Big river has niche fisheries

Sport anglers can learn something about timing fishing trips on the Columbia River from people who have a financial stake in catching fish.

Bob Roberts, the one-man skipper and crew of Columbia Basin Guide Service, is based in Pendleton, Ore., but he drops anchor in different portions of the river where the fishing is best, depending on the season.

And he’s not too proud to target different species as the seasons change.

“Trophy walleye fishing is my bread and butter,” he said. “But there are times when it’s way more productive to fish for something else.”

During the past two weeks, he was trolling lures such as Fat Fish diving plugs for chinook salmon at the mouth of the Deschutes River.

“Am I the only one out here who has a job?” he called out from his boat, smiling and joking to no one in particular in the crowd of more than 50 boats surrounding him last Monday.

“People make time to come here and fish this time of year because this is when the fish are here,” he said.

Catching a big walleye is tough in the river downstream from Umatilla in September because an angler’s lure must compete for a walleye’s attention with billions of small juvenile shad providing a feast in the river.

“Shad are a blast to catch below the dams when they’re running up the river by the millions in the summer,” Roberts said. “But the little ones are a nuisance to a walleye fisherman.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t catch walleyes this time of year, but I try to follow the peak seasons.”

This week, as other guides target the peak of the fall chinook season at other fisheries such as the Columbia’s Hanford Reach below Priest Rapids Dam, Roberts will move shop upstream to the Umatilla area where the shad effect has subsided and the fall walleye action should be heating up. He also can take customers for a shot at salmon and steelhead.

In November, most of the salmon and steelhead are getting upstream or in tributaries and the walleye action in his home water subsides, Roberts said.

“I have a Christmas tree business that’s more productive than traveling to were the best fishing is that month, and then I go hunting,” he said.

In February, after he visits sport shows to generate more business, he returns to the Columbia to begin his most lucrative season.

“The Columbia’s trophy walleye brings people in from all over the country,” he said. “This year, I think I’ve taken out fishermen from every state except Vermont.”

Only six states have produced record walleye larger than Washington’s 18.9-pound lunker caught in the Columbia near Umatilla in March 2002. One of those six states shares its 19.15-pound record with the same body of water.

Oregon’s state-record 19.82-pound walleye and Washington’s record 18.9-pounder both were caught on the Columbia between McNary and John Day dams.

“People in the Midwest are nuts about walleye fishing, but the word’s out and they’re coming here to catch a trophy,” Roberts said.

“I had a Minnesota guy who’d been fishing there for 30 years and never caught a walleye bigger than 8 pounds. He hooked a 14-pounder with me, and there were tears coming down his cheeks when he let it go. I mean he didn’t even hesitate to release it. Then he sat down in the boat and said, ‘Lord, you can take me now.’ “

Sometime in May, when the walleye tend to go into the post-spawn doldrums, Roberts rigs up his stoutest rods and boogies for the Bonneville Dam area for the peak time to catch the Columbia’s huge sturgeon.

“Those big fish congregate up toward the dam to feast on the millions of shad that are running upstream,” he said. “Then I’ll go back to walleye for the rest of the summer.”

But as much water as Roberts covers in a year, he only hits a fraction of its bounty.

Michael Gibney, a champion bass fisherman from Troutdale, Ore., makes a chunk of his living by fishing the region’s tournament trail.

Last week he was proving that while the walleye might be fickle this time of year, the Columbia’s bountiful and underrated smallmouth bass fishery is more than agreeable.

Anglers who followed him practicing his techniques near The Dalles last week saw how easy he made it seem to catch a dozen or more smallmouths averaging 2-3 pounds apiece with everything from plastic worms to topwater lures.

“I saw fishermen out there fishing their hearts out for a walleye or two and we were off the islands nearby just hammering the smallmouths,” said an angler who had the privilege of sharing a seat on the boat with Gibney.

“It’s one thing to be devoted to your favorite fish, but I’m here to catch something.”