by Keith Jensen, January 15, 2016

With the shotguns, bird dogs, and decoys having wrapped up another successful Columbia Basin waterfowl and upland bird season, it’s now time to get the fishing gear ready for one of the best times to walleye fish in Washington State. Cold? Yeah you bet it’s still on the chilly side here east of the mountains but the walleye bite will be red hot.

Walleye, as with all of Washington’s spiny rays, winter in deeper water where conditions remain more stable and where they are not subject to harsh winter storms. Once the ice clears on Potholes Reservoir and Banks Lake the walleye remain deep but are more than ready to do some serious eating.




The walleye factory, AKA Potholes Reservoir, has experienced exponential walleye population growths in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down. As the weather warms and the reservoir becomes ice free, the walleye will be grouped up in heavy numbers around the many humps located in front of the sand dunes between Crab Creek and Winchester Wasteway. As you head out from MarDon Resort or Potholes State Park, head across the reservoir to the face of the dunes in between Crab Creek and Winchester Wasteway. As you get within several hundred yards of the outer dunes, start paying close attention to your electronics. You will begin to go over the underwater humps that will rise from 50 feet quickly up to 25 or 30 feet.



Once you have located the humps on Potholes, one of the key techniques to target the walleye staging on them is to use Blade Baits or lipless crankbaits.




I prefer to use the Bass Pro Shops XPS Laser Blades. For blade bait size I use the 5/8 ounce in either gold or silver finishes. For lipless crankbaits, I use the Rapala Rippin’ Rap which was designed for the type of fishing I’m describing. The ¾ ounce red craw patterned Rippin’ Rap has treated me very well. When using blade baits and Rippin’ Raps you will want to utilize two key presentations:

1. Vertical Jigging. Drop your blade bait or Rippin’ Rap on top of or on the sides of one of Potholes’ humps. A quick lift of the rod to about 10 o’clock will raise and vibrate your blade bait/Rippin’ Rap off the bottom. It is vital that you feel the vibrations of the bait. If you don’t feel the vibration, most likely the bait has become fouled on the line. Now, most importantly is the drop. After raising your rod to 10 o’clock, you want to quickly lower your rod back down to allow the blade bait or Rippin’ Rap to flutter back to the bottom on slack line. It is that slack line flutter fall that receives the majority of the bites. When you go to lift the rod back up to 10 o’clock you will feel the extra weight of a walleye. Quickly reel down and set the hook.

2. The second way to fish a blade bait or Rippin’ Rap is a cast and retrieve method. Make a long cast and again allow the bait to reach the bottom. Then begin a series of rods sweeps. Quickly raise your rod to the 10 o’clock position to activate the vibration, then quickly lower your rod just as you would if fishing vertically. Allow the blade bait/Rippin’ Rap to make contact with the bottom on the drop. Continue this method of rods sweeps and drops all the way back to the boat.

I rig my blade baits on a 7 foot medium action Bass Pro Shops Walleye Angler Spinning Rod coupled with either 6 or 8 pound CXX Pline. For the Rippin’ Rap I use a 7’ 6” Bass Pro Shops Walleye Angler Casting Rod again with 6 or 8 pound test line. The Rippin’ Rap at ¾ ounce is much better suited to the casting rod due to its heavier size. I am firm believer in using light line for all my presentations as I believe it results in many more bites.

Equally as affective as blade baits and Rippin’ Raps are bottom bouncers/spinner rigs. On Potholes in February thru early March, I will motor directly in front of the mouth of Winchester Wasteway and find 35-40 feet. I will then proceed, with trolling motor down, across the face of the dunes toward Crab Creek with bottom bouncers/spinner rigs. With the water temperatures in February being cold, a slow presentation is vital to trigger the equally cold walleye. I will troll at a speed of .5 - .8 mph traveling up and over the dozens of underwater humps at Potholes. When I hit a walleye, I immediately hit a waypoint on the GPS. By continuing this pattern down this stretch I end up locating the key humps that are holding walleye on that particular day.

When it comes to spinner/crawler rigs for walleye, Mack’s Lure Smile Blades dominate the competition. One of the greatest attributes of the Smile Blade is its ability to spin at the slowest of speeds. The Smile Blade/Slow Death Hook combination and the new Spindrift walleye rig are the two Mack’s Lure baits that do the damage on the walleye in my boat. The combination of the Smile Blade with either the Slow Death Hook or the Spindrift Hook with a nightcrawler is just too much for the walleye to resist. Many anglers will pinch their nightcrawlers in half when using these hooks but I prefer to use the whole crawler. Big baits equal big bites right?! The Smile Blade comes in many colors, from motor oil to pink. But there is one color that produces more bites and more walleye for myself and my clients than any other color. That color is gold with black scales in .8” and 1.1” sizes (#65211 is the blade number).



Whether I am at Potholes, Banks Lake, Moses Lake, or Rufus Woods, this particular color consistently produces quantity and quality walleye. Walleye are opportunistic feeders and will prey on smaller walleye when given the chance. Hold this color Smile Blade up to a walleye and you will see a very close match.

For bottom bouncing I use the Bass Pro Shops Walleye Angler Casting Rod. The 7’ 6” model is geared for bottom bouncing. It has a soft tip to detect the softest of walleye bites. With the walleye being in 30-50 feet of water this time of year, I stick with 2 ounce bottom bouncers to maintain bottom contact. At times I will bump up to 3 ounce bouncers if I have wind to deal with.

Last July 1st saw a change in the walleye regulations statewide to an 8 fish limit of walleyes in the 12”-22” slot range, with 1 walleye over 22” inches per angler. This rule change applies to all walleye waters in Washington, including Banks, except for Lake Roosevelt which has an even more liberal catch limit.

I utilize the exact same tactics and techniques on Banks Lake. Once the ice is off Banks, it is game on for walleye. The key, isn’t it always the key, is location, location, location. There are several key areas for early season Banks Lake walleye. The first being Barker Flats. Located straight across the lake from Steamboat Rock, Barker Flats holds enormous numbers of walleye in February and March. Many of the largest walleye of the year on my boat are caught in February and March at Barker Flats. Walleye in the 5-10 pound range are a real possibility every trip. To reach Barker Flats you’ll want to launch at the Northrup boat launch located just off Highway 55 near Steamboat Rock. Get around to the face of Steamboat Rock on the main lake, then go straight across the lake. Barker Flats gets its name from the vast shallow flat that extends out from the west side of the lake opposite Steamboat Rock. From shore, the Flats will stay shallow, 6-20 feet deep, for several hundred yards. In February and March, however, you want to be right outside the Flats in water depths of 35-50 feet. Now, unlike Potholes with all of its underwater humps, Barker Flats on Banks is just as it sounds, flat. It consists of a sandy/muddy bottom with very little rock. But, it holds great numbers of perch this time of year, and where the perch are so too are the walleye.



When fishing Barker Flats, I always fish parallel to them. Rather than deep to shallow or shallow to deep, I start at a given depth such as 40 feet and maintain that depth while paralleling the Flats. If I don’t find the fish in 40 feet, my next pass will be at 45 feet. I will continue to adjust my depth until I locate the depth the fish are holding in. If I am running 4 bottom bouncer rods I will have 2 rods with Smile Blade/Slow Death Hook combinations and the other 2 with Mack’s Spindrift Rigs. And all 4 will start out with the gold with black scales pattern. My confidence in these baits and that color is that high. Now, if I’m marking a ton of fish on the electronics but not getting bit, then I will start experimenting with different colors.

Another extremely productive area on Banks lies at the far north end at Electric City. Directly across from Coulee Playland Resort is a stretch of 35-50 feet water that extends back down lake for more than a mile.



In February through March there will be large numbers of walleye ranging in sizes from 16-22 inches with many fish over the 22”. Again, pick a starting depth and then proceed to bottom bounce this entire stretch. If I locate a large school of walleye, I will then switch over to the Bass Pro Shops XPS Laser Blade or the Rapala Ripping’ Rap and try to stay right on top of the school. When fishing Banks early in the year, don’t overlook this area. Many anglers are aware of and fish Barkers Flats but do not run further north to the area across from Coulee Playland. Some of my best fishing days early in the year are in this area.

I would be amiss to not mention the “bonus” catches walleye anglers get early in the year at both Potholes Reservoir and Banks Lake. In all the areas I described, the yellow perch will be found in great numbers. Even better, it is in February and March when the bigger jumbo perch are caught. And if there is one fish that rivals the taste of a walleye fillet, it is the yellow perch. Anglers will pick up great numbers of perch on Banks and Potholes on Blade Baits, Rapala Rippin’ Raps, and bottom bouncer/spinner rigs. It is also during this early season when the illusive Burbot makes it appearance.



Burbot numbers appear to be on the rise. Last year my boat saw 27 burbot come on board in Banks Lake alone in February and March, all while targeting walleye. This may seem like not many, but my previous record was 9 burbot for a season.

So with the shotguns cleaned and football season about wrapped up, its time to hit Potholes Reservoir and Banks Lake for some hot walleye action. Please feel free to contact me at any time for current fishing reports, productive techniques, or if you want to further expand on the early season options at Potholes and Banks.

Keith Jensen, Big Wally's Guide Service

509-770-8318