Ice fishing??

Do people ice fish for walleyes on the Columbia or does it stay open in the winter?

Gator Hunter

What’s this ice you speak of?

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What’s this ice you speak of?

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So you are saying the river is open all winter??

Gator Hunter

Given that region typically experiences a warm Pacific flow, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Columbia stayed open all year. Dan(or)’s las report was from 12/11………….a date in which we’re almost always on ice by. Besides upper elevations, I think the Pac. NW part of the U.S. is “ice challenged”.

Gator…………when you planning on heading out there next?

No ice here. Plenty cold though. High temps on the west side of the mountains barely reaching freezing. In eastern Oregon highs in the 20’s. Snow forecast tonite. I last recall a frozen Columbia in 1983(?)in eastern Oregon. There is some ice fishing on the lakes in eastern Washington, but not for me….we went sturgeon fishing last weekend and caught some shakers. Here is my friend Todd with an undersized. Lots of fun to catch. There’s always big ones out there when you least expect it.

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Given that region typically experiences a warm Pacific flow, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Columbia stayed open all year. Dan(or)’s las report was from 12/11………….a date in which we’re almost always on ice by. Besides upper elevations, I think the Pac. NW part of the U.S. is “ice challenged”.

Gator…………when you planning on heading out there next?

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I am trying to organize a trip for this spring.

Gator Hunter

Any chance you’d consider a fall trip? I’m trying to organize something for this fall and the more that go, the more we can “economize” the effort.

Hi, I visited this area in late Sept. and early Oct. I noticed that the current is really strong. I am saying, “no ice”, even though I have not been there this time of the year.

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Any chance you’d consider a fall trip? I’m trying to organize something for this fall and the more that go, the more we can “economize” the effort.

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What month were you thinking?

Gator Hunter

You guys planning a trip out here, Late summer/early fall is awesome- plan for a full moon for night fishing. For a place to stay, I like Boardman Marina Park Excellent pull thru and back in full hook up campsites (tenting also).

Great ramp w/docks, cleaning station, hot showers, trees and shade, free overnite dock (1st come/1st serv). And right in front of some excellent walleye water. If you are interested in tournament fishing, here is a schedule link

That’s great. Thanks for the info Mojo.
We’ll have to look you up when we get out that way and have a couple beverages.

Gator Hunter

for what its worth, back when desert storm broke out and they advised not to fly anywhere for awhile. well before this happened a group of us sent our deposit out to some guide, if i could remember who it was believe me i would share.. well anyways we decided it was in our best interest not to fly with the help of our wives. so we called him and asked for our deposit back and would work out another trip when all could go. well he kept saying he would return the money, guess what……………he never did and quit replying. so hope everyone has better luck than we did. we went to greers ferry instead. we had a 17# and a14# for trophys. the others were just eaters. but we went there for the trophys. all night fishing, and the dnr were about 50 yards away netting the big females. we could here them talkin,heres one that will go 18# and all over 12 or 14. we could hear them spawning, sounded like a bunch of hogs playin. would still love to go there, but would be more carefull. not much we could do that far away. live and learn! makes life go around.

3WAY
What time of the year did you go?

Gator Hunter

What’s your point , 3-way? If you had a problem with a guide out here, you should have have posted a complaint to that states guide association or the BBB. I know if someone had messed with me like that, I would know his name. I’m sure there’s more to the story than you are posting.

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Any chance you’d consider a fall trip? I’m trying to organize something for this fall and the more that go, the more we can “economize” the effort.

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What month were you thinking?

Gator Hunter

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Oct./Nov……………I’d like to see a good group of us come out but it’s going to be hard to not interfere with the Mille Lacs full moon tradition. I’d be willing to do Sept. on Mille Lacs and the Columbia for October, if full moon’s were the mission. Based on Dan(or)’s pics, I was thinking of Oct./Nov. for this trip. What do you think?

its been so long ago i don’t remember the exact date. all i know is it was right after desert storm war broke out and they advised not to fly. we cancelled several weeks before our trip and asked for a refund and would reschedule the next spring. my point is, sometimes even wth the best intentions,things can go wrong. .

I belive the war started January 15,1991.

Gator Hunter

thankyou mr. gatorhunter. wasn’t sure if it was in 90 or 91. i am really sorry we didn’t make the trip. it would have been a trip of a life time for me. just the scenery would have been outstanding.

So you were planning a trip for January or February? That is kind of an odd time of the year for a walleye trip, isn’t it?

Gator Hunter

That time of year can be slow fishing but if you catch a fish, it will probably be a big one. I was up at Irrigon last weekend: Between 3 boats on Sunday, one fish was caught…it just happened to be 13.8lbs.

13.8 That’s plenty big.

Gator Hunter

That is the best time to fish the Columbia River. February and March, the females are plump, just lying in the silt on the flats waiting for a tempting jig to hit thme in the face. Quality fish are worth slowing down for.

Welcome to the site Terry! Could I get some more info on that Feb./Mar. time frame and a geographical recommendation? I’ve got too many things stacking up to hold my fall trip and I’m thinking this would be a GREAT way to help pass the winter months! Any help with presentations and techniques would be appreciated. You can send me a pm if you’d rather not post any details.

There are areas on the Columbia to hit during that time period and there are areas to avoid. Typically in February, I’m fishing the Rufus Woods stretch (directly below the Grand Coulee Dam). Its my favorite stretch of water in the Northwest and there is a bald eagle migration in the area to go along with some great fishing.

There is a good early spring bite just around and above the Tri-Cities. The Umatilla-Boardman stretch starts getting better. The numbers might still not be great (even by Col. R. standards) but the fish are large. Later in March, the bite really starts to turn on and you can get into some great fish like this one:

The Rufus, OR / Maryhill, WA stretch is also good around this time of year. You probably won’t get as big fish (although they are in there) but numbers might be better.

I’d avoid the lower columbia until later in the year…June or July.

With a potential fish like that, I wouldn’t only need to catch one fish during my trip out there!!! WOW!!!!