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I hit the Columbia out of Stevenson again on Saturday. The forecast was for light west wind but the forecast was definitely wrong. The day started with a light east wind and that built up to be pretty stiff upstream from the ramp. When I eventually turned around to head back I could see that the water was much flatter downstream by the ramp. Maybe there was an east vs west battle going on 
Anyway, I was excited to get out there and start smashing them but once again it took a minute to get on them. The first protected area I fished did not produce a bite but after a short while of searching I found my first group on a little point. I picked up three nice bass from that spot, all on the old white spinnerbait (I think it is a War Eagle) with gold willowleaf blades. That was definitely the lure of the day for me!
I spent most of the day just moving along and beating the bank. I would find a group here and a group there with some lulls in between. Each time I started thinking about changing presentations I would get smashed. Those bass were hitting that spinnerbait with violence.
The only time I abandoned my chuck and wind approach was when I decided to fish a deeper point. I wanted to understand if some bass were still out deep or if they were all up shallow. The point topped off at 13' and quickly fell to 26-29'. That spot was loaded up pretty good with fish and I caught 5 or 6 bass of that spot and a ginormous pikieminnow that weighed 4lb 8oz. I think that ties my PB for a pikieminnow. When that thing hit out in that deep current I thought I had hooked a salmon for a few seconds because my drag was screaming.
After proving to myself that there were deep bass still available I went back to beating the bank. I am come on, am I going to fish a Spinnerbait that is getting absolutely hammered or a Ned rig. That's an easy call for me!
The bite was good and steady all day long and by the end I had totaled 57 bass. Now I admit that there were a ton of dinks in there but there were also plenty of 2+lb bass as well. My best 5 went 16lb 7oz and about 90" which is a decent bag. My longest fish was a spawned out 19.25" that weighed only 3lb 8oz. My heaviest was a tie with two bass weighing 3lb 11oz (one 18" one 18.25").
The only bummer for the day was losing a fish that was probably a high 3 or maybe 4lbs right at the kayak. The wind was pushing me one way and the fish was going the other. I tried to horse that fish into net range but instead just managed to pull the hook
Even with that loss it was an awesome day out there and the fish are definitely at all stages: pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. Most of the bass still seem to be pre-spawn based upon the condition of their tails. Water temp was 58-59F and visibility was a couple of feet.
By the end of the day I was missing a lot of fish, which confused me. When I got home I think I understood why. My spinnerbait was pretty badly damaged. The wire connecting to the jig head was completely loose and the jig head could just flop around. I retired that bait with honors
Anyway, here are some pics of some of my better fish and prettier fish. The last one is the 3lb 8oz post-spawner. You can see how beat up the tail is.
My prettiest bass!
Post-spawner with the beat up tail:
And, of course, a video from the day:
Anyway, I was excited to get out there and start smashing them but once again it took a minute to get on them. The first protected area I fished did not produce a bite but after a short while of searching I found my first group on a little point. I picked up three nice bass from that spot, all on the old white spinnerbait (I think it is a War Eagle) with gold willowleaf blades. That was definitely the lure of the day for me!
I spent most of the day just moving along and beating the bank. I would find a group here and a group there with some lulls in between. Each time I started thinking about changing presentations I would get smashed. Those bass were hitting that spinnerbait with violence.
The only time I abandoned my chuck and wind approach was when I decided to fish a deeper point. I wanted to understand if some bass were still out deep or if they were all up shallow. The point topped off at 13' and quickly fell to 26-29'. That spot was loaded up pretty good with fish and I caught 5 or 6 bass of that spot and a ginormous pikieminnow that weighed 4lb 8oz. I think that ties my PB for a pikieminnow. When that thing hit out in that deep current I thought I had hooked a salmon for a few seconds because my drag was screaming.
After proving to myself that there were deep bass still available I went back to beating the bank. I am come on, am I going to fish a Spinnerbait that is getting absolutely hammered or a Ned rig. That's an easy call for me!
The bite was good and steady all day long and by the end I had totaled 57 bass. Now I admit that there were a ton of dinks in there but there were also plenty of 2+lb bass as well. My best 5 went 16lb 7oz and about 90" which is a decent bag. My longest fish was a spawned out 19.25" that weighed only 3lb 8oz. My heaviest was a tie with two bass weighing 3lb 11oz (one 18" one 18.25").
The only bummer for the day was losing a fish that was probably a high 3 or maybe 4lbs right at the kayak. The wind was pushing me one way and the fish was going the other. I tried to horse that fish into net range but instead just managed to pull the hook
Even with that loss it was an awesome day out there and the fish are definitely at all stages: pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. Most of the bass still seem to be pre-spawn based upon the condition of their tails. Water temp was 58-59F and visibility was a couple of feet.
By the end of the day I was missing a lot of fish, which confused me. When I got home I think I understood why. My spinnerbait was pretty badly damaged. The wire connecting to the jig head was completely loose and the jig head could just flop around. I retired that bait with honors
Anyway, here are some pics of some of my better fish and prettier fish. The last one is the 3lb 8oz post-spawner. You can see how beat up the tail is.
My prettiest bass!
Post-spawner with the beat up tail:
And, of course, a video from the day:
