by Stan Fagerstrom for The Mack Attack, June 23, 2014

You’re going to look long and hard to find anyone more knowledgeable about walleye fishing than Doug Allen. If you read my last column, you’re aware I told you about having had an e-mail message from a reader who had a question about walleye fishing. He wanted to know where he could go to have a good chance for boating a walleye of 10-pounds or more.

I had told this guy that I thought the Columbia River would provide his best shot at getting the job done. I also mentioned I’d checked with Bob Schmidt, the man who calls the shots here at Mack’s Lure, regarding today’s prospects for walleyes on the big river.

I’d asked Bob who he’d recommend I talk to regarding the present outlook for walleyes on the Columbia. Doug Allen was the man Bob suggested. That didn’t come as a major surprise. If you dig very deep into the history of walleye fishing in the Pacific Northwest, Doug’s name is certain to surface.

I have written about Doug Allen before in these Stan’s Corner columns. The last time was several years ago. I was curious how he felt about the present outlook for Columbia River walleye anglers.

I knew something else. Doug Allen is one of the real “Pioneers” of Pacific Northwest walleye angling. He’s been taking beautiful fish out of the Columbia ever since those whoppers started showing up there. He has boated walleyes as large as 18-pounds, 5-ounces from the big river.
Darn few walleye fishermen in the United States have taken fish that size. Allen caught that beautiful trophy sized fish in 1989. I don’t know how many fish of more than 10-pounds he’s taken from the Columbia, but it’s been a bunch.

So what does Doug have to say regarding your chances of getting a walleye of 10-pounds or more today? “You don’t have as many big ones today as we did when the Columbia walleye fishing was just getting started,” Allen says, “but the numbers of sizeable fish are still good.”
Allen agreed that the Columbia River does indeed offer some of the country’s best prospects for fish of 10 pounds or more. He was however, just as quick to add a whole lot of “ifs” to putting one of those fish in your boat. Many of the thoughts Doug shares in this regard are a cinch to provide tremendous help to anybody wanting to get serious about their walleye fishing.

As I’ve already indicated, Doug Allen has a list of walleye fishing accomplishments as long as your arm. That list has been compiled over more than 40 years of effort.

Doug has been a Washington State resident all his life. He was the Lund Boat dealer in Yakima for many years. His son now operates that business. Besides all the time he has spent on Columbia River walleye fishing, Allen has also fished as a contestant in professional walleye tournaments all over the United States.

I’ve mentioned some of the other accomplishments Doug has racked up in my previous Stan’s Corner columns. He was, for example, the “Angler of the Year” for the Columbia River Walleye Circuits in 2005. He also at one time, held the walleye size record for Washington State’s Moses Lake.

As far as I know Doug still holds the record for the largest poundage of walleyes taken from the Columbia River in a two day tournament. He did it by coming in with a two day total of 73.28 pounds. That total takes on even more meaning when you realize the limit was six fish per day and that only two of those six fish could be more than 24 inches.

If you’re a walleye angler yourself you may have had opportunity to hear Doug Allen talk about these often perplexing fish at one or another of the many seminars he’s done in the Pacific Northwest.
Doug, a long time member of the Mack’s Lure pro staff, is one of those qualified experts who isn’t reluctant to share his abundant knowledge regarding one of the nation’s leading sports fish. You’ll find lures Doug often employs in his walleye fishing featured right here at this Mack’s Lure website.

Keep an eye out for my next column. I’ll be sharing some of the things we all need to consider when we go after walleye. They’re of maximum importance whether you’re fishing the Columbia River, Devils Lake, North Dakota, Greer’s Ferry Lake down in Arkansas or anywhere else.

-To Be Continued-