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Lind Coulee Walleye Fishing
by Mike Carey, May 04, 2002
Washington's Walleye Factory
May 4, 2002
It seems as if I'm returning to a special land every time I cross the Cascade mountains to visit Eastern Washington. The transition from the time you leave Snoqualmie Pass heading east is gradual but in the end, dramatic. From lush, green forests, ever wet and moss-laden, to the dry, parched desert of Eastern Washington. Less than a hundred miles by car, but a more dramatic change would be hard to find.
I was on my way to spend a day of fishing for one of my favorite fish - walleye. I grew up in Wisconsin and spent many fine days fishing for walleyes and other delicious eating pan fish. My hopes where high for stocking up on what many people, myself included, consider to be one of the finest tasting fish around.
I met guide Curtis Welch of Special Moments Guide Service at 6:30am. With him was friend Mike Sedlund. Curt has been a guide for over 30 years and he has a knowledge of fishing that is impressive, to say the least. He fishes all types of water for all kinds of fish.
The wind was blowing pretty hard and it sent chills through me. I thankfully borrowed a coverall from Curt and climbed into his 18 foot boat. We were launching out of the Lind Coulee boat launch. This is a nicely paved launch that will handle most boats well. "With the wind blowing the way it is, we'll fish inside the Lind Coulee, rather than out on the lake. The lake will be pretty rough and besides, this time of year the walleye have moved up into the creeks and coulees of the lake. They are finishing spawning but are not yet ready to move into the lake." explained Curt.
We began began fishing with a rapala off a bottom walker on one line and a diving plug on the other, but after about 20 minutes the plan changed. "The fish can be anywhere in the water column, but for best results you want to feel the bottom walker bounce bottom fairly regularly. Lets try up the coulee a little farther." Curt fired up the main outboard and we ran up the coulee about a half mile. I watched the shoreline pass by and as we moved up river the bank closed in on either side of us, until we had about a twenty yard wide river. "This area is a prime waterfowl hunting spot", Curt said. The shoreline was brush and marsh, and behind the brush we could see small areas of trapped water - ponds that would soon dry up as summer dropped it's fiery grip on the land. This was a wonderful spot, isolated save a few tournament boats there for the weekend walleye tourney. We exchanged "how's the action" with them and began fishing. Curt rigged us up with bottom walkers, six feet of six pound leader, and a home-made terminal rig made from some beads and a spin n glow. On the working end was a double hook worm harness.
Out came the secret weapon to make it complete. "The best thing you can do with night crawlers is to soak them in a pail in the water you are fishing. They will plump up and the walleye really go after them." I was incredulous but sure enough the night crawlers swam in the pail and were none the worse for it. They kept this way for the entire day. Curt explained that you do need to keep them cool, however.
We were fishing in 12-14 feet of water, just a few feet off either shore. Our rods and reels were Marcado brand, very nice. The spinning reels had ten pound fire line. Almost immediately Curt hooked into a couple walleye, one a 17 inch keeper, one a 15 inch release. This could be a good day, I thought. My turn came soon enough as I watched my rod tip slam down toward the water. After a brief tussle I pulled in a barely sub-legal walleye. Back he went. We spent the rest of the morning catching and releasing multiple sub-legals and kept a few legal fish. The walleye action was impressive, to say the least. Poor Mike had to watch though as for some odd reason his gear only received a few hits. "That's OK, I've had my share of luck out here", he said.
From 11:30 to 1pm we ran into our only slow time of the day. Which was OK by me as I finally had a chance to eat some lunch. The wind was still blowing but I was warm in my coveralls. Thank you Curt! At 1pm Curt decided to move us down river, past the boat launch to a wider stretch of the coulee. It was actually a bit calmer here and easier for Curt to control the boat. No sooner than our gear went out than Curt hooked into what turned out to be the fish of the day. It was obvious from the way his rod doubled over that this fish had some size to it. After a nice fight Mike eased the fish into the net. A chunky 4.7 pound walleye - sweet! Moments later, my rod doubled over and I was into a strong fish. This one hit the bait much harder and actually ran line out. Not a walleye, but a nice 2.3 pound small mouth bass. Wow, what an afternoon it was turning out to be! We ended up catching many more walleye and at 3pm called it a day. Final count - 34 walleye caught, 14 kept. What a great day on a wonderful stretch of water.
I have not had walleye fishing like this since my Midwest days. The action was almost non-stop and the fish were nice sized. Curt told me that the fishing is like this from mid-March into late May. Earlier in the season you have a better chance of catching some of the bigger walleye in the coulee and creeks around the Pot Holes. In fact, earlier in the season there is a size limit to make sure the big females are released to complete spawning. Curt told me he has had days of catch and release on nothing but big fish, almost impossible to catch the slot sized keepers. I know one thing, I'm adding this particular area to my need to fish list. Next year come mid-March you can find me drying out on the desert side of our state. I'll be the guy with the worms in a pail of water and the big grin on his face.
