bass
I hit the Columbia on Saturday July 15th for what would turn out to be a monster day of bass fishing. All week long I was checking the wind forecast several times a day because the forecast kept saying the wind would be super light (while the TV weatherman kept talking of high winds in the gorge) so I did not fully trust the wind sites. Turns out that wind site forecasts got it right and the wind, which was predicted to be light until 1pm , was really calm until at least 11am and did not get really breezy until after 1pm or so.
I got to the river around first light and started unloading while drooling at the glassy calm surface of the Columbia. Such a gift this time of the year. I got on the water well before sunrise and was the second craft on the water. I could see bass occasionally busting bait on the surface so I started tossing topwater and hooked into a good fish after a handful of casts. The fish made a good jump and threw the lure. Not the best start to a day but I shrugged it off and went back to fishing. A cast or two later I had a nice blowup close the yak that did not stick.
After my last bad luck trip I was starting to feel like I was destined to remain cursed. I decided to break the spell by switching up and putting down the topwater and picking up a jerk bait. That was a good call because I immediately landed a few nice fish from the same area. I fished that area until I hit a spell where I made a half dozen casts without a hit. I had already decided before even starting to be aggressive in looking for fish and to try not to waste too much time trying to squeeze one last bite out of an area.
I moved to a second spot that some guys in a bass boat had already fished. I wanted to start here but they beat me to it. I fished that spot for 10 minutes or so without a bite and with no sign of feeding fish so I took off for a third spot. Unfortunately a different boat was sitting on that spot. By now the sun was up and my plan was already in shambles. I headed further downstream to rock and weed edge and started tossing the jerkbait when I felt a solid bite, that I missed, but then he came right back and smacked it a second time. Oh yeah, this was a good fish.
That fish tried to get me dizzy by spinning my kayak in circles while he pulled me around. Those smallmouth are in peak fighting shape right now and this fish was giving me a thorough demonstration of the strength of these fish. After a tough battle I was able to finally get my net underneath my first big fish of the day:
All the feelings of bad luck were washed away by that one fish and I knew I was in for a good day. I fished that spot for another 10 minutes without a bite. I was really surprised by that since usually they are stacked thick this time of the year and when you get one good one there are usually others nearby. I am not sure if I could not relocate them or if that fish was really all by itself.
I pedaled as fast as I could to my next spot. Since the sun had come a fair bit by that point I decided to take off the topwater, move the jerkbait to my topwater rod and tie on a spy bait on the rod that I had been fishing the jerkbait with (my normal spy bait rod).
I pulled up to a nice jutting point and made a couple of casts with the spy bait when I had a good hit. The fish felt like a good one. It swam past the kayak as I reeled to catch up and when I was able to really lean into that fish I could tell it was a really good one. That fish pulled out my drag like it was nothing. I patiently let it wear itself out as it kept bulldogging down to the bottom. I was leaning hard on that fish when it decided to switch tactics and give me a good jump right next to the kayak. I could not believe the size of this fish. It was well over 5lbs. That jump seemed like it was the fish's last valiant attempt to get free and I was able to get it near the kayak. I reached for the net and that is where I made a fatal mistake.
I did not keep enough pressure on the fish for just a moment. I could see the fish right there just waiting to be netted when it shook its head and my lure popped out of its mouth.
I was sick. I can't believe I made such an amateur mistake. The fishing gods had given me a gift and I had wasted it. I just kept saying "Oh my God" as I continued to fish. Once again I could not get a second bite from that spot. That was weird but I am not sure how well I was fishing as I just kept playing the loss of the fish iover and over again n my head.
Eventually, I realized I was wasting time and snapped out of my funk. There was a lot of fishing left to do and not time to cry over spilled milk. I moved to another spot that is a series of humps and islands. I stuck with the spy bait and kept varying things up in terms of counting down some or not at the beginning of my retrieves. I stuck with my stop and go retrieve because that lure looks so sexy the way it shimmies when it free falls.
The bass quickly let me know that they forgave me for losing their big sister earlier. I caught a few bass off the first part of the new spot and then moved around to the other side of this big structure. I made a long cast with the spy bait when I had a hard hit and when I set the hook I could tell I had another big fish on. Once again I had a tough battle on my hands but this time I was not going to let a stupid mistake cost me this fish. Eventually I was able to slip the net under the fish. It looked to be good sized but kind of small after the beast I had lost a short while earlier. I said to myself "this fish is definitely over 3lbs". I was not wrong it was what turned out to be my biggest of the day.
I continued to fish that part of the structure and caught a few more nice bass but nothing over 3lbs (close with a 2lb 14oz). Eventually the bite slowed at this spot so I headed upstream to a hump that is close to the spot I had been fishing. This turned out to be the best spot of the day. As I pulled up on that spot I saw two different schools of bass chasing bait on the surface. Throughout the time I fished that spot the bass would periodically bust bait. Most of the time I could not get to the spot in time but it did not matter because there were good sized fish all over the front edge of that hump and a few few scattered on its sides and on top.
I am not sure how many of the 31 bass I caught came off of this one hump but it was a lot of them. Here are three beauties I pulled off that one hump. It is really funny that two of them were identical in size.
I also lost three other fish that would have been over 3lbs as well. Two on the jump and one the hook just pulled out. So many of the other fish I caught were over 2lbs and I really only had a handful of dinks all day long. Each of those fish I caught (and the ones I lost) were just awesome, drag ripping battles. That last fish was pretty special because just as I netted it the lure feel out. It was a good feeling to realize that it was only my constant pressure on that fish that was keeping it hooked. Helped ease the pain of the beast I had lost earlier.
I felt like that spy bait was just magical, but then tragedy struck. I had a hit on the spy bait that I missed and when I reeled it in the rear treble and propeller were gone. My magic bait was no more. I went into my tackle box and found the same lure in a different color. I fished that for a while but could not get a bite. I have to admit that my confidence was shaken. I decided to go back to the jerkbait and within a few casts I hooked another 3+lb fish. It made a nice jump but when I got it close to the kayak the hook just pulled out. I am not sure what went wrong there.
After that picked up my wobblehead jig rod and tried and scrape a few off the bottom. I caught a couple doing this but the bite was slow. At that point I pulled up on shore to try and repair my magic lure. I cannibalized one of my other spy baits to take off the rear treble. I was worried that the plastic was ruined but it seemed to screw in just fine. I went back to fishing the magic lure.
I went back to the general area where I had lost the beast earlier and I worked that flat for a while when I had a good thump. After a spirited battle I landed an 18.5" 3lb 0oz smallmouth (and the new hook held just fine). It was real test of that repair because when I went to net that fish I stupidly got the lure tangled in the net so I just jerked the bass out of the water hanging from the under side of the net. It is always good to really put a repair to a solid test like that
The rest of the day was filled with plenty more bass with a good number of 2+lb bass but not more 3lbers.
Overall it was a magical day on the water. My best 5 totaled 18lbs 9oz and their lengths added to 98.5". Definitely my best 5 fish smallmouth bag ever. My kayak felt light as a feather when I pulled up the ramp at the end of the day. It was a little hard to get traction though since I was still walking on air.
Here is a way too long video for the day.
I got to the river around first light and started unloading while drooling at the glassy calm surface of the Columbia. Such a gift this time of the year. I got on the water well before sunrise and was the second craft on the water. I could see bass occasionally busting bait on the surface so I started tossing topwater and hooked into a good fish after a handful of casts. The fish made a good jump and threw the lure. Not the best start to a day but I shrugged it off and went back to fishing. A cast or two later I had a nice blowup close the yak that did not stick.
After my last bad luck trip I was starting to feel like I was destined to remain cursed. I decided to break the spell by switching up and putting down the topwater and picking up a jerk bait. That was a good call because I immediately landed a few nice fish from the same area. I fished that area until I hit a spell where I made a half dozen casts without a hit. I had already decided before even starting to be aggressive in looking for fish and to try not to waste too much time trying to squeeze one last bite out of an area.
I moved to a second spot that some guys in a bass boat had already fished. I wanted to start here but they beat me to it. I fished that spot for 10 minutes or so without a bite and with no sign of feeding fish so I took off for a third spot. Unfortunately a different boat was sitting on that spot. By now the sun was up and my plan was already in shambles. I headed further downstream to rock and weed edge and started tossing the jerkbait when I felt a solid bite, that I missed, but then he came right back and smacked it a second time. Oh yeah, this was a good fish.
That fish tried to get me dizzy by spinning my kayak in circles while he pulled me around. Those smallmouth are in peak fighting shape right now and this fish was giving me a thorough demonstration of the strength of these fish. After a tough battle I was able to finally get my net underneath my first big fish of the day:
All the feelings of bad luck were washed away by that one fish and I knew I was in for a good day. I fished that spot for another 10 minutes without a bite. I was really surprised by that since usually they are stacked thick this time of the year and when you get one good one there are usually others nearby. I am not sure if I could not relocate them or if that fish was really all by itself.
I pedaled as fast as I could to my next spot. Since the sun had come a fair bit by that point I decided to take off the topwater, move the jerkbait to my topwater rod and tie on a spy bait on the rod that I had been fishing the jerkbait with (my normal spy bait rod).
I pulled up to a nice jutting point and made a couple of casts with the spy bait when I had a good hit. The fish felt like a good one. It swam past the kayak as I reeled to catch up and when I was able to really lean into that fish I could tell it was a really good one. That fish pulled out my drag like it was nothing. I patiently let it wear itself out as it kept bulldogging down to the bottom. I was leaning hard on that fish when it decided to switch tactics and give me a good jump right next to the kayak. I could not believe the size of this fish. It was well over 5lbs. That jump seemed like it was the fish's last valiant attempt to get free and I was able to get it near the kayak. I reached for the net and that is where I made a fatal mistake.
I did not keep enough pressure on the fish for just a moment. I could see the fish right there just waiting to be netted when it shook its head and my lure popped out of its mouth.
I was sick. I can't believe I made such an amateur mistake. The fishing gods had given me a gift and I had wasted it. I just kept saying "Oh my God" as I continued to fish. Once again I could not get a second bite from that spot. That was weird but I am not sure how well I was fishing as I just kept playing the loss of the fish iover and over again n my head.
Eventually, I realized I was wasting time and snapped out of my funk. There was a lot of fishing left to do and not time to cry over spilled milk. I moved to another spot that is a series of humps and islands. I stuck with the spy bait and kept varying things up in terms of counting down some or not at the beginning of my retrieves. I stuck with my stop and go retrieve because that lure looks so sexy the way it shimmies when it free falls.
The bass quickly let me know that they forgave me for losing their big sister earlier. I caught a few bass off the first part of the new spot and then moved around to the other side of this big structure. I made a long cast with the spy bait when I had a hard hit and when I set the hook I could tell I had another big fish on. Once again I had a tough battle on my hands but this time I was not going to let a stupid mistake cost me this fish. Eventually I was able to slip the net under the fish. It looked to be good sized but kind of small after the beast I had lost a short while earlier. I said to myself "this fish is definitely over 3lbs". I was not wrong it was what turned out to be my biggest of the day.
I continued to fish that part of the structure and caught a few more nice bass but nothing over 3lbs (close with a 2lb 14oz). Eventually the bite slowed at this spot so I headed upstream to a hump that is close to the spot I had been fishing. This turned out to be the best spot of the day. As I pulled up on that spot I saw two different schools of bass chasing bait on the surface. Throughout the time I fished that spot the bass would periodically bust bait. Most of the time I could not get to the spot in time but it did not matter because there were good sized fish all over the front edge of that hump and a few few scattered on its sides and on top.
I am not sure how many of the 31 bass I caught came off of this one hump but it was a lot of them. Here are three beauties I pulled off that one hump. It is really funny that two of them were identical in size.
I also lost three other fish that would have been over 3lbs as well. Two on the jump and one the hook just pulled out. So many of the other fish I caught were over 2lbs and I really only had a handful of dinks all day long. Each of those fish I caught (and the ones I lost) were just awesome, drag ripping battles. That last fish was pretty special because just as I netted it the lure feel out. It was a good feeling to realize that it was only my constant pressure on that fish that was keeping it hooked. Helped ease the pain of the beast I had lost earlier.
I felt like that spy bait was just magical, but then tragedy struck. I had a hit on the spy bait that I missed and when I reeled it in the rear treble and propeller were gone. My magic bait was no more. I went into my tackle box and found the same lure in a different color. I fished that for a while but could not get a bite. I have to admit that my confidence was shaken. I decided to go back to the jerkbait and within a few casts I hooked another 3+lb fish. It made a nice jump but when I got it close to the kayak the hook just pulled out. I am not sure what went wrong there.
After that picked up my wobblehead jig rod and tried and scrape a few off the bottom. I caught a couple doing this but the bite was slow. At that point I pulled up on shore to try and repair my magic lure. I cannibalized one of my other spy baits to take off the rear treble. I was worried that the plastic was ruined but it seemed to screw in just fine. I went back to fishing the magic lure.
I went back to the general area where I had lost the beast earlier and I worked that flat for a while when I had a good thump. After a spirited battle I landed an 18.5" 3lb 0oz smallmouth (and the new hook held just fine). It was real test of that repair because when I went to net that fish I stupidly got the lure tangled in the net so I just jerked the bass out of the water hanging from the under side of the net. It is always good to really put a repair to a solid test like that
The rest of the day was filled with plenty more bass with a good number of 2+lb bass but not more 3lbers.
Overall it was a magical day on the water. My best 5 totaled 18lbs 9oz and their lengths added to 98.5". Definitely my best 5 fish smallmouth bag ever. My kayak felt light as a feather when I pulled up the ramp at the end of the day. It was a little hard to get traction though since I was still walking on air.
Here is a way too long video for the day.
