The torrential rain in May and June have raised the lake level to a point where unseasonal fish locations and especially schools made for quite a day! By this time, the weeds in shallow water are denser with fewer open areas to retrieve any distance. Granted, I could pitch jigs all day in weed pockets and get a few, but I'd rather cast-&-reel, covering more water in open water locations.
I don't have a clue why some fish in schools would be holding near shore in 2', but each school held...
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I hit the Columbia out of Stevenson on Saturday the 7th for the first time in 3 weeks. High temp was forecast to be 90 but Sunday was supposed to be 5 degrees hotter so I picked the lesser of the two evils. I got to the river at first light and there was a bit of a breeze. I started throwing to a mini-point that usually produces at least a fish or two in the summer but I got nothing but some weeds. Then I went over to a bigger point that ALWAYS has fish on this time of the year but again all...
Since my wife and I retired from the adventures of ocean fishing, we have been chasing Kokanee on placid tree rimed lakes. Last Friday we ventured up to Timothy Lake, and for the first time on that piece of water we targeted Kokane. It will be the last time we go after Kokanee up there. Thy were the size of the herring we used for bait when fishing out of Astoria and Newport. Literally they were 5 to 7 inches. I brought a few home to see what the deal was. When I cleaned them, I found...
Woke up at 415am to the smell of a skunk in the house. Apparently, one sprayed close to my home and the stink made it through our ventilation. It was so bad it woke me up with a nightmare about someone smoking weed, only to realize it was actually a skunk. I thought...this is a bad omen for fishing. But at 7am, I left home and started the drive to the river anyway.
First let me say i really like everything else I have ever ordered from FSL. But... several months ago I put in a semi large order of some spinner bodies and different blades. One of the packs of blades I ordered was the white matte silver. What i got was not what I expected. I've ordered matte silver from other places that is literally silver that just isn't polished to a high shine, but these blades just look kinda painted white. I figured eh..ill keep em anyways. It's a weird looking...
...unfortunately so were most of the trout :( I guess I should not complain since I did catch 24 trout but I would guess I missed at least 2 or 3 for every one that I caught. Plus add in the number I lost right at the kayak and it could have been a monster day but overall it was still a good day.
There are trout everywhere! You could see them rising and splashing on the surface all over the no-wake zone all day long. There were sections where they were denser but it seemed like you would...
Hello, first time posting on here but I have been lurking in the shadows for a while. This will be my first year targeting salmon/steelhead. I'll be bank fishing the mckenzie, willamette and row river. I ordered a rod and reel from fishUSA (9' okuma celilo with shimano SLX casting reel) while I'm waiting for it to arrive I started tyeing leaders to practice. I have a couple questions and I just want to know if my rig presentation looks good for drift/float fishing steelhead. I'll be using...
Where you all headed for the season opener tomorrow that you’ve been waiting since last October to fish?!
Last year kicked off great! a little skinny and hungry…
My fishing friend had vehicle trouble, so we launched about an hour after the anticipated time (10:30). Weatherperson was spot on as the forecast was for the wind to die in the afternoon, which it did. We started fishing a bit after high tide with a 10-12 mph breeze. As the day progressed, it got nicer and flatter. We pulled the pin at 3:30 and ran in on a very flat ocean. The bite was a little tough, as the water was O F F color and in some spots the vis was about 18 inches. We were...
I hit the Columbia on Sunday the 11th. The wind forecast was supposed to be dicey so the plan was to spend most of the day in the slough downstream from the ramp a little ways. The wind lived up to its forecast and I was happy to fish (hide) from the wind pretty effectively for most of the day. It was really pleasant not fishing in a maelstrom all day long - although I did venture and fish in the main river for an hour at the end of the day because I am a glutton for punishment :)
Overall...
One more today in the rain. Another nice winter fish. That's 3 this year that are bigger than any other winter fish I've caught in 10years or so. Usually I get the typical 26"-29" 5-8lb fish. This one was almost 32". Big fat hen with really big egg skeins. Not as dramatic as a fight as the one yesterday but she did get into some grass down and across the river from me. Thought she had me snagged up. But I was able to go down and pull on her from a different direction and got her out of it...
I had never fished for smallmouth in January before Saturday, but since I had caught my first December smallmouth 3 weeks earlier I figured I should give it a try. When I got to the Columbia I was a little dismayed. The forecast called for winds to be light and variable but it was blowing pretty good out of the East. I looked at the whitecaps and was doubting the wisdom of heading out. To further dampen my spirits the water near shore was pretty muddy. It had been quite clear a few weeks...
I got the little one by accident in a creek on the fly, and the big girl on a charter the next day. Both coho.
Another great day South. I’m done but there’s lots more good fish to come down there. It’s going to be crazy this weekend.
I hit the Columbia on Saturday the 16th with some trepidation. The wind forecast was once again calling for light winds but after getting brutalized last week I was a little gun shy to say the least. I woke up on Saturday after not sleeping great and at first I rolled over and thought about just sleeping in and bagging it. However, after 15 minutes of intense debate with myself I decided I would probably be happiest if I went so I dragged myself out of bed and headed East to Stevenson.
When...
I hit the Columbia on Saturday the 26th and what a day! There was sun, rain, clouds, rainbows, low-flying planes and plenty of hungry bass! Just a great day to be living in the PNW!!
The bite was great, 24 smallmouth and 3 pikiemninnows, but getting to fish in such beautiful conditions is just beyond expression. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words so here you go:
... you never know what you are going to get!
I hit Hagg on Saturday the 19th for a day of trolling for trout. I had not been to Hagg in a long time and was looking forward to battling some feisty trout. I was surprised how many folks were already there when I got there around first light. I remember usually arriving to an empty parking lot. I was hoping that meant the fishing was going to be on fire. The day started out according to plan. I quickly caught a 14" trout (before I turned on my vid
Finally caught one of the fabled Vernonia lake 5+ lbers!!
First post here on the forum, I see a lot of talk about channel catfish and how present they are in the upper willamette, recently found they are very present at my local fishing hole in good numbers, nothing giant but next summer I hope to tap into some bigger ones, they simply do not bite before sunset, and even if they do the squafish get to the bait before the catfish. If anyone has any bait suggestions for bigger catfish that would be much appreciated. All I’ve caught so far have been on...
caught on a wacky rig. This was the only one I caught even though they were feeding like crazy, They were eating something on top of the water and didn’t really have any interest in the senko, anyone have any suggestions on a rig for when they are doing this? It was like they were taunting me.
I hit the Columbia out of Stevenson, WA on Saturday the 6th. The wind was forecast to be light - and it actually was! The only downside was the smoke from the wildfires was pretty terrible. I thought with all that smoke (like a heavy overcast all day long) that the bass would be shallow and eating topwater. I started out throwing my usual waking bait but did not get a sniff. I was really surprised. I switched over to a spinnerbait and picked up two small bass pretty quickly up shallow and...
Beautiful conditions for the non select, any two salmon opener. Plenty off fish off of Twin rocks from about 160 ‘to 220’. I caught a very large chinook which was released, it was dark, and had a hook nose. Todd and I each got two coho, Chris got one coho and one chinook.
I volunteered yesterday with the ODFW on a research trip out of Newport for Rockfish population survey. All fish are documented on size species and sex. All fish are released. Total was 236 with 7 different species. I hooked the biggest black I have ever got 53cm and 5 lbs,. Great day on the blue pond! HAVE FUN!
There is a saying "There are liars, damn liars and statisticians". Well way below that are the folks predicting the wind :) I was really stoked to fish on the Sunday (the 1st) because the wind forecast looked good and had been looking good for several days. That is just the thing they do to lure you into the gorge and like a dumb monkey I can't resist that juicy banana and I fall right into their trap.
I noticed the adipose fin is still present, was my first trout a native wild trout? Big thanks to this forum for the wisdom that helped me fish this area.
Siltcoos lake. almost made 5 lb caught with weedless black jig n' worm.
Hit the Columbia on Sunday the 25th and I caught a beast of a smallmouth. At 21.75" it was the longest smallmouth I have caught and it tipped the scales at 5lbs even (well short of my heaviest which was a 5lb 14oz bass from 2023). That was definitely the best summertime smallmouth I have ever caught. It really turned a somewhat mediocre day into a great one!!
Turned a work trip into a late night fishing trip, got this one to the boat after losing one last year. Really have to set the hook hard on these fish, very fun fight!
I found these at the lake I fish for bass at, im started fishing recently and have only used a wacky rig which seems like a Jack of all trades type thing. Any tips for using these lures?