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Gettin' Jiggy Wid It
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On Wednesday, I managed to bag my second springer for 2016 on the lower Willamette. The weather forecast was for a thunderstorm in the afternoon, so I felt good about the trip before I ever left.
I started trolling whole herring right a dawn, and I observed a long-time fisherman I've seen trolling the area bag a fish right at sunrise. I made three passes through the mile-long trolling spot that has become my favorite over the past few years. On the second pass, my rod slammed hard and I had a fish on, but when I pulled the rod out of the holder, something didn't feel right because the fight went out of the fish in less than 30 seconds...and you guessed it, pike minnow. So I re-rigged the rod and finished out the 3 passes with no bites from kings.
I will say it's been nice being able to fish two rods in the Willamette this year. I noticed the water temp was about 54 F, not that it matters much. I think salmon will hit spinners even when the water is 49 F. So for the 4th pass, I rigged one rod with herring and the other with a pink Toman spinner, one of the ones with a red/white blade and a pink squid body. Last year I picked up a king on that same spinner about this time of year, but for the 4th and 5th trolling pass on Wednesday, no such luck. About 7 or 8 other boats were working the area as well, and I only saw herring on their rods.
For the 6th pass, I kept herring on one rod and switched to a chartreuse Toman spinner with the same squid body and a bright yellow/green blade. About two-thirds of the way through the trolling pattern, I was tight to the bottom with both presentations in about 15 feet of water when I saw a perfect fish arch on the finder that was right on the bottom. I said to myself, “Will he hit that green spinner?”, and 5 seconds later when my gear drifted over him it was “Bam!” fish on.
I let the fish munch on the spinner while I quickly reeled up the herring on the other rod. Then I gunned the motor and turned toward the middle of the river to keep the fish away from the pilings and to drive the hook in a little deeper. When I pulled the rod out of the holder, the fish made a few hard tugs, then went noodle on me. I had to reel down on it to keep a tight line, but the fish swam toward me and I thought I was going to lose it. For some reason, this fish didn't put up much of a fight. It wouldn't dive to the bottom, and it wouldn't peel off line from the reel. Nor did it make a run and leap out of the water. I didn't like having to reel so much to keep a tight line on it, because now the fish was within 15 feet of the kayak and it was still hot. I had to keep the motor in gear to try and pull away from the fish a little, but it wasn't helping much. The fish never would turn away and run, it just kept following me! That's when I figured out this fish's tactic was simply to shake its head like a maniac and try to throw the hook. It shook its head at the surface, dove a little, shook its head underwater, then returned to the surface and shook its head again.
Normally I don't let a fish come near the kayak for a least 5 minutes to make sure it has cooled down a bit, but here this fish was at the side of the yak in less than 2 minutes, shaking its head so hard I just knew it was going to throw the lure any second. So I decided to go for the net right away. No sense in letting a fish that won't run away or peel off line sit there right beside the boat and thrash.
Netting it was a little tricky, I had to put the motor in and out of gear a couple of times to get him in the right position, and ultimately left the motor out of gear to get the fish to swim into the net head first.
Relieved to bag the fish, I found it pretty cool that I got to see it on the fish finder just seconds before it hit the spinner. That doesn't happen very often, to be so ready for a fish like that.
It also seems amazing that just a simple color change (from pink to green) can make such a big difference so fast. The whole two-rod rule really makes it a lot easier to figure out what the salmon want while still being able to troll the super productive herring rig.
I'm guessing with the numbers of fish over the Falls now that this lower river bite will only be good for a couple more weeks. This year I plan to fish for springers above the Falls after the count rises above 5,000. Not sure where I'll do it, but it will be close to Portland, and I'll definitely be trolling spinners.
A lot of people have been telling me they have had a hard time with springers this year, so I'm feeling very fortunate that my 12 hours of trolling has produced two hatchery fish. Hopefully the bite will pick up soon and everyone will start nailing them.
Good luck!
I started trolling whole herring right a dawn, and I observed a long-time fisherman I've seen trolling the area bag a fish right at sunrise. I made three passes through the mile-long trolling spot that has become my favorite over the past few years. On the second pass, my rod slammed hard and I had a fish on, but when I pulled the rod out of the holder, something didn't feel right because the fight went out of the fish in less than 30 seconds...and you guessed it, pike minnow. So I re-rigged the rod and finished out the 3 passes with no bites from kings.
I will say it's been nice being able to fish two rods in the Willamette this year. I noticed the water temp was about 54 F, not that it matters much. I think salmon will hit spinners even when the water is 49 F. So for the 4th pass, I rigged one rod with herring and the other with a pink Toman spinner, one of the ones with a red/white blade and a pink squid body. Last year I picked up a king on that same spinner about this time of year, but for the 4th and 5th trolling pass on Wednesday, no such luck. About 7 or 8 other boats were working the area as well, and I only saw herring on their rods.
For the 6th pass, I kept herring on one rod and switched to a chartreuse Toman spinner with the same squid body and a bright yellow/green blade. About two-thirds of the way through the trolling pattern, I was tight to the bottom with both presentations in about 15 feet of water when I saw a perfect fish arch on the finder that was right on the bottom. I said to myself, “Will he hit that green spinner?”, and 5 seconds later when my gear drifted over him it was “Bam!” fish on.
I let the fish munch on the spinner while I quickly reeled up the herring on the other rod. Then I gunned the motor and turned toward the middle of the river to keep the fish away from the pilings and to drive the hook in a little deeper. When I pulled the rod out of the holder, the fish made a few hard tugs, then went noodle on me. I had to reel down on it to keep a tight line, but the fish swam toward me and I thought I was going to lose it. For some reason, this fish didn't put up much of a fight. It wouldn't dive to the bottom, and it wouldn't peel off line from the reel. Nor did it make a run and leap out of the water. I didn't like having to reel so much to keep a tight line on it, because now the fish was within 15 feet of the kayak and it was still hot. I had to keep the motor in gear to try and pull away from the fish a little, but it wasn't helping much. The fish never would turn away and run, it just kept following me! That's when I figured out this fish's tactic was simply to shake its head like a maniac and try to throw the hook. It shook its head at the surface, dove a little, shook its head underwater, then returned to the surface and shook its head again.
Normally I don't let a fish come near the kayak for a least 5 minutes to make sure it has cooled down a bit, but here this fish was at the side of the yak in less than 2 minutes, shaking its head so hard I just knew it was going to throw the lure any second. So I decided to go for the net right away. No sense in letting a fish that won't run away or peel off line sit there right beside the boat and thrash.
Netting it was a little tricky, I had to put the motor in and out of gear a couple of times to get him in the right position, and ultimately left the motor out of gear to get the fish to swim into the net head first.
Relieved to bag the fish, I found it pretty cool that I got to see it on the fish finder just seconds before it hit the spinner. That doesn't happen very often, to be so ready for a fish like that.
It also seems amazing that just a simple color change (from pink to green) can make such a big difference so fast. The whole two-rod rule really makes it a lot easier to figure out what the salmon want while still being able to troll the super productive herring rig.
I'm guessing with the numbers of fish over the Falls now that this lower river bite will only be good for a couple more weeks. This year I plan to fish for springers above the Falls after the count rises above 5,000. Not sure where I'll do it, but it will be close to Portland, and I'll definitely be trolling spinners.
A lot of people have been telling me they have had a hard time with springers this year, so I'm feeling very fortunate that my 12 hours of trolling has produced two hatchery fish. Hopefully the bite will pick up soon and everyone will start nailing them.
Good luck!
