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I hit the Columbia out of Stevenson on the 31st and was a bit dismayed to find out there was a 20 boat bass tournament launching from across the river. Made for a tough day of fishing behind people and not getting to fish spots that I wanted to. I am generally pretty spoiled about having large sections of the river to myself 
The day started out very slowly for me. The first point I fish is always good for a few fish up shallow but I beat it to a froth without getting a bite. Eventually I gave up on the moving bait bite on that spot and picked up a Ned rig. I missed a fish and then got a second small one up to the kayak where the hook pulled out as I lifted it.
Those were the only two bites I had off that spot. I decided to head upriver since i could see a bunch of boats downstream. The next spot I hit is also one that pretty much always produces but once again I did not catch a thing. I had a couple of bites on a jig and creature bait but I was starting to pick up a strong stench of the black and white variety.
So, for the first two hours I had nothing to show for it. I was starting to feel a tad desperate as I raced to the third spot. I cast out a Ned rig and felt a tic and then some weight. I was so relieved when I set the hook into a decent bass. It was no giant but after getting skunked for two hours a 2 and 3/4lb bass seems like a giant!
I ended up catching 5 bass off that spot including a couple more decent ones over 2lbs. I would have stayed longer but the wind was really starting to kick up and I did not want to be fighting that late in the day when I was tired.
I started fishing my way back downstream with a spinnerbait when I picked up a nice bass. When I went to unhook it I saw my trailer in its throat. I looked at my spinnerbait and the trailer was still there. I realized that guy and someone else's lure caught in his throat. I got out my forceps and was able to get a 3" swimbait out of that guy's throat and send him on his way.
When I made my way back to the second spot that I struck out at earlier I decided to fish it with the S-waver. I was tossing it around and using a stop and go retrieve when it got clobbered! After a nice battle I was able to slip my net under a 20.25" 3lb 13oz bass!
That made me feel a lot better! I fished around that area for a bit but could not generate another bite.
I kept fishing my way downstream and eventually, I made it back to the first spot I had struck out at. On my second cast another good bass slurped down my S-waver. This guy turned out to be 19" and 3lb 2oz. I was stoked but once again I could not generate a second bite.
I kept working my way downstream with the S-waver when once again it got destroyed by a good bass. This turned out to be a 19.25" 3lb 7oz bass. I was not catching them fast but I was really stoked with the quality of the bass I was catching!
A while later I picked up another nice bass on a spinnerbait along some windswept riprap. I was feeling pretty good but then disaster happened. I made a cast that put me in an awkward position on the retrieve and when a bass bit it jerked my wrist in a bad way. It is a wrist I broke many years ago and still gives me trouble. I missed that fish and my wrist started to really hurt.
I think I missed about a half dozen fish after that. I just could not get a good hookset. I pulled up on shore and took some tylenol and soaked my wrist in the water for a while. I turned off my camera when I did this and forgot to turn it back on until a few hours later. During that time I picked up a handful of pound and a half bass but I did not miss anything too exciting. I only looked back at my camera when a large wave through a bunch of spray over me and I wanted to see if I needed to wipe it off
By then it was getting late in the day so I fished one last spot on the way to the ramp. I lost a good fish on the spinnerbait and then landed a small one to end the day.
So not on fire by any means. I only caught 15 bass but I had decent quality. My best 5 went 15lb 7oz and 91.25" I felt really good about that since I talked to two of the tourney boats during the day and they both said I was doing better than they were! So it was a tough day, there were a lot of casts between fish, but I was able to grind out a nice limit!
Here are some pics and the day's video:
The day started out very slowly for me. The first point I fish is always good for a few fish up shallow but I beat it to a froth without getting a bite. Eventually I gave up on the moving bait bite on that spot and picked up a Ned rig. I missed a fish and then got a second small one up to the kayak where the hook pulled out as I lifted it.
Those were the only two bites I had off that spot. I decided to head upriver since i could see a bunch of boats downstream. The next spot I hit is also one that pretty much always produces but once again I did not catch a thing. I had a couple of bites on a jig and creature bait but I was starting to pick up a strong stench of the black and white variety.
So, for the first two hours I had nothing to show for it. I was starting to feel a tad desperate as I raced to the third spot. I cast out a Ned rig and felt a tic and then some weight. I was so relieved when I set the hook into a decent bass. It was no giant but after getting skunked for two hours a 2 and 3/4lb bass seems like a giant!
I ended up catching 5 bass off that spot including a couple more decent ones over 2lbs. I would have stayed longer but the wind was really starting to kick up and I did not want to be fighting that late in the day when I was tired.
I started fishing my way back downstream with a spinnerbait when I picked up a nice bass. When I went to unhook it I saw my trailer in its throat. I looked at my spinnerbait and the trailer was still there. I realized that guy and someone else's lure caught in his throat. I got out my forceps and was able to get a 3" swimbait out of that guy's throat and send him on his way.
When I made my way back to the second spot that I struck out at earlier I decided to fish it with the S-waver. I was tossing it around and using a stop and go retrieve when it got clobbered! After a nice battle I was able to slip my net under a 20.25" 3lb 13oz bass!
That made me feel a lot better! I fished around that area for a bit but could not generate another bite.
I kept fishing my way downstream and eventually, I made it back to the first spot I had struck out at. On my second cast another good bass slurped down my S-waver. This guy turned out to be 19" and 3lb 2oz. I was stoked but once again I could not generate a second bite.
I kept working my way downstream with the S-waver when once again it got destroyed by a good bass. This turned out to be a 19.25" 3lb 7oz bass. I was not catching them fast but I was really stoked with the quality of the bass I was catching!
A while later I picked up another nice bass on a spinnerbait along some windswept riprap. I was feeling pretty good but then disaster happened. I made a cast that put me in an awkward position on the retrieve and when a bass bit it jerked my wrist in a bad way. It is a wrist I broke many years ago and still gives me trouble. I missed that fish and my wrist started to really hurt.
I think I missed about a half dozen fish after that. I just could not get a good hookset. I pulled up on shore and took some tylenol and soaked my wrist in the water for a while. I turned off my camera when I did this and forgot to turn it back on until a few hours later. During that time I picked up a handful of pound and a half bass but I did not miss anything too exciting. I only looked back at my camera when a large wave through a bunch of spray over me and I wanted to see if I needed to wipe it off
By then it was getting late in the day so I fished one last spot on the way to the ramp. I lost a good fish on the spinnerbait and then landed a small one to end the day.
So not on fire by any means. I only caught 15 bass but I had decent quality. My best 5 went 15lb 7oz and 91.25" I felt really good about that since I talked to two of the tourney boats during the day and they both said I was doing better than they were! So it was a tough day, there were a lot of casts between fish, but I was able to grind out a nice limit!
Here are some pics and the day's video: