Hit Irrigon area from June 27-29 bottom-bouncing for walleye. Just got in the water and "wham", fish on. Pulled in a really nice walleye, turned out to be the big fish of the trip. Thought we were going to hit them hot and heavy, but noooooo..... Fishing was slow all three days with only 6 eyes taken the first two days and 5 smallmouths thrown in over the three days.

First day the volume of water coming over McNary was amazing. I've fished this area a lot and never seen that kind of volume. The green can below the Umatilla bridge was tipped over sideways because of the flow. Lost a lot of worm harnesses and bottom-walkers that first day. Second and third day weren't as bad. No walleye the third day, looked like a weather front blowing in had turned the fish off.

Chartreuse floating worm harness with about a 3-4' leader worked best and I always add some crawfish or garlic crawfish scent to it. Because of the flow we had to go a little heavier than usual, using 2 and even 3 ounce bottom bouncers at times. Troll downstream just fast enough to control the boat, boat speed varies due to water flow. The first day we were trolling about 3 mph (per gps, not speedometer) as that was the slowest speed we could control the boat in heavy flow. Next two days we could slow it down closer to 2 mph. Everything was caught between 20-30 fow. When you get snagged on bottom you have to turn around quickly if you want any chance of getting your gear back.

Got stopped by a Sherrif at the launch and got the boat inspected. He was a really nice guy and a credit to his profession. Passed the inspection and got a purty sticker for the back of my boat. Met some folks from Idaho on Friday who were really nice too. Sold them some bottom-bouncers (they only had 1 1/2 ouncers) and gave them a bottle of crawfish juice. They were going to be there for a week so I hope they do OK. Good people.

Can't think of anything else. The water is stained right now. The Sherrif said Canada had a huge runoff that was causing the discoloration.

Tight lines all.

Hey Jigmeister, I'd like to buy some of your crappie lures. Let me know how to make that happen. I could host you for a fishing trip when your foot is better. Let me know. randyrlee3@yahoo.com

randy