The wind was down for a moment, but it threatened to pick up at any time. Don Schneider of Reel Adventures, our host and guide for the day, was keeping an eye on the weather, and on the tack the boat was taking as we drifted through the famous "Preacher's Eddy" below the John Day Dam tailrace on the Columbia River.

Schneider has been fishing the big river for more than 30 years, and he knows to watch out for the unpredictable and dangerous winds that commonly whip up along the Columbia. Having fished with Schneider many times, I was content to let him tend to the conditions. I paid close attention to my bottom walker as it bounced along a rocky reef. The tick-tick-tick of the walker on the bottom stopped suddenly, and I swept the rod back in a wide arc, hooking the walleye that had just engulfed the night crawler.

The fish fought well, using the current to aid its cause. But after a few tense moments, a 23-inch male with marble eyes laid in the bottom of the net, the first of two fish that size I would catch that morning. As the day progressed, we moved down to the Willows and caught walleyes in ones and twos before wind forced us off the water. As we headed to the ramp, 6-foot swells driven by the wind broke over the bow of Schneider's 24-foot Duckworth. I was thankful for the protection the big covered boat afforded us.

Early season fishing below John Day Dam is like that, with unpredictable winds and cold weather making it an iffy proposition. But once the spring advances and the weather tames, it's a lot easier to handle the river, and to catch big, tasty walleyes. "During March and April, the fish are packed close below the dam as they prepare for the spawn," says Schneider. "This is the best time to take the huge lunkers up to 12 or 14 pounds that the Columbia is famous for. This is also the time of year when the river is running higher, and the fish seek out eddies for protection from strong currents. As the walleye finish spawning, they bite more consistently. But they also spread out into areas farther from the dam. Then it changes from a trophy fishery to a numbers fishery, with good numbers of eating-sized fish being the rule."

Schneider, like most of the guides on the Columbia, is a proponent of releasing the big females after a quick photo shot. In addition to keeping these big breeders in the gene pool, he also believes bigger walleyes lose their eating quality. Likewise, he returns many of the under-18-inch fish, to boost recruitment into the older age-classes.

"You have to keep a good population of young fish if you want to have some big fish in the future," he explains. "The Columbia River has some of the best walleye fishing in North America, and it's still one of the best places to catch the fish of a lifetime."

The walleye limit on the Columbia is a generous 10 per day. Only one can be longer than 24 inches, and five of them may be between 15 and 18 inches.