Where/What to fish Columbia near PDX

[joemah]

Hi folks,

I am flying to oregon from Houston to visit some family and they want to take me out on the Columbia River. They have tried fishing it many times to no avail. I would like to get something/anything while we are out there next weekend. Can anyone gove me any hints on where to head from near PDX and what to try for bait or lures? Thanks in advance.

Joe

 

[plunkme]

the columbia is having a great run of chinook salmon right now itll depend if you got a boat or fishing from the bank. you could also pay a guide to take you out a bit spendy but they do a good job getting you to fish

 

[joemah]

Thanks for the reply plunkme. They do have a boat and we will be going out on it. The guide services are way to pricey. Is there any specific bait or lures to use when trying to catch the chinook salmon? Is there any certain area we should try?

 

[FishFinger]

Hey Joe, Most recently the action has been epic west of Portland near the town of Ranier and Longview on the Washington side. It's about a 30 mile drive west so it may not qualify as a "PDX' area but as mentioned it has been a productive spot of late.

The goto rigs for trolling have been spinners run at depths between 20' to 40'.
While on anchor some sure bets have been Alvins / Brads wobblers in nickel and Goldies with a chartreuse tip. As well K-15 with a herring or anchovies wraps have been effective in the 40' range.

As far as the immediate PDX area; an option might be to work the waters between the I-5 bridge and the I-205 bridge, including the mouth of the Sandy river.

 

[rainman]

Hey Joe, Most recently the action has been epic west of Portland near the town of Ranier and Longview on the Washington side. It's about a 30 mile drive west so it may not qualify as a "PDX' area but as mentioned it has been a productive spot of late.

The goto rigs for trolling have been spinners run at depths between 20' to 40'.
While on anchor some sure bets have been Alvins / Brads wobblers in nickel and Goldies with a chartreuse tip. As well K-15 with a herring or anchovies wraps have been effective in the 40' range.

As far as the immediate PDX area; an option might be to work the waters between the I-5 bridge and the I-205 bridge, including the mouth of the Sandy river.

Chinook Landing Marine Park is a great place to launch. Tons of parking, and it costs $5 to park for the day. Also there's a launch underneath the St. Johns Bridge.

 

[joemah]

Thanks FishFinger and rainman. They keep their boat on the water so no need for launch sites. That is why I specified the PDX area, they keep it in the water there so we would have to boat ride anywhere else. I have been reading up on this site on recent catches of chinook since plunkme mentioned them and see a lot of people talking about "plunking" Had to read up on that also as I have never heard of the term before fishing out here in the Galveston Bay. Fishfinger, I also read up on your suggestion for "As well K-15 with a herring or anchovies wraps have been effective in the 40' range." before you had mentioned it and read to make sure it is legal in the waters that you are fishing. If you are suggesting it on the Columbia River, I am going to assume that it is legal. We will be anchored somewhere when we start fishing so I will look up the "Alvins / Brads wobblers in nickel and Goldies with a chartreuse tip" and see how to fish them . Thanks for your suggestions. I believe they only have 6 - 7 ft poles and some of the reading I have done says to use atleast 8 foot poles with 20 to 30 lb test. Any suggestions on the tackle also since I will already be out purchasing other fishing gear?

 

[joemah]

Also, is it legal to fish for more than one fish at a time with Oregon fishing license? Can I throw a line out for Salmon and keep it in a pole holder while I cast another and try to fish with top water?

 

[Fishtopher]

That my far away friend is NOT OK. The rollers will getcha for that one!

One rod per person! However, it would be possible to fish high in the column, and low near bottom, on the same rod. Takes a lot of patience, getting the setup rigged for it, anda then sometimes your gear gets fowled, and it takes more patience untangleing your gear. But when done right, its effective!

 

[joemah]

Any suggestions on the tackle? Anything else out there on the Columbia to catch? Or is everyone in agreeance with Plunkme?

 

[jtazzi]

last time i fished on the columbia for salmon was 2 years ago and landed a 45lb chinook on a large red and yellow spin n glow and orange yarn plunked on the bottom in about 10ft of water(bank fishing)..give that a try...or just throw a nightcrawler on the ground and youll catch all kinds of crap

 

[joemah]

He He. Thats what the family is trying... Night Crawlers. I have read that the spin and glows are the way to go. Whats with the yarn? I have also read a few fishermen saying the put thread by the hook. Do the Salmon go for thread? 45lb is a huge fish!!! I am getting excited. I hope next week will be as good as some of the reports I have read for this week. Looking on that Bonneville Dam fish camera can get anyone excited.

 

[jtazzi]

it just adds a bit more color...also if you use any kind of the scent oil it holds it in pretty well and dont wash out as easy as if u just put it on the lure itself..but pretty much just for abit more color

 

[plunkme]

on a boat i fish near 205 bridge and throw down alvin wobblers those work pretty well, your setup would be 5' leader to a 3 way swivel, or sliding swivel, then a lead line of 5' to about 6oz cannon ball main line bout 25lb

 

[rainman]

As far as the yarn goes, through the years I've also heard that perhaps your lure won't get spit out quite so easily if the yarn hangs up in the teeth.
6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

 

[joemah]

Well guys,

I tried all day yesterday, most of the day at 205 bridge. Didn't get a darn thing. We had 3 guys in the boat, ! fishing the Alvin Wobbler setup. Another guy fishing the kwikfish setup and another fishing with the spin n glows. Saw quite a few other boats also and didn't see anyone land anything. Is there another area I could try since I will try 1 more time on Sunday?

 

[TyHarp]

Fishing

Fishing

yeah all those are good posts. the Herring sounds the best. i always use herring. About 30' to 35' down with the one hook through the mouth out the bottom and running one out through the end. also i put a pic up for some lures you could use. i like to take the orange and red instead of green and slap a small herring slice to the bottom of that lure. between the hooks to the body. that seems to work great.

 

[TyHarp]

columbia

columbia

i fish the fork by Kelley point park. its not to bad.