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I took a day off work to fish the Columbia on Friday the 7th. I had not been on the Columbia since early April since I had not been feeling well enough to make that trip so I was really excited to have a big day. I got to the water pretty early and it was as gorgeous as it could be. The sky was a beautiful pink as the sun was just about to rise and the water was flat as glass. Unfortunately, that was a beautiful start to a frustrating day on the water.
It was not an awful day but too many things just went wrong. First, I forgot my lunch and given my health I don't have a lot reserves so I only ended up fishing the morning. Second, my video camera stopped recording video after a couple of hours and only recorded audio with a single frozen video frame for the rest of the day.
In terms of fishing it was frustrating as well. Too many lost fish and no big ones (best was only a 2lb 4oz). It was not awful, I did catch 14 bass but only 3 were over 2lbs (biggest was 2lb 4oz). This time of year if I don't get a 20"+ (4lb+) fish I feel like I have failed. Another frustrating point on the day was all the junk in the water. There was just little bits of weed, algae and scum floating around everywhere. I was constantly cleaning off my lures. I think the junk is because the river has been fluctuating a bit and the current was running pretty good.
Water temp was around 59 in the main river but in the low 60s in shallow spots out of the current. Clarity was pretty good (a couple of feet) in most places. The lure of the day was the Jack Hammer Stealthblade. I caught 12 of the 14 bass on that lure. I did not get a bite on any soft plastics but I did not throw them very much. The fish I was catching all looked to be post-spawn (long and skinny). I did not see any bass chasing bait but I did make a bunch of casts to what turned out to be some spawning carp. In a foot of water they sure do look like bass chasing bait from a distance
Anyway, enough complaining. Here is a pic of my first fish over 2lbs (only one before video froze). You can see how gorgeous the water was.
Here is a video of the first few hours.
It was not an awful day but too many things just went wrong. First, I forgot my lunch and given my health I don't have a lot reserves so I only ended up fishing the morning. Second, my video camera stopped recording video after a couple of hours and only recorded audio with a single frozen video frame for the rest of the day.
In terms of fishing it was frustrating as well. Too many lost fish and no big ones (best was only a 2lb 4oz). It was not awful, I did catch 14 bass but only 3 were over 2lbs (biggest was 2lb 4oz). This time of year if I don't get a 20"+ (4lb+) fish I feel like I have failed. Another frustrating point on the day was all the junk in the water. There was just little bits of weed, algae and scum floating around everywhere. I was constantly cleaning off my lures. I think the junk is because the river has been fluctuating a bit and the current was running pretty good.
Water temp was around 59 in the main river but in the low 60s in shallow spots out of the current. Clarity was pretty good (a couple of feet) in most places. The lure of the day was the Jack Hammer Stealthblade. I caught 12 of the 14 bass on that lure. I did not get a bite on any soft plastics but I did not throw them very much. The fish I was catching all looked to be post-spawn (long and skinny). I did not see any bass chasing bait but I did make a bunch of casts to what turned out to be some spawning carp. In a foot of water they sure do look like bass chasing bait from a distance
Anyway, enough complaining. Here is a pic of my first fish over 2lbs (only one before video froze). You can see how gorgeous the water was.
Here is a video of the first few hours.