the short leg off we hardly ever hang up any more. The White Elephant in the valley has a rig set up this way to show folks, also the guy that runs the fishing dept is very helpful. Good Luck

[Anglinarcher]

Bob, I know what you mean. As you can suspect, I like the slow death, but for me it is not a super technique. I do know that I watched a Walleye tournament on TV and one team said that if they were not using Slow Death, they were not winning. Still, I do not see it as being that effective day in and day out on Roosevelt.

Nevertheless, if you troll with smiley blades you might put a small swivel after the blade and put a slow death after it and then you can get the best of the smiley and the advantage of the slow death. Same thing with spinner blades. One time I found that placing a single or double bead ahead of the slow death worked well.

clopie, I guess what I am trying to say is that don't get hung up on a specific technique while you are getting your technique dialed in.

For example, let's talk jigs. I just watched a show on TV, Al Linder's Angler's Edge, and they talked about a method called pop jigging in cold water for Walleye. In short, it was fast, short, hops or pops, erratic and random, moving fast. That works well for me in some lakes, but at Roosevelt, it never has. On the other hand, slow dragging a football jig across the sand flats or slopes has been fantastic at Roosevelt at times, but if you fish it in the snags, wellllllll, not so good. LOL

We digress, we could talk blade baits, deep water trolling crank baits, shallow water patterns and planner boards, deep trolling with down riggers under the Kokes, etc...... Start slow, sharpen one knife blade at a time.

[clopie]

I like the idea using the slow death hooks, I have done a bit of mooching in the Puget Sound and the idea of the worm rotating as it is pulled through the water appeals to me. I’m no expert whatsoever, but I can say that the Kings I have managed to catch were using a tight spinning herring, so the concept is familiar. I also like the idea of putting a smile blade/ spinner on the same rig. Hopefully it will help get the fishes attention way down there on the bottom of the river.

A couple more questions: Should I put a stinger on there as well or go with the slow death hook only? Also, I am wondering about bottom walkers… I'm guessing that I would want an assortment that will allow me to run between 1/2 oz and 2 oz. Does that Sound about correct?

Thanks again
Charlie

[Mike Carey]

Shelby Ross has a demo of rigging the slow death set up at 8:24 on this video we did a couple years ago:

[Anglinarcher]

I like the idea using the slow death hooks, I have done a bit of mooching in the Puget Sound and the idea of the worm rotating as it is pulled through the water appeals to me. I’m no expert whatsoever, but I can say that the Kings I have managed to catch were using a tight spinning herring, so the concept is familiar. I also like the idea of putting a smile blade/ spinner on the same rig. Hopefully it will help get the fishes attention way down there on the bottom of the river.

A couple more questions: Should I put a stinger on there as well or go with the slow death hook only? Also, I am wondering about bottom walkers… I'm guessing that I would want an assortment that will allow me to run between 1/2 oz and 2 oz. Does that Sound about correct?

Thanks again
Charlie

A friend always says that you need to let the fish tell you what they want. I do like the action of the slow death, just don't find it has become my go to method.

Other questions?

Stingers, YES, and NO. In general I say yes, but with the slow death it can kill the action. You might need to speed up a little to regain the action or you might find that you need to pinch the worm a little more (not shown in the video), or .... One thing I have noticed is that normally you get more solid strikes on the slow death rig so a stinger is not always required.

Bottom Walkers, the general "official" guideline is 1/2 once per 5 feet of depth. So 2 ounces would take you down to 20 feet. This is based on the idea that you want your bottom walker going down at a 45 degree angle in the water to lesson snags. Still, you can get away with a lot less weight by going slower or letting out more line. More line with a weight too light will create more of a blow back effect, making the angle back pretty shallow, which creates more snags, but also gets the lure away from the boat more. I seldom use more then 2 ounces of weight, but I always want people to know that if they used more they could get less snags.

Side note on Bottom Walkers. Some people could not tell they were ticking bottom if the weight had a camera on it. More sensitive rods, lines with less stretch, more weight, stiffer wires on the bottom walker weights all improve that "feel", but in the end, only experience and the talents of the person using it will tell you what to do. I have a friend that only knows he is touching bottom as it snags. Still, we catch fish, sometimes a LOT of fish, so don't let the details get in the way of a great day.

[ridgeratt]

Been fishing Wally's in Roosevelt before they were the Vogue Fish. Used to have the WDFW ask what we had and they told us to catch them all. Now they are regulated.

Jig's, Bottom walker's, crank bait's any of it will work.

Sort of like fishing tackle! Most of it is made for us!! This is from a Tackle Addict!!!!

Any thing that has Flash, Movement and scent to some point will catch fish.

[YellowBear]

Welcome to Washington lakes clopie.
As you are just getting into Walleye, I would keep it simple.
A couple dozen jigs,1/4- 1/2- 3/4 oz.
Tube skirts, I like anything with Chaurtruce,Yellow, Yellow and White. Anything you have confidence in.
Big Nightcrawlers ,.a couple dozen should do.

Welcome ridgeratt, I remember those day,s

[Anglinarcher]

clopie, sounds to me like you need to go with ridgeratt to Roosevelt. Most of us have obviously not done as well in the last several years.

I cannot believe he has not been winning the walleye tournaments out there with his skills. OK , I don't fish them either.

Teasing aside, there is truth in what he says. Most lures are indeed created to catch fishermen, but may not be so great at catching fish. Also, at times, most any lure will catch fish, and walleye are no exception to this rule. Still, as a guideline:

Use jigs when the fish are schooled up, on the bottom, and you have located them.

Use bottom walkers when the fish are on the bottom, scattered or you are looking for schools.

Crankbaits when the fish are more shallow, or when you have a lot of shallow and erratic cover to check out, or the rare days you catch them suspended. Additionally, if the bottom is not too snaggy and the bottom depth is consistentent enough, then you can also troll near the bottom with crankbaits (not my Roosevelt technique, but works great at Potholes for me).

Go out and have fun; if you don't do as well as you want the first time, then get back with us.

[ridgeratt]

Anglinarcher

Most of the time my fishing buddy is my Dawg, She doesn't talk!! But if it involves Cold bottled water and cold fried Cheeken. She's all in.

[Anglinarcher]

Anglinarcher

Most of the time my fishing buddy is my Dawg, She doesn't talk!! But if it involves Cold bottled water and cold fried Cheeken. She's all in.

Understand that. I have a couple of fishing friends, but solitude is often the nicest friend a person can fish with. My Dogs just could not handle long days in the boat. LOL

[ridgeratt]

I cannot believe he has not been winning the walleye tournaments out there with his skills. OK , I don't fish them either.

So who says I have Skills?

Your Story paint it as Big as you want!

I just said I fished them before they became a Regulated fishery. When we used to launch on the old road bed of 395 at the Kettle River mouth.

[Anglinarcher]

LOL, don't let a little kidding get under your skin.

What I expect is that you have more skills then you are admitting to. I know the area at the mouth of the Kettle River, up to the boat launch on the Kettle River at the bridge, and once the floods are over, that area can be excellent. It dies off once the heat of the summer hits, but it picks up again in the fall.

In the spring to early summer, with knowledge of how to handle moving rivers, China Bend on the main Columbia is also excellent. Late fall is also a good time for bigger Walleye here.

My biggest regret may be that I am looking at a move out of State and the techniques and locations I learned will be lost. I have found that I can tell people how to do something over and over but I cannot write or talk the subtleties well enough to properly dial in the technique for them. If I take someone out two or three times, they new guy becomes far better as well.

Your knowledge, and experience, could benefit more then just the dawg. Of course, I dooo like my solitude, and that is probably my biggest reason for not taking more people.

[clopie]

Thank's to everyone for there replies to my post. I would have had no idea of what I should bring with me. I feel like I may have a shot at catching a few fish this trip. But if not, it will be good to be out on the water anyways.