Mike Hepper, watch yer backside, the boyz are gunning for you!
A pair of walleye close to his Washington state record have been landed in recent days, including an 18.6-pounder caught by Denis Fillion.
The Tri-Cities man hooked it Feb. 15 in the same stretch as Hepper's 19.3-ouncer back in 2007, below the mouth of the Snake and above the Oregon-Washington line.
DENIS FILLION AND HIS 18.6-POUNDER. (VIA MACK'S LURES)
The fish reportedly bit a nightcrawler and Wally Pop featuring a chartreuse Smile Blade with black-tiger striping.
According to a story by longtime spinyray writer Stan Fagerstrom and sent out by Wally Pop manufacturer Mack's Lure of Wenatchee, it was one of five Fillion caught that day, all of which fell for the same setup.
With Hepper's walleye also biting a Smile blade -- along with chartreuse beads and a worm -- and the females full of eggs right now, Fagerstrom boldly predicts the next record walleye will be caught on Mack's Lure gear.
Maybe, but we wouldn't overlook jigging for Mrs. Piggy either.
Our contributor Jeff Holmes details that approach in a big story for our just-back-from-the-press March issue, and minutes ago filed this report on a walleye that was even longer than Hepper's:
by Jeff Holmes
Another huge walleye was caught last weekend, this one by Cody Simonson of Richland, Wash., fishing with his Dad, Jim Simonson, of Kennewick, Wash. Longer than the state record but not as girthy, Simonson's fish ate a Whistler jig baited with a nightcrawler somewhere between 25 and 30 feet deep in a seam.
Cody was lifting his jig a foot and a half off the bottom, letting it free fall, and repeating.
"I was going through the standard routine of zoning out jigging, not thinking a whole lot about it, and, yeah, it bit. It seems like that's usually when I get the fish ... I didn't think it was giant fish or anything. I thought, 'Man, this is a heavy fish,' but it was nothing outrageous considering the size the fish ended up being. It was typical walleye in cold water; he was sluggish, and he didn't want to come up. We were shocked when I got it to the boat, and it didn't want to fit in our net; it's a little shy for a 34-inch fish."
CODY SIMONSON AND HIS 34.5-INCH-LONG WALLEYE. (COURTESY CODY SIMONSON)
"When I weighed it on the digital scale my dad had on the boat. it came in at 18 pounds, and I would say that was a few ounces conservative," said Simonson. "We also took some measurements, and the length was 34.5 inches, and the girth was 21.0 inches ... It is by far the biggest walleye I have ever caught. It sure dwarfed the 9-pounder my dad caught that day ... I've caught a few 10-pounders before, but nothing close to this fish."
Cody and Jim were fishing somewhere above McNary Dam, but NOT in one of the famous public holes like Buoy 30, Foundation Island, or Indian Island, places where large numbers of anglers concentrate their efforts these days.
Cody won't divulge their specific location, saying only, "My dad and I go fishing a lot, and we experiment and try quite a few different places. And we're not looking for big fish, just smaller eater fish -- any walleye in general. They are really good to eat."
"I wasn't needing the meat, plus those older walleye are not as tasty as the smaller ones, so I decided to let it go. My dad even got a few pics of me releasing it. I figured with all the pics and measurements, a fiberglass replica is in my future. This is one of those fish you can't not get a mount of," Simonson chuckled.
BACK SHE GOES. (COURTESY CODY SIMONSON)
Jeff Holmes' story in our March issue also includes a picture of a 33-inch-long, 201/2-inch-around 15.1-pounder caught Feb. 9 in the same general vicinity.
Last March our Wayne Heinz covered Hepper's bait-and-blade trolling tips.
NICE WALLEYE AND GOOD EFFORTS, BUT MIKE HEPPER'S 19.3-POUNDER IS STILL THE FISH WHEN IT COMES TO WASHINGTON WALLEYE. (WDFW)
