The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Larry: New state record walleye caught in Columbia (Washington side) recently. Over 20 pounds. Have you fished this? Huge bronzebacks, too. I think they will get world record soon from here. What do you think? Treated like trash fish because they eat salmon smolts. A guy in Wisconsin would give his left ....finger for a fish at 20 pounds. Just think different up here.

yes, I have fished walleyes in the Columbia, and there are lots of big ones and very, very, little pressure.
Mid=teen fish are quite common. I am not at all surprised to hear about a twenty plus.
My bet on the next big smallmouth is from a reservoir in Idaho, but the Columbia river has some beauties. \
best
L

Pretty sure that a 25 lb was caught and released in the same area last year, but the guy was not willing to give out details. He claimed he did not care about a State Record, and I am not even sure if he knew it might push the world record. I know the friend of the friend If you know what I am talking about, so perhaps the story grew the size. LOL

Still, Puck is so right. The local managers know that the Walleye are doing more good then bad by eating Pikeminnow (previously known as squawfish) that eat far more smolts then the Walleye do. But the mental thought process in WA state is that if it is not "native" it is bad. The state, working with the Indians, killed off a world class Pike fishery at the Pend O'Reille River at the Northeast corner of the state. The Indians are working with the state now to set up major killing of the Walleye in Roosevelt Lake, the uppermost US dam on the Columbia.

I expect that any day they are going to issue extermination orders for all of us (people) not born in state and without ancestral proof of residence for at least 1000 years.

But until, come and get into the great SMB and Walleye fishing, while it last.

amen. you have once again hit the nail on the head.
L