Walleye Fishing Guide

Columbia River Fishing Adventures are year-round walleye fishing guides offering guided walleye fishing trips in the Portland area as well as the Columbia River gorge. Many people have no idea that Walleye are among the best eating fish the northwest has to offer! Not only are they tasty these aggressive bitters are fun to catch. As a long-time fishing guide, I can honestly say there’s no fish I’d rather eat than walleye. Even better, we live in the heart of it all and catch and eat these delicious fish all the time and have been helping our clients do the same for years.

In the Pacific Northwest the Columbia River is the number one walleye fishing spot in the region with healthy populations throughout the river system. The Columbia is not only known for the amount of walleye available, it’s also host to the largest walleye in the Pacific Northwest. The Washington state record walleye was caught right here on the Columbia and the second largest walleye ever caught in Oregon as well. The state record walleye for Oregon was actually caught on the Umpqua river which should be no surprise is a tributary of the Columbia. This means that the Columbia offers one of the richest bounties of walleye to be had.

In the Pacific Northwest the Columbia River is the number one walleye fishing spot in the region with healthy populations throughout the river system. The Columbia is not only known for the amount of walleye available, it’s also host to the largest walleye in the Pacific Northwest. The Washington state record walleye was caught right here on the Columbia and the second largest walleye ever caught in Oregon as well. The state record walleye for Oregon was actually caught on the Umpqua river which should be no surprise is a tributary of the Columbia. This means that the Columbia offers one of the richest bounties of walleye to be had.

Our Columbia River Fishing Adventures guided walleye fishing trips are fun for the whole family and since we’ve been doing it for so long, we know exactly where to catch them. Best of all we’ll help you fill your freezer with tons of the tastiest fish you’ll ever eat, it’s just a matter of reserving your seat on one of our walleye fishing boats for the fishing adventure of a lifetime. Granted the number one attraction to the Columbia is the excellent runs of both spring and fall Pacific Northwest salmon. However, when the salmon seasons starts to get slow, we like to switch it up and go after the filet mignon of the freshwater and our favorite fish to eat the Columbia River walleye. Yes, we fish for walleye all year long and just can’t get enough of them. If you were to join us on a walleye fishing trip, I’m sure you’d agree walleye are well worth the effort and are hard to beat at the dinner table.

Our Columbia River Fishing Adventures guided walleye fishing trips are fun for the whole family and since we’ve been doing it for so long, we know exactly where to catch them. Best of all we’ll help you fill your freezer with tons of the tastiest fish you’ll ever eat, it’s just a matter of reserving your seat on one of our walleye fishing boats for the fishing adventure of a lifetime. Granted the number one attraction to the Columbia is the excellent runs of both spring and fall Pacific Northwest salmon. However, when the salmon seasons starts to get slow, we like to switch it up and go after the filet mignon of the freshwater and our favorite fish to eat the Columbia River walleye. Yes, we fish for walleye all year long and just can’t get enough of them. If you were to join us on a walleye fishing trip, I’m sure you’d agree walleye are well worth the effort and are hard to beat at the dinner table.

Both Washington and Oregon allow virtually no limits on walleye. This means that you can literally keep as many fish as you can possibly catch. It’s not uncommon where we have days when we’ve put well over fifty fish in the boat. granted loading up like that doesn’t happen all the time, we can still put a whole bunch of fish in the boat. Keep in mind walleye are aggressive bitters. Basically they will pretty much hit anything they can find dithering in the slack water. This makes for some easy fishing as the boat is pretty easy to manage in the slow flowing waters such as this.

Given we are based out of Portland, we like to target walleye in various sections of the Columbia all the way from our hometown of Portland up to the McNary in the John Day pool. Form the Willamette to the Bonneville there several excellent walleye fishing spots we like to focus on in the lower. However, we also work our way up river to fish the areas around the Dalles dam and in the Columbia River Gorge. All these are excellent spots to target walleye.

Keep in mind, walleye like to hang out under shelves in deep shady waters where they can ambush prey and avoid predictors. These fish have excellent low light vision and are very proficient feeders. We like to target them in the eddies, tail outs and culverts where walleye tend to stack up.

When it comes to catching walleye it’s all about the power troll. Power trolling is a technique where we let out a lot of line and then imitate the movements of wounded bait fish by quickly reeling in the line while making several jerking motions. When trolling the big water in larger rivers we like to fish in a zig-zag pattern which allows us to cover as much water as possible. This is especially effective when fishing areas with there lots of walleye are staged in large numbers like during the spring when they spawn.

When fish for walleye in clear water conditions, we like to fish lures that are more natural, comparable to the various bait fish that live in the local waters of the Columbia. For example lures in blues, silver, whites, and black are all similar to various bait fish like shad, herring, smelt, and so on. Also, when fishing in murky water conditions, we go with the brighter colors like chartreuse, yellow, orange, and red. Since these particular colors are more visible, they tend to be effective in water that offers poor visibility. Another technique is that we troll our gear as close to the bottom and possible. The key is to get your bait down low without getting snagged up. We generally start out at about 20 ft. deep. and work our way down depending on what the fish finder is telling us. Once you get the gear down deep just off the bottom where the fish are, its game on or more appropriately fish on!

Walleye feed primarily during low light conditions like just around sunset or sunup. This is when they tend to hang out in the shallow areas of the Columbia and are probably the easiest to catch. Targeting walleye during this time is perfect for keeping the trip alive after successfully catching limits of salmon. Remember a day trip is 8 hrs. we suggest to use your time wisely and get the most from your trip. Fishing double species is common when fishing with Columbia River Fishing Adventures and our clients love it as well. Also you might want to try fishing for walleye near the shore at night. This is when they are looking to catch some easy prey hiding out in the weeds feasting on bait fish. As far as seasons, walleye are fishable all year long. They’ll even feed in the debt of winter when the river is covered with ice or the middle of summer when the columbia River reaches a bit warmer temperatures. Rest assured, if you go on a guided walleye fishing trip with us, no matter what time of the season, winter, spring, or fall you’ll experience the thrill of catching these wonderful fish.

We at Columba River Fishing Adventures are one of the few fishing guides in Oregon that offer year-round guided walleye fishing trips. These fish can be aggressive bitters, but what they may lack in regards to fight and excitement on the line, they make up for at the dinner table. In our opinion, walleye are probably the best eating freshwater fish ever. They’re known for their delicate flavor, fluffy but firm meat, and are considered by many even better eating than lingcod or halibut. Best of all on the Columbia River during certain times of the year there’s no catch limit. Basically, you can fill the boat with as much as you can manager to catch. If you catch more than you can eat, never fear, your friends will definitely be grateful for a nice tasty treat as a gift.

We fish for walleye on the Columbia from Portland all the way to the McNary Dam in the upper sections of the Columbia. The upper area of the Columbia is known as the John Day pool and is where you’ll find the bigger fish with Trophy class fish available in the 10-pound range being relatively common. We spend a good amount of time fishing in this section when the action dies down for salmon and sturgeon giving our clients another great option on their fishing trip.

The Columbia river offers some of the best Walleye fishing in Oregon and we love to fish for them. During the winter months the John Day and Dalles pools are some of the best places to target the big ones. It takes a bit more work to get at them because they like the deep water with lots of coverage, boulders, and endless structures which tend to be easy to get snagged up on. However, even though the fishing is a bit slower and you lose more gear it’s well worth the effort because the fish you catch are much larger.

Just to give you an idea, the Washington State record walleye was caught further up river in the McNary Pool near the Snake River back in 2014. This monster walleye weighed in at a whopping 20.32 lbs. In 2018, the lure manufacturing company Macks Lures issued a press release that claimed that a new record walleye was caught with one of their kokanee lures by a local Wenatchee angler named Andy Donabauer. The reports were that Donabour’s walleye was a whopping 23.12 lbs. At the end of the press release however, it turns out to be nothing more than a publicity stunt with Mack’s Lure President Bob Schmidt apologizing for those who fell for the elaborate April Fools day joke.

Venturing further down river from where the Washington State record was caught at the mouth of the Umpqua river is the tail end of the John Day Pool just below the McNary. This section offers some great walleye fishing with big fish as well but during the winter months the weather is cold and fishing is generally not as attractive due to the fact that you’ll freeze your butt off. With that in mind there are still some die hard walleye anglers willing to brave the cold winds and snow out going after them. Generally we focus more on steelhead in the winter months but can do walleye as well depending on our clients needs.

As springtime rolls around the real walleye action starts to happen. From Spring to Fall is the best time of the year to fish for walleye on the Columbia River. Not long after the spring runoff comes trickling down the Cascade Mountains, walleye start to warm up and become more active as they begin their annual spawning ritual. The catch rates are not as high as in the early spring because walleye tend to be more interested in getting their freak on rather than biting.

Don’t get me wrong, you can still catch them due to the high fish numbers available, but the hottest time of the season for the bite is without a doubt summertime. There’s nothing quite like targeting walleye on the Columbia when the sun is shining bright in the sky and the warmer waters turn these love birds into ferocious bitters. During the summer months and early fall, its fairly easy to load up the boat with limits and several of our clients love the non-stop action.

March through April we focus more on the Dalles Pool and below. Ironically the Dalles pool is where the Oregon walleye state record fish was caught. This walleye was just under the Washington State record at 19 lbs. 15 oz. which was literally just a couple ounces shy of the Washington record. In regards to fish count numbers, the Dalles pool probably has one of the largest walleye populations in the Columbia. Even better this section of the Columbia is within an couple hours of Portland making it a decent destination for our Portland walleye fishing trips.

We like to work are way down the Columbia from Rufus Landing to Preachers Eddy targeting structures and overhangs on the flats. Further down river we focus on the mouth of the Deschutes River and work the area all the way to Browns Island. This is definitely one of our favorite walleye fishing spots and we have had excellent success year after year fishing these stretches. In the lower section of the Dalles pool on the Columba is the section where mouth of the John Day River empties out into the Columbia. This little hidden gem has produced some very good catch rates as well. Most importantly is that it’s generally not very crowded which means that on many occasions we have it all to ourselves.

Depending on how good the fishing is, our favorite walleye fishing haunt is right here in our own back yard. The Bonneville Pool has a pretty healthy walleye population and is basically within 40 minutes of our home base here in Portland Oregon. To start the season, we like to focus our walleye fishing efforts on the areas of the Columbia from the I-5 bridge up to I-205 near Government Island. These walleye fishing trips are very popular because we generally switch over to walleye when the salmon or sturgeon fishing is slow and our clients are primarily interested fresh water with white meat.

Upriver just above the mouth of the Washougal is one of the best walleye fishing spots in the lower sections of the Columbia. From Ough Reef to Crown Point we work the shelf and produce very good catch rates. The best parts about fishing this area is that it’s close to home making it one of our favorite Portland guided fishing trips we offer.

The Columbia River is one of the most popular fishing destinations in the Pacific Northwest. It hosts some of the best walleye fishing in both Washington and Oregon, and we are honored to provide guided walleye fishing trips for anyone looking to catch these excellent eating fish. We’ve been Oregon fishing guides for over 30 years and it would be a privilege to provide the fishing trip of a lifetime for you, your family, or corporate event. If you’re looking to book a walleye fishing trip, please feel free to give us a call at 503-490-3099 and reserve your seat on one of our comfortable jet sleds today.