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I hit the Columbia on Valentine's day (with my wife's blessings!). I got to the river before sunrise and I was on the water ready to fish by about 7:45am. Conditions were perfect. Glassy calm and there was about 7 feet of visibility. The river had also warmed a degree since my trip two weeks ago. I has ready to have a banner day!!
I started at a spot that has produced every winter trip I have take on the Columbia. I fished that spot hard for a bit over 2 hours without a sniff. Not good! I decided I would fish my way downstream and see if I could run into some biters in that section of the river. I stopped and fished another couple of spots with no luck.
There was one other boat on the river and I stopped by to see if those fellows had figured them out. They replied that they also had not had sniff but said they had caught 3 bass the week before and a buddy of theirs had caught 2 so far up at the Dalles. Not the glowing report I was hoping for. I continued on past them and fished spot after spot. Varying my presentations, colors, depths.
To say I was getting desperate is putting it mildly. You ever get that feeling that there is just not a single bass in the river? I kept thinking thoughts like "I should have gone to Hagg", "I should have gone to Merwin to troll for Kokanee", etc. I was in the depths of despair.
It was getting on to late in the afternoon when I decided to head back to the ramp. I stopped and fished each spot briefly again but did not have, nor if I am being honest did I expect to have, any luck.
I was finally back to the spot I started the day on. I thought I will fish this quickly and then pack it in. The wind had picked up a little and it was just enough to make me cold on top of already feeling kind of miserable. On my second drift I hung up my pink Ned rig (yes I was that desperate) for the umpteenth time and this time I had to break off (as I had numerous times throughout the day). I can tell you that the only folks having a good day were the tackle vendors. I was single-handedly making a valiant effort to see that they would hit their sales quotas this quarter.
I sat there looking at my limp line trying to decide whether to ride home with the dreaded skunk or to re-tie one more time. I figured well if I retie now at least I will be ready for the next trip. I tied on another Ned head and looked at my TRD colors. I decided to pick Shiner (having already tried Copprtreuse, Hot Snakes, Green Pumpkin and even Pink). Then I figured as long as I had it tied on I might as well try another cast/drift or two.
I pedaled back upstream and patiently dropped my Ned rig down into the 33' water. When I could tell it had hit the bottom I clicked over my bail and lifted the rod up and was met with some resistance. This resistance pulled back when I lifted a tiny bit - I set the hook and my rod took on a bend and came to life in my hands. I went from feeling about as bad as I possibly could to elation that I can't even described. When I slipped the net under that fish I yelled and whooped!!! 7 hours of frustration and desperation were replaced with unmitigated joy! Now this was no monster, only a 1lb 14oz bass but it was HUGE for me!.
I think you can see my happiness. Now by the time I had weighed and measured that bass I had drifted pretty far downstream. Well, jumped on those pedals and raced back upstream. On the next drift I hung up but was able to pedal upstream and free my lure. On the drift after that I felt a solid 'tick" and set the hook into a nice fish.
That fish put up a pretty good fight in the cold water but eventually I was able to land a beautiful 18.25", 3lb 11oz smallmouth. This day was getting good!
For the rest of the day the action was pretty fast and furious. If I did not hang up I at least hooked a bass on every drift. The only thing dampening my spirits was the approaching darkness. My next 2 bass were a 2lb 4oz and a 1lb 13 oz which are respectable fish. The 2lb 4oz was incredible marked:
My 5th bass turned out to be my best. When I set the hook I knew I had something that had some shoulders to it!! That fish had some weight to it and and I carefully worked that big girl up and into my waiting net. That was nice, fat 18.75" 4lb pound beauty!!
On the very next cast/drift I landed another awesome fish. A 17.5" 3lb 1oz bass. After all those hours of nothing I now had a 4lb and 3lb 1oz on back to back casts. Just crazy!
The darkness was setting in and I said just one more drift and I will call it a day. I started drifting downstream feeling my Ned ticking along the bottom when I hung up again. I quickly freed the Ned and said "That's no way to end the day" so I went for one more last drift.
This time I felt another thunk and landed another 3lb 1oz beauty.
I decided that was a great way to end what turned out to be an awesome day on the water.
I still am not sure what happened in those last 2 hours. Was it the color change? Did the bass suddenly move into the area? Were they there all along but suddenly decide to feed? All I know is that a sure skunking turned into a Valentine's day massacre!!
I ended the day with 7 bass and losing 3 others. My best 5 went 87.25" and 16lb 2oz which is an awesome bag this time of the year. Here is some video from the day:
I started at a spot that has produced every winter trip I have take on the Columbia. I fished that spot hard for a bit over 2 hours without a sniff. Not good! I decided I would fish my way downstream and see if I could run into some biters in that section of the river. I stopped and fished another couple of spots with no luck.
There was one other boat on the river and I stopped by to see if those fellows had figured them out. They replied that they also had not had sniff but said they had caught 3 bass the week before and a buddy of theirs had caught 2 so far up at the Dalles. Not the glowing report I was hoping for. I continued on past them and fished spot after spot. Varying my presentations, colors, depths.
To say I was getting desperate is putting it mildly. You ever get that feeling that there is just not a single bass in the river? I kept thinking thoughts like "I should have gone to Hagg", "I should have gone to Merwin to troll for Kokanee", etc. I was in the depths of despair.
It was getting on to late in the afternoon when I decided to head back to the ramp. I stopped and fished each spot briefly again but did not have, nor if I am being honest did I expect to have, any luck.
I was finally back to the spot I started the day on. I thought I will fish this quickly and then pack it in. The wind had picked up a little and it was just enough to make me cold on top of already feeling kind of miserable. On my second drift I hung up my pink Ned rig (yes I was that desperate) for the umpteenth time and this time I had to break off (as I had numerous times throughout the day). I can tell you that the only folks having a good day were the tackle vendors. I was single-handedly making a valiant effort to see that they would hit their sales quotas this quarter.
I sat there looking at my limp line trying to decide whether to ride home with the dreaded skunk or to re-tie one more time. I figured well if I retie now at least I will be ready for the next trip. I tied on another Ned head and looked at my TRD colors. I decided to pick Shiner (having already tried Copprtreuse, Hot Snakes, Green Pumpkin and even Pink). Then I figured as long as I had it tied on I might as well try another cast/drift or two.
I pedaled back upstream and patiently dropped my Ned rig down into the 33' water. When I could tell it had hit the bottom I clicked over my bail and lifted the rod up and was met with some resistance. This resistance pulled back when I lifted a tiny bit - I set the hook and my rod took on a bend and came to life in my hands. I went from feeling about as bad as I possibly could to elation that I can't even described. When I slipped the net under that fish I yelled and whooped!!! 7 hours of frustration and desperation were replaced with unmitigated joy! Now this was no monster, only a 1lb 14oz bass but it was HUGE for me!.
I think you can see my happiness. Now by the time I had weighed and measured that bass I had drifted pretty far downstream. Well, jumped on those pedals and raced back upstream. On the next drift I hung up but was able to pedal upstream and free my lure. On the drift after that I felt a solid 'tick" and set the hook into a nice fish.
That fish put up a pretty good fight in the cold water but eventually I was able to land a beautiful 18.25", 3lb 11oz smallmouth. This day was getting good!
For the rest of the day the action was pretty fast and furious. If I did not hang up I at least hooked a bass on every drift. The only thing dampening my spirits was the approaching darkness. My next 2 bass were a 2lb 4oz and a 1lb 13 oz which are respectable fish. The 2lb 4oz was incredible marked:
My 5th bass turned out to be my best. When I set the hook I knew I had something that had some shoulders to it!! That fish had some weight to it and and I carefully worked that big girl up and into my waiting net. That was nice, fat 18.75" 4lb pound beauty!!
On the very next cast/drift I landed another awesome fish. A 17.5" 3lb 1oz bass. After all those hours of nothing I now had a 4lb and 3lb 1oz on back to back casts. Just crazy!
The darkness was setting in and I said just one more drift and I will call it a day. I started drifting downstream feeling my Ned ticking along the bottom when I hung up again. I quickly freed the Ned and said "That's no way to end the day" so I went for one more last drift.
This time I felt another thunk and landed another 3lb 1oz beauty.
I decided that was a great way to end what turned out to be an awesome day on the water.
I still am not sure what happened in those last 2 hours. Was it the color change? Did the bass suddenly move into the area? Were they there all along but suddenly decide to feed? All I know is that a sure skunking turned into a Valentine's day massacre!!
I ended the day with 7 bass and losing 3 others. My best 5 went 87.25" and 16lb 2oz which is an awesome bag this time of the year. Here is some video from the day:
