CASTLEGAR WALLEYE!
The town of Castlegar is the second-largest community nestled within the Selkirk Mountains of the beautiful West Kootenays British Columbia. The headwaters of the Columbia River originate from Columbia Lake and the river flows through the southern portion of the valley. It flows right through the town of Castlegar, heading south through the state of Washington and Oregon before spilling into the Pacific Ocean.
The Columbia is a life source for many cities, towns, and communities along the way and has been for hundreds of years. However, in more recent years, the portion within BC has been invaded by an aqueduct species that has attracted anglers from across North America.
WALLEYE CONSIDERED AN INVASIVE SPECIES
It’s hard to believe that (Sander vitreus), more commonly known as walleye, could be considered an invasive species. Within British Columbia’s Columbia River system, walleye are non-native to the river and are very damaging to the native species within the river system, thus are considered an invasive species.
Salmon, rainbow trout, whitefish, and many others including the protected white sturgeon all call the Columbia River home. However, several years ago, walleye were accidentally introduced into the Columbia River from a stocking program in Washington State.
A walleye stocking program, which began in 1960, was taking place in Lake Roosevelt Washington when walleye got out of some damaged nets. Some of these fish eventually made their way north up the Columbia River into Canadian waters. What many people don’t realize, walleye are actually a river species so they found themselves right at home and quickly took up residence within the entire Columbia River system.
COLUMBIA RIVER ON MY BUCKET LIST
There are very few lakes, reservoirs, or rivers throughout Canada where an angler can land a world-class rainbow trout or a walleye on the same cast. The Columbia is one of those! With walleye being an invasive species, anglers can keep 16 walleye a day, and leave with a two-day possession of 32 walleye. Being from Alberta, where walleye restrictions are strict, and enjoying a feed of walleye as often as I can, the rainbow trout took a backseat to the walleye.
CHILLBILLY SPORTFISHING CHARTERS
Due to my schedule, I only had three days to fish the mighty Columbia River, so I contacted my good friend Graham Cloutier. Graham owns Chillbilly Sportfishing Charters and guides on the river all season. He normally does his guiding out of a drift boat but I had my 19-foot Tracker Targa with me and I wanted to fish the river with all the comforts of home. I knew Graham could put me on both the walleye and the world-class rainbow trout, and keep me out of the shallow locations that lurk just beneath the surface in some areas of the river.
WALLEYE AND MORE WALLEYE!
After launching my boat, it didn’t take us long before we were into walleye. I could still see the boat launch when we sent down our bottom-bouncers. Due to the current, we were pulling a worm harness with any kind of hammered brass, silver, or gold blades behind a 3oz bottom-bouncer into the current. The heavy 3oz weight was needed to maintain bottom contact as we were fishing in 40 to 60 feet of water. It was the first time in my fishing career that I ever fished walleye in that deep of water.
In typical walleye fashion, the bites were still very subtle and, in most cases, all you felt was the weight of the fish. Clouds of walleye filled the screen of my fish finder and bringing them out of that deep of water wasn’t a problem as we were keeping the fish anyway. One walleye after another came to the surface and because they are an invasive species within the river system, they had to be bonked immediately before placing them in the live well filled with ice.
FAST WATER FISHING
After a couple of hours of deep-water bottom-bouncing, Graham made the call to move to one of his known spots to jig walleye in some calmer water where walleye often go to take a break and rest from the rivers fast-moving current. However, even out of the fast current we had to use ¾oz or 1oz Big Sky Jigs to keep our jigs vertical. When walleye move out of the current to rest, they were still willing to feed but had no interest in working for their meal so vertical jigs just off the bottom was the presentation the walleye preferred. We jigged walleye in more common depths such as 15 to 20 feet of water. The bite was a little slower but we still managed to land 30 walleye in two hours of jigging.
RAINBOW TROUT TIME
With our daily walleye limits filled, we moved to fast shallow water current areas of the river where large rocks and boulders provided whitewater and current breaks for the rainbow trout. We casted #11 Len Thompson Lures in the Dimpled Series to the edge of the whitewater and while keeping a tight line, we let the current take our lures down the river. This allowed our lures to look and move naturally at the same speed as the flowing water imitating natural prey being washed downriver. The regulations state single barbless hooks on the Columbia River and even though we were fishing fast-moving water, we had no trouble setting a single barbless hook on rainbow trout of all sizes.
NON STOP ACTION
Over the three days of fishing, we lost count of how many walleye and rainbow trout we caught and released. However, one of the greatest experiences was the numerous locations on the river that Graham took us to where we casted a caught walleye on one cast and a rainbow trout on the next cast. I even landed a walleye after losing a rainbow trout on the same retrieve. Walleye and rainbow trout side by side. Priceless!
While in Castlegar, we experienced an amazing angler friendly community at every turn. The Lions Head Pub, a half kilometer from the boat launch is a great place to wet your whistle and fill your belly while you share your fishing stories after a day on the river. The Tailout Brewery next to the Sandman Inn is owned by an avid conservation-minded angler and every Thursday, they host a Pint of Knowledge with the topics being hunting, fishing, and outdoors-related. And be sure to stop by the Humble Bean for your morning coffee and pastries that will make grandma’s homemade baking jealous.
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