bass
I played hooky on Friday the 20th and hit the Columbia. You have to take advantage of those wind windows!! I was really excited to be out on the water on a weekday. I started throwing a topwater and within a couple of casts I had what looked to be a pretty big fish boil at it (but not strike it). I threw the kitchen sink in that area but could not get that fish to come back. Still, I was really pumped to see some interest right off the bat.
That excitement was starting to wear pretty thin over the next fishless hour. However, I eventually got a violent strike on my topwater and landed a very athletic 2lb 8oz smallmouth that really liked to jump. I worked the area where I picked up that fish with a variety of baits but could not find a second taker.
I moved upstream and fished a couple of spots without getting a sniff. I was starting to wonder if the smallmouth took Friday's off. I finally got to a spot (tiny rock island) where I had caught a couple of small fish the week before. I probed the downstream side without any luck. I moved to the upstream side and started looking around with my sonar to see if I could mark some fish but my screen was clean.
I figured they could be tight to the bottom so I picked up a drop shot and started probing around. In short order I hooked a nice 2+lb fish! As soon as I hooked that fish and started fighting it the screen of my sonar lit up like a Christmas tree. There were a LOT of bass down there.
I spent the next hour or so pounding that spot and picked up 8 bass on the drop shot including a beautiful 18.5" 3lb 2oz chunk.
During the best action I had 4 consecutive fish. Of course, after a while the bite slowed down and rather than trying to scrape a few more bass of that spot I headed further upstream hitting every likely looking spot with the drop shot.
Along the way I found a new spot where I caught back to back bass of 18.5" (another 3lb 2oz fish) and the skinniest 17" bass I have ever seen. Here is my second 3lb 2oz fish.
I was now feeling really good about the day and I had not even got to the spots that had been best on my last trip, 2 weeks earlier. However, I kept fishing every good looking hump and point. Some of them held fish and others were completely barren. The interesting thing is that some of spots that were on fire on my previous trip were dead and some of the spots that were dead head a decent number of fish.
The spot that was completely loaded on my last trip had some fish but I had to work hard for them. My best fish off that spot was a 17.5" 3lb 0oz fish.
That fish was so muscular. Definitely my best fight of the day!
I ended the day with a total of 28 smallmouth. My best 5 weighed a decent 13lb 15oz and totaled 88.25". Not a monster day in terms of size but a lot of fun and plenty of action. 26 of the 28 smallmouth came on the drop shot. I did try throwing the wobblehead (no bites) and Ned rig (no bites) a fair amount. I did catch one and lose one on a blade bait. I definitely need to fish that lure more. I like that not many folks use one around here and I think it does get some of the pressured fish to bite.
Most of the fish came from 18-30' of water and were associated with rocks. Last trip I did well on a couple of bare spots between weedbeds but those spots did not produce anything on this trip. I had several occasions where I caught back to back fish (even 4 in a row at one point) but I also had lulls where I would realize I had been fishing a spot for 20 minutes without a bite. Sometimes I just stop paying attention and let time pass me by. I have become better at avoiding that but it still creeps in now and again.
Here is my video from the day. The only real downside to the day is that 3 of my files got corrupted and I lost that footage but otherwise it was just a fantastic day to be fishing in Oregon.
That excitement was starting to wear pretty thin over the next fishless hour. However, I eventually got a violent strike on my topwater and landed a very athletic 2lb 8oz smallmouth that really liked to jump. I worked the area where I picked up that fish with a variety of baits but could not find a second taker.
I moved upstream and fished a couple of spots without getting a sniff. I was starting to wonder if the smallmouth took Friday's off. I finally got to a spot (tiny rock island) where I had caught a couple of small fish the week before. I probed the downstream side without any luck. I moved to the upstream side and started looking around with my sonar to see if I could mark some fish but my screen was clean.
I figured they could be tight to the bottom so I picked up a drop shot and started probing around. In short order I hooked a nice 2+lb fish! As soon as I hooked that fish and started fighting it the screen of my sonar lit up like a Christmas tree. There were a LOT of bass down there.
I spent the next hour or so pounding that spot and picked up 8 bass on the drop shot including a beautiful 18.5" 3lb 2oz chunk.
During the best action I had 4 consecutive fish. Of course, after a while the bite slowed down and rather than trying to scrape a few more bass of that spot I headed further upstream hitting every likely looking spot with the drop shot.
Along the way I found a new spot where I caught back to back bass of 18.5" (another 3lb 2oz fish) and the skinniest 17" bass I have ever seen. Here is my second 3lb 2oz fish.
I was now feeling really good about the day and I had not even got to the spots that had been best on my last trip, 2 weeks earlier. However, I kept fishing every good looking hump and point. Some of them held fish and others were completely barren. The interesting thing is that some of spots that were on fire on my previous trip were dead and some of the spots that were dead head a decent number of fish.
The spot that was completely loaded on my last trip had some fish but I had to work hard for them. My best fish off that spot was a 17.5" 3lb 0oz fish.
That fish was so muscular. Definitely my best fight of the day!
I ended the day with a total of 28 smallmouth. My best 5 weighed a decent 13lb 15oz and totaled 88.25". Not a monster day in terms of size but a lot of fun and plenty of action. 26 of the 28 smallmouth came on the drop shot. I did try throwing the wobblehead (no bites) and Ned rig (no bites) a fair amount. I did catch one and lose one on a blade bait. I definitely need to fish that lure more. I like that not many folks use one around here and I think it does get some of the pressured fish to bite.
Most of the fish came from 18-30' of water and were associated with rocks. Last trip I did well on a couple of bare spots between weedbeds but those spots did not produce anything on this trip. I had several occasions where I caught back to back fish (even 4 in a row at one point) but I also had lulls where I would realize I had been fishing a spot for 20 minutes without a bite. Sometimes I just stop paying attention and let time pass me by. I have become better at avoiding that but it still creeps in now and again.
Here is my video from the day. The only real downside to the day is that 3 of my files got corrupted and I lost that footage but otherwise it was just a fantastic day to be fishing in Oregon.
