I have a suggestion for the increasing number of Pacific Northwest fishermen who have interest in catching walleye. 

We’ve all heard that old business about “look before you leap”  Follow my suggestion and you’ll have a chance to “learn before you launch” when it comes time to putting walleyes in the boat.

So what’s my suggestion?  Simply this: Keep your eyes and ears open for a guy named Doug Allen.  This resident of Yakima, Washington has been appearing at seminars, outdoor shows and other spots around the Pacific Northwest for a long, long time.  He can, in fact be called one of the pioneers of walleye fishing especially where Washington State is concerned.

You can learn from an experienced walleye expert like Doug Allen.  He's caught a bunch of dandies like the one he shows here.

Allen, now 60, is a retired Lund boat dealer.  If you know beans about boats you also know that the Lund is a favorite among walleye anglers.  Doug will tell you that it was the keen interest walleye anglers have in the Lund line that got him into fishing for these toothy critters in the first place.

“Getting into walleye fishing went right along with my boat sales,” Allen says.  “They don’t make a better boat for walleye angling than the Lund.  I started talking about walleye in 1976.  I worked some of the early shows of the International Sportsmen’s Exposition.  Later on I started doing seminars all over the place.”

I could list a pile of Doug Allen’s accomplishments in the field of walleye fishing but let’s just consider a couple.  One is that he currently holds the record for the Columbia River Walleye Circuit for the largest poundage of fish caught out of the Columbia in a two day contest.

He earned that record by boating 73.28-pounds.  Keep in mind that the limit was six fish per day and that only two of those fish could be more than 24-inches in length.  The total weight he racked up broke the former record by 8-pounds.

He was the Columbia River Walleye Circuit’s “Angler of the Year” in 2005.  He also held the weight record at Moses Lake for a couple of years before it was broken.

Need additional reasons to understand why I say Allen’s a guy you need to give your full attention if you want to put more walleyes in the boat?  Well, here’s another one.  How many anglers do you know who have walleyes of more than 18-pounds to their credit?  Allen does.  The monster walleye he took out of the Columbia River a few years back actually weighed 18.5-pounds.

Doug personal best fish came on the Washington side of the Columbia River just below McNary Dam.  Some of the river’s big walleyes had congregated just below the dam and were feeding on whatever came through the turbines.  The big one grabbed a floating Rapala that Doug worked through the rocks right below McNary.

That’s enough about his credentials.  More important from your standpoint and mine is that he enjoys sharing his knowledge.  If you’re a resident of the Spokane area and you attended the February outdoor show that was staged there you might have seen evidence of what I’m talking about.

Some time ago Allen created a unique display of Mack’s Lure Smile Blades.  He has used it to make points that he emphasizes during his presentations.  Doug didn’t display the board himself in Spokane.  He gave it to Bob Schmidt, the president of Mack’s Lure, and Bob took it to the show himself.  The display board shows all of the different Smile Blade sizes as well as the different patterns in which they are available.

Smile Blades play a major role in Doug Allen's approach to walleye fishing.  Here Ted Beach shows the Smile Blade display board that Allen created and has used in some of his seminars on walleye fishing.  The board gives Doug's seminar audiences an excellent view of the color and size options Smile Blades make available.

I live way the heck and gone from Spokane but I still heard about the cork display board Allen had made.  It’s one of the reasons I made it a point to get hold of him to hear for myself some of the thoughts he’s been sharing with fellow walleye anglers for so long.

I found out a couple of things right quick.  Allen had his reasons for preparing that Smile Blade display as he did.  Smile Blades, you see, play a major role in his own walleye angling.  The options the different sizes in a variety of color patterns give the user are basic to his entire approach to walleye fishing.  They work for him and they’ll work for you.

Best of all, a good bit of what he discloses in his seminars is there for you to digest before you ever get near the water.  That’s why I made that comment earlier about the chance to “Learn before you launch.”

Walleye anglers have to "Match the Hatch" to come in with catches like Doug Allen displays here.  Mack's Lure Smile Blades, because they come in so many different sizes and colors, make it easy to do that.

I’ll share the proven approach Allen takes and why Mack’s Lure Smile Blades are such an important part of it in my next column.  You’ll find it here beginning April 15.