Pitchin’ Ferry
By Trevor Johnson Kit’s Tackle and KT Sportfishing www.kitstackle.com
I can still remember my childhood years jigging monster rainbow trout along the shorelines on Canyon Ferry Lake.
Dad and I would talk about how awesome of a walleye shoreline it would be if they were in the lake. Little did we know, there were a few walleye cruising around due to an illegal introduction in the 1990’s. And now, some 20-30 years later those very shorelines are where we fish for monster walleye. These shorelines gifted us the crowned champions of the 2012 Canyon Ferry Walleye Festival, and some other close calls and cashed tournament checks. I will admit, I love having the walleye in my home waters, but bucket biology makes us all look bad and is pure selfishness. We are starting to see it across more Montana waters. With this being said, with the population of walleye that is now in Canyon Ferry, in my opinion, it should be managed as a MULTI-SPECIES fishery. Walleye have gained huge traction and seem to be the “cool thing” now. And from an economic standpoint, it is and can be very beneficial to all of us. Getting back to fishing walleye on Canyon Ferry...the month of JUNE IS KING! From early June until around the 4th of July is the summer peak for targeting the monsters cruising in the shallows! No matter how many times I reiterate this, people still don’t believe we catch these big fish shallow. Believe it or not, the deepest we have ever caught a 24+” walleye in Canyon Ferry is about ten feet. I know this is a hard concept to grasp, but think about it this way: Canyon Ferry does not support a population of pelagic baitfish like Tiber and Fort Peck. There is no forage base driving these fish deep to feed, other than the occasional guy trolling for trout who catches a suspended fish. I’m sure there are a few walleye cruising in the open water, but not a target-able population. Heck, there is barely a population of larger fish over 20’’ to target on Canyon Ferry, period. This is mostly due to mis-management and over-harvest of the primary spawning fish. The good news is; we still consecutively catch these big fish year after year. The key is to keep casting your jigs right to shore! It does take some knowhow and building confidence, but it will come. I have friends who have fished Canyon Ferry since people started catching walleye and have never broke 20’’, but they also pull bottom bouncers in 18-30’ of water. Every year a few folks hire us to guide them and show them the ropes. This gives them a lifetime of knowledge in one day. Last year pre fishing for the tournament, I landed 5 fish over 24” in one afternoon, with a huge 31” being the biggest. So even with lower numbers of these big fish, they are much more catchable in the month of June. There is a lot less water between ten feet deep and the shoreline than the rest of the lake. You are just putting way more fish in a small area which then ups your odds! And even better news, shallow fish are there for ONE REASON ONLY...TO EAT!! You might have to cover a lot of shoreline, but if you get your bait in front of a shallow fish, you’re going to get bit. Now for the lesson, there are a few critical things here I will cover. The first thing you are going to want to do is establish your “BUFFER ZONE”. A buffer zone is what we call the area between your boat and the shoreline. The key here is to keep as far from the shore as possible to not spook the fish, but also close enough that you can CONFIDENTLY and ACCURATELY cast your jig within a few inches of shore. You don’t want to have to get a running start to make the cast! Our personal buffer zone on a nice day is about 20 yards. Now if the wind is blowing 20 mph and the waves are crashing into the shore you will have to tighten up your buffer zone. With all the surface disruption from the wind, the fish will be much less wary. There are times we are less than ten yards from the shore. Basically the concept here is to move parallel along the shore casting your jig in front of the boat and covering water. Now, let’s move onto the tough part of maintaining your buffer zone and fishing at the same time. The electric bow mount motor will become your best friend in this situation! And heck, they even make a remote you can hang around your neck to control your boat. Sounds easy right? Not as easy as you would think, I can promise you! It will take some time and patience learning to keep your boat in proper position at all times…especially when it’s windy or you have current or other obstacles or distractions. Before you go thinking you have it rough; there are times that I am guiding and running the boat while trying to free a client’s snag, tie another client’s jig on and bait another’s hook, but you can bet your butt I’m still in the zone!
14 | Hunting & Fishing News
