Columbia River: The Columbia offers both beach and boat angling as it passes through Clark County. Species available include sturgeon, shad, winter and summer steelhead, sea-run cutthroat trout, plus salmon during open seasons. Wild cutthroat and steelhead must be released. Effective April 1 from Bonneville Dam downstream to the mouth, the daily limit is one sturgeon. Anglers can continue to catch-and-release sturgeon after they have legally recorded their daily bag limit. For more information, check with the WDFW office in Battle Ground or Vancouver. Fishing for shad peaks in June, with most of the effort in this area concentrated at the top end of Lady Island, near the mouth of Camas Slough and off the public dock in Washougal. Yellow perch, various catfish species, largemouth and smallmouth bass, and crappie are caught in the main river and connecting sloughs, with some walleye taken too.
Feb. 27, 2001
Thanks to: Dennis Frazier
First trip out for spring choonook, what a nice day...sunshine, no wind and not much company. Started fishing about 7:30 with a red lable cut plug herring along the end of sauvies island. Just getting comfortable in my 17ft coleman scanoe, trolling downstream ... WHAM! fifteen minutes later the first spring choonook(for me) was in the boat. Trying to be 30# but a little short. 12 boats fishing aprox. 20 lines=4 salmon. Not bad for 02-27-01. The day before 5 fish reported caught. The nets are in but it looks like a good start when they come out. Say hi to the knucklehead in the green canoe with the dog in front.
Priest Rapids - June 24, 2000
Thanks to: Ray Fujiura
Saturday, a friend and I went sturgeon fishing from the bank on the Columbia below Priest Rapids. We fished for several hours without getting a nibble. The next Sunday we decided late in the afternoon to try the same below John Day. We fished from 5:00 pm to about 7:00pm. River is low and the gates are open. I hooked into a large sturgeon but broke him off shortly after.
Great weather and a great time. At about 7:00, all the gates were open and the water level began dropping so we packed-up and left.
May 13, 2000
Thanks to: Rick M
We went out Sturgeon fishing with Butch at Coho charters. It was his first charter trip of the year. Right off the bat a woman on the boat hooked and landed a 42-1/2 incher! I hooked a 44 a short time later. Pretty slow all in all with 4 fish caught all day. One guy hooks this monster just before we left. 1/2 hour later it was gone. I highly recommend Butch and the folks at coho, had a great time!
May 6, 1998
Thanks to: Jon Peterson
We didn't get anything! We almost got arrested by the police though. I think it was because we were drunk at the time, but, other than that, I'd say that it was a great time my brother Hank and I had.
Patterson Pt. - Mar. 4, 2000
Thanks to: Jason Story
Walleyes. We began fishing 6:00am near Patterson Point down to Boardman. Water temperature 38-39 degree F., water not too turbid. Water level down and slow, no spill at McNary. Hooked and released three 8-12 lb. 'eyes, that fought hard. My partner hooked his first Columbia R. 'eye, aprox 30". One hour later he hooked and landed a 32" fish. We were drifting bright colored 3/8-1/2 ounce jigs with stingers and large worms. On sunday we hooked one 'eye, lost it at the boat near Glade Creek. On Saturday up to 10 boats in one pack, drift area. Most fish were caught in 25-32 feet,
slough temepratures were 39-41 degree F.
Rainier - Feb. 12, 2000
Thanks to: Steelhead Steve Smith
Fished out of Rainer with 3 Clients. None of which had ever caught a sturgeon. Used 3-year old smelt (vac packed) and had 3 hits. 3 fish on, 3 keepers. Back at the dock at 11:00 AM. I'd still be a young man if it always went like this :) BTW All fish were caught on the washington side in 50-63'.
McNary Dam - Jan. 28, 2000
Thanks to: Ray Fujiura
Went fishing below McNary Dam for sturgean. Man was it cold out there!! Myself and two others launched and fished for about 3-1/2 hours with no luck. Saw acouple of other boats there but it didn't look like they had much luck either. Interested in reading "fish reports" from other Eastern Washington fishers for future trips.
Kelso - Jan. 22-23, 2000
Thanks to: wes sage
Took my girlfriend to Kelso for some cold weather sturgeon fishing, and what do you know, we did extremely well. We fished at slack tide and hit 33 fish in 4 hrs!!!!! It was a rush for her because I used light Loomis rods and 15-lb. test! We got 4 keepers in the 2 day trip and I boated a 12 footer on that light gear. They're out there in numbers so don't wait! Go get em now! Shrimp and squid is the best bait, and a 2/0 hook works wonders.
McNary Dam - Oct. 15, 1999
Thanks to: David Reeve
Steelhead are finally showing up at McNary Dam on the Columbia River. The temp. has started to drop , Friday the 15th the water temp was a mild 58 degrees. I arrived at McNary Dam (Washington side) at about 6:00 am. At about 9:00a I had a hit on a black wiggle wart. Kept seeing fish caught, but wasn't having any luck till I over heard a guy tell another one that red was hot. I tied the red wiggle wort on and by 10:15 I had the biggest steelhead that I have ever seen in the boat. Only bad thing was it was WILD, so I returned it to the river. Used the red wort until about 2:00pm and no more hits so I ended the day. I did however see 5 fish leave. Planning on returning again Saturday morning. If you're going, might want to dress warm!
McNary Dam - Nov. 13, 1999
Thanks to: David Reeve
Up at the crack of dawn and on the Columbia river (McNary) Dam. We had our first steelhead by 9:30 as luck would have it, it was wild so it was released. At about 11:00 we had the second one and a little bigger fish to, but it was also wild, so it was released. We did catch another one and it weighed in at 17 lbs but it was also wild and so it was turned loose. We are now into catch & release program! The water is about 52 degrees and we were trolling a pink wiggle wart. I might add the weather was picture perfect at 72 degrees, very little wind. It's great to see that many WILD steelhead back in the river, but it would be nice to get to keep one, so I can get out of the catch and release program. Will be returning Sunday to try our luck again.
Hanford Reach - Oct. 1-5, 1999
Thanks to: Gene DeLap
There were lots of boats between Hanford and Priest Rapids Dam, about a thousand on Saturday and Sunday. Fishing was slow with a lot of Jacks in the river. The Damn Dam raised the water Sunday night about 12 ft., unreal. Water was fast with heavy duty flows, saw only a few jacks taken on Monday. With the water so high we came home to Everett. Did manage to take a couple of what I call Glo-in-the dark Kings. The fishing was great! Slow on the catching.
Hanford Reach - Sept. 19, 1999
Thanks to: Don McBride
We had a great trip on the Columbia River above Richland on Sunday. Four of us ran up the river from Richland and stopped near Ringold just after sunup. We managed to hit four nice chinook on the first four passes backtrolling plugs before the bite quit at 9:30. The fish were chrome bright, not huge but all respectable (12-20 lbs). Things looked a lot slower for most other boats; most were trolling eggs and divers because the word is that's been the hot ticket. Fishing should get better and better for the next few weeks. The 4th Annual KC/Tri-Cities Prep Salmon Derby is coming up October 2-3, 1999. Cost is $25 and the tagged fish grand prize is a 19' NW Jet boat, motor, and trailer. Cash and merchandise prizes for biggest fish, etc. Check out http://www.rc.net/knights/kc3307/derby.htm for details.
July 12, 1999
Thanks to: Bill Anderson
The Steelhead have arrived. On one of the beaches that morn there were approximatly 20+ steelhead beached with about 70% being wild fish. Most were running in the 4-7 lb. range. Somewhat small this week, I guess. Also one 20-lb. Chinook released.
Patterson Slough - June 12, 1999
Thanks to: David Reeve
Arrived at Irrigon launch late about 9:30a due to a one and a half hour road delay. Thinking I had missed the best part of the morning, thought about just going home. Then thought about that delay going back so I went anyway. I arrived at the Patterson Slough at 10:00a and had my first 1 3/4 lb. small mouth bass by 10:15a. I had a total of 9 by 1:30p all of which I turned loose. The weather was great, water temp ranged anywhere between 62 to 68 degrees The milfoil however is getting bad, but still fishable. Plan on returning Sunday.
Bonneville Dam - June 5, 1999
Thanks to: Kent O'Sell
My friend Don was down from BC for the weekend, so we made the long haul down to the Columbia to try the shad fishing for the first time. What a zoo!...The hot action was about a 150ft section on Cascade Island right below Bonneville Dam from the yellow drag line downstream. After about 3 hrs of not a bite, I finally gave in and walked up to wait for a spot to open up. 4 guys left with loads of fish, so I jumped right into their spot. Shad darts in either flouresent green or orange and white seemed to be the hot ticket. Everyone that was fishing them were catching fish. I used a lead headed jig and did manage to catch 2 and lose 2 in about a hour. Don caught 1 and lost 1 using a 1.5 inch sliver spoon, so they will hit on other lures, but the ones using shad darts were getting fish on almost every cast at times. The guy 2 up from Don was catching fish on every cast with a orange and white shad dart. Not my idea of a fun way to fish though. When you hooked a fish
you had to reel like crazy so they didn't tangle up with the other lines in the water. The fish were at least 75 ft. out, so long casts were a must. The guy next to Don had been feeding the sturgeon shad all day, so there were some huge 6-12 ft. plus sturgeon right in front of us...my first time being this close to such a large fish....What an incredible site! No fishing for sturgeon in that area, so they could only be looked at....I saw
one huge one come up like a submarine and then drop back down...it must have been over 16 ft.
Boneville Dam - June 2-3, 1999
Thanks to: Dave Weitl
My second annual trip with the homeboys for the big sturgeon was again a smashing success. We hired guide Ken Elsea and he put us in touch with 7 sturgeon over 6-1/2' that were ample to kick our aging butts. Our biggest fish was 10' and Myles was the big stud this year winning the pot and some very sore muscles. Our quickest battle was 25 minutes and the longest fight, because Scott kept resting, was a little over an hour.We look forward to next year where we will institute a new rule, 15 minutes per angler limit fighting the fish. If you can't get the big monster in by then, you have to pass the rod to the next guy. This will serve to prevent the abuse to our muscles that we suffered this year when we were not about to hand off the rod for the abuse we would suffer from our fishing mates.
Astoria - May 30, 1999
Thanks to: Dan Bachmeier
YAHOO!!!!!I had a great trip with one of my favorite fish'n buddies, my daughter Rachael. We fished above the bridge at Astoria in approx. 55'-60' of water, using fresh anchovies. We had a fantastic day. In the first 30 minutes we had caught 4 fish over 45". We set them free in search of bigger fish. We soon got our wish! Just as the tide began to run in I had a bite, tightened down, and let him have it! The rod was almost pulled from my hands. Then fifty yards behind us the water exploded as a huge sturgeon came out of the water to the base of his tail. Four more jumps, several runs that made my 340 GTI smoke, and 40 minutes later he was subdued, photographed and measured at 8'11". What a fish! Sunday's totals: 24 landed, 9 keeper sized, 1 oversized fish. My advice....If you can't make it to the Bonneville, head to Astoria with lots of anchovies...you'll need them. Outgoing tide best below the bridge, incoming best above it. Want to learn how and where from one of the best? Go fishing with Mike Reed of Mike's Guide Service. (360) 352-1564. He taught me well. Thanks again Mike!
Cape Horn - May 30, 1999
Thanks to: Rod N
Wow, what a beautiful day to go sturgeon fishing. We launched out of Washougal and headed up river to try fishing in the Cape Horn area. We anchored on the south side of the river for a couple of hours without getting any bites,so we decided to move . Did a little site seeing up river, if you haven't seen Cape Horn where SR 14 is visible I recommend it, what a view. After setting anchor just down river of the Cape in about 45 ft of water my wife got the only bite of the day she spent more time fighting the fish than the time we had been anchored. We or should I say she drew in a couple of rubberneckers, who promptly set anchor by us after seeing the fish she caught; the fish measured 52". She caught the fish using roll mop herring and a couple of nightcrawlers. Just for the record I deserve some credit I did drive the boat there!
Bonneville Dam - May 26, 1999
Thanks to: Romeo Rachi
Went fishing for sturgeon below Bonniville Dam on the Washington side. It was GREAT!!! Hooked two Sturgeon that ripped me up. First fish was between 7 & 8 Feet long and the second pushed 9 Feet easy. Lots of shad showing up so you know that it's time to go. Right now anywhere above Camas, WA would be good for sturgeon. Hint: Fresh shad is the best bait for big fish. Good luck and brace yourself for the fight of your life.
Bonneville Dam - May 25, 1999
Thanks to: Ken Elsea
The fishing on the Columbia has opened with blast. My last five days five days fishing have been record breaking. The last three days went like this: Wed. 8 fish over 6 feet two of those over ten feet. NOW keep in mind that all of last years fishing we only hit three over ten feet. Thursday we hit 6 over 6 feet and on Friday we slammed 8 over 6 feet and 3, yes 3 were over 10 feet long. WOW !!It's been so hot the I'm having trouble getting three rods in the water, and most of the time we are fishing with just two rods. Now that's good fishing!
Bonneville is smokin' right now and if you do not have a trip planned for that area, you are missing the best fishing in the country.
I'll be booking trips into the month of July, so give me a call if want a chance at a monster fish right here in Washington.
For more information on booking a guided fishing trip for the world class Great White Sturgeon of up to 1,000 pounds, you can call me at 360-653-5924 or e-mail me at fishwash@firetrail.com.
Astoria - May 22, 1999
Thanks to: Ed Harrington
Fished near Astoria both days this weekend. Tried both youngs bay and off tounge point. Fished youngs bay on the outgoing tide and did miserably, as did many others. I did see two very large oversize sturgeon caught and released. I concentrated most of my time at tounge point and did fair saturday with sand shrimp. It was the only bait I could get my hands on. On sunday I had frozen smelt. Pretty expensive but worth it. Caught a sturgeon with nearly every bait, on both tides at tounge point, fishing just upstream from the point in less than twenty five feet of water. Did very very well, mostly sub legals, but two keepers and one oversized that broke off. Bait is the key. The bait/tackle shop, near the John Day ramp is close and out of business. Bait is hard to come by. Try to get it prior to your trip south if you can. Last year I picked up a bunch of live herring at point defiance in Tacoma to take down with me and did very well with it at tounge point. Smelt frozen or fresh will work, fresh is always better whether its herring or smelt or anchovies, they all beat sand shrimp.
May 22, 1999
Thanks to: Daniel Bortis
Well the day started out pretty bad all we caught was 12 shakers. Then it all changed I got a bite, I set the hook and I thought I was snagged. So I let some line out to try to break it loose. And all of a sudden my line was running away from me. I gave it one more tug to make sure the hook was set. The fight lasted about 35 minutes and when I got it in it measured right at 82 inches. The biggest sturgeon I have ever caught. Anyway we were all very sad because none of us brought a camera. So sadly yes we released the big beast. I went home sad and with a aching back. All in all it was a great day on the river.
Gray's Bay - May 22, 1999
Thanks to: John Sipp
I went sturgeon fishing for the first time this year to take advantage of the good weather. Fished the Gray's Bay area of the Columbia river. Started fishing in 85 ft of water around 6:15am and had a 43" keeper around 6:30am. I was only able to catch the tail end of the incoming and was not able to hook another fish in this location. I relocated to 100 ft of water for the outgoing and was able to hook 6 fish but land only 5. Two were near 42" and the rest were smaller. The bite was over for me around 10:30am and I quit fishing around 1:00pm. All my fish were hooked using smelt. Other boats were hooking fish but location was the key.
Drano Lake - May 22, 1999
Thanks to: Chris Keller
Got there at about 9:00 and started fishing around the bridge. The fishing was very slow. Not many people though. There were three of us in the boat and we saw seven fish caught all day. A game warden said that the fishing was hot on Friday. Its always good when you are not there. We heard of about twenty fish caught all day. For about 100-125 boats. All we could do for our ten hour efforts was one bite. Maybe the summer steelhead and salmon seasons will be better.
Baker Bay - May 16, 1999
Thanks to: Capt. Ron Malast
Sturgeon fishing has finally come to the lower Columbia. As usual Baker Bay is usually
the first hot spot in this region, for the past two days we have had good tides and the action has proved noteworthy. We have started between 6-7am at the bottom of the ebb and the bite has started with the incoming, in very shallow water (4-6ft). There were 8 boats within 50 yards of mine and by 10:30am 10 keepers, about 15 shakers and a 7 ft sturgeon were hooked, boated and/or released. This was only in a small portion of the bay and in checking with the fish counters at the dock other boats within the immediate area were doing equally as well.
Mouth/Sand Island - May 2, 1999
Thanks to: Jim Brevick
Went fishing for some sturgeon on the mouth of the Columbia. Was told that the sturgeon haven't been running yet. We tried from the shore on the [1st] and didn't even get a bite. 9 other people were also fishing and no luck. Sunday the [2nd], my g/f's family and I took out 2 boats and fished right by Sand Island. We fished for about 4 hours. Tonia, my g/f, caught the only one on our boat and it was about 2ft long so we threw it back. That was her first sturgeon. Jeff in the boat next to us had the best luck. They had 6 bites and they brought in 2 sturgeon, one being 40 inches, just so close to a keeper and the other one he caught was roughly 8ft long. They let that big monster go. The weather wasn't great but the sturgeon are beginning to show. We were fishing an incoming tide. Most fish started biting half way through the tide and right before the change.
Patterson Slough - Apr. 24, 1999
Thanks to: David Reeve
A friend on mine and I launched at Plymouth Wa. at 8:00 am. after a 15 mimute, 9 mile ride down river. We were at Paterson slough, by 9:30 we had two 1 1\2 lb. smallmouth bass and 1 at about a pound. By the end of the day we had both lost several good bites. The water has cleared and really started to warm up, the highest temp. was 57 degrees. With the forcast of warmer weather for this week the water should be up in the 60 - 65 degree range. We were useing purple grubs tipped with a worm. For anyone going there fish the rock wall at the north side of the slough. There were reports of 4 and 5 lb largemouth being caught but
we never saw them.
Patterson - Apr. 17, 1999
Thanks to: David Reeve
Launched at Plymouth, Wa. and traveled 9 miles upriver to Patterson. By 4:00pm I had 5 smallmouth bass with the largest weighing in at 3.14 lbs. The weather was beautiful, but the waters were a little on the murkey side, but that didn't seem to hamper the fishing. This comming weekend should prove to be the bet as the water will have cleared a bit and the forcast is for the uper 70's.
Nuke Plant - Apr. 17, 1999
Thanks to: Frank Smith
Fished all day in front of the island at the Nuke plant, what a beautiful day. Landed one keeper right at 42 inches (Steven Sparks) and between the two of us landed over a dozen shakers. Using sand shrimp in 53 feet of water, had many bites.
Columbia River - Apr. 16, 1999
Thanks to: Mark "Hopper" Hoppenworth
My friend Cory "Dirty Dog" Danis and I decided to go sturgeon fishing, but did not have access to a boat on this particular day. We went to the dock behind the Double Tree Hotel at the Quay and fished from there instead. We started at 5:00 am. By 6:30, Cory had nailed a 2 ft. baby. He released it, and sadly, that was the only fish we caught that day. We fished until 2:30 pm.
Cathlamet - Apr. 6, 1999
Thanks to: Rick Johnson
Launched at Cathlamet with Pacific Salmon Charters on a 12 man sturgeon charter. The skipper tried several spots a few miles downriver with little success. Only a half-dozen or so small fish and no keepers.
Trojan Area - Mar. 27-28, 1999
Thanks to: Dan Bachmeier
Another report from the Trojan area of the Columbia. Good news! What a weekend! Saturday and Sunday with Mike's Guide Service once again was a fantastic experience. The sturgeon fishing continues to be red hot! Saturday March 27th- perfect day, 26 fish total, 6 in the keeper range. Sunday was a bit slower and a bit windy, only 18 fish total, 4 were keepers from 44" to a 52" beauty. Twenty or so boats in the area and for some reason or another the fish checker was astounded at our success. Even the Oregon DF&W took interest.Fishing above the nuke plant in fifty or so feet of water is a key factor, but I think it is the combination of Mike and his sand shrimp tactics that that prove to be the difference. I wish I knew where he get's his shrimp. They were huge! I am going with him again this week. Thanks Mike! What a weekend.
Kalama - Mar. 20, 1999
Thanks to: Sherman Davis
Began a two hour journey from Tacoma to the Columbia with one of my fishing partners, Tony. Launched the boat at Kalama around 8:30 am. There were approximately 55 boats already on the water (so we were late arriving). Had to get that beauty rest!Went to our secret fishing hole which was very unproductive for the first few hours. While fishing, we were checked by the Sheriff for all of the safety equipment, which many boats were not equipped with and were fined. Early in the afternoon, Tony hooked a nice legal "keeper" -- measuring to be 42" on the nose.
Caught a few shakers, but nothing else that day. Headed home about 3:00 pm. The weather was sunny, but cool.
P.S. One thing to remember...Don't lock your keys in your truck with the motor running while on the boat launch, unless you have a spare key hidden away. Thank goodness I did!
Camas/Washougal - Mar. 14, 1999
Thanks to: Brandon Roper
My grandpa and I went to the Camas/Washougal Dock and put in. We went to a cove just off main river. We weren't fishing for anything specific. The day started off slow. there were fish on the finder but weren't biting. We got a couple of bites but not much. A little later we began to catch whitefish on the bottum with worms. A little while latter I got a bite and once I started to bring it in it was quite heavy. I thought that I had on a good sized catfish. When I got it in it was a 2' long sturgeon. It was about 6-7 lbs. I caught it on a size 10 single egg trout hook with a small peice of worm on 4-lb test line. It and all the other fish were released. The water is still too cold for much else. Everything was too deep and wouldn't bite. The water was 42 degrees out of the main current.
Kalama - Mar. 12, 1999
Thanks to: Dan Bachmeier
Fished out of Kalama once again. A fairly steady northerly blow until about noon, then it flattened right out. Once again had a great day despite the wind. 20-30 fish days have been the norm for the past month or so. Sand shrimp...sand shrimp...sand shrimp! Get the picture? Lots of decent fish but only one keeper this trip. Gotta fish the flats above the nuke plant before it starts to peter out. 50'-60' of water, a little procure sandshrimp oil on fresh shrimp, 18" of leader ahead of a 6/0 gamakatsu barbless. Enjoy! Hey Rob, call me!
Kalama - Feb. 20, 1999
Thanks to: Dan Bachmeier
We got lucky and had another great day fishing for sturgeon out of Kalama. We had a window in the weather, no wind and the river like glass. The best thing is that we were by ourselves, no other boats in sight. Fished just downriver from the nuke plant in 50'-60' of water using large sand shrimp with shrimp oil. Caught 20 or so fish from shakers to a beauty of 54". Great day with Mike Reed of Mike's Guide Service (360) 352-1564. This guy knows his stuff.
Hanford Reach - Oct. 21, 1998
Thanks to: Don McBride
The Columbia River above Vernita Bridge is as hot as I've ever seen it. On Wednesday
I played hooky from work and took two friends who had never caught a salmon despite
trying for a few years.
Their droughts ended within 15 minutes of launching, with the first fish in the boat
after ten minutes and the second on the line within moments of dropping the downriggers
again. The next two fish were mine, and I released the first because it was small and
the second because it looked pretty dark. We hit a double (a jack and an adult)
and never spent more than twenty minutes without a hit. All in all we caught eleven
salmon, keeping six adults and two jacks, and quit fishing at noon. I've always
believed that a bad day fishing was better than a good day working, but a day
like this one left me speechless.
The fish we kept were in pretty good shape, definitely smokers but all with pink
meat. Some of the ones we released were darker, but still not as bad as you would
expect.
We ran one long line (chartreuse mag wart) and two wrapped kwikfish on downriggers
(pink/silver and red/gold) and each rod hooked a third of the fish.
Hanford Reach - Oct. 18, 1998
Thanks to: Michael Wilson
The fish are hitting like crazy right now. My Father-in-law and I boated 3 and had
several other hits on Sunday. He got to stay for fishing on Monday and limited by
12:30 including one over 20 pounds. Every boat that came in to the launch had at
least one fish on Sunday.
The fish are definetly starting to darken up but the meat is still good. Next weekend
may be your last shot. All our fish came on spun Herring but we saw several fish
taken by jigging eggs.
Hanford Reach - Oct. 18, 1998
Thanks to: Don McBride
We had an awesome day fishing at Vernita Bridge on the Columbia River. We started
fishing at 7:30 and had nonstop action until we tired out at 2:30pm. We started
with a little 5-pounder to limber up (on a pink magnum wiggle wart) and then moved
on to a 37-pound king on chartreuse. The action continued with two 10-pounders and
two 20-pounders, mostly on bait-wrapped flatfish. We had lots of other hits that
didn't hook up, including a momentary double header. All in all, it was a perfect
day with great weather and great fishing.
Hanford Reach - Oct. 12, 1998
Thanks to: Don McBride
The Hanford Reach is turning on (finally!) for chinook. We caught five adults and a
jack between yesterday and today, including a nice 29 lb buck and 26 lb hen. About half
of the fish were still pretty bright. We also had a few missed hookups. Half the hits
were on magnum wiggle warts (chartreuse/lime green, and hot pink) and the rest on
bait-wrapped flatfish. We've been fishing up near Priest Rapids Dam. All 13
salmon we've boated this year have been in that area.
The Salmon Derby which was held here September 26-27 was a success despite continued warm
water. We had 238 participants and raised about $4800 for Tri-Cities Prep. 49 salmon
were caught. Colleen Akerblade of Pasco had the biggest fish, 39 lbs 4 oz. Gary
Peterson of Richland was second with 34 lbs 8 oz, and also won the tournament
prize for a 2-day total of 80 lbs. Jennifer Crockett of Benton City and Joe
Graziani of Pasco each caught 34-pounders, and Doug Davis of Pasco was fifth with
31 lbs. Doug Currier's 22-pounder was randomly selected as the "mystery fish".
The seven prizes totaled about $3000 worth of cash and merchandise.
The tagged fish, which could have earned someone a boat, motor, and trailer from NW
Jet Boats, was not caught.
Next year's derby should be even bigger and better, and is tentatively scheduled for the first week of October. Stay tuned to http://www.rc.net/knights/kc3307/derby.htm again!
Hanford Reach - Oct. 10, 1998
Thanks to: Ken Schmidt
Drove out from Yakima and launched at one of the Vernita Bridge sites. After a bit
of struggleing to get the engine started, it was about 10:30 am. Saw several boats
in or comming in with nice fish, Kings in 20+ lbs range. Trolled a F-4 with
herring wrap. Hooked one fish fairly early but never saw it. About 3:00 pm,
connected with a great fish. About 28 lbs of King. What fun. My first mature
salmon out of a river after several years and trips trying, so I was really excited.
June 14, 1998
Thanks to: Dale Do
Fished John Day area. Lots and lots of shad caught. 8.5' sturgeon someone caught (and I
hope released). I heard the walleye fishing was not real great, but that the average size
was appx. 2.5 lbs. or so. Great sunny weather! Shad was best with a brass bullet weight
22" in front of a pink/chartreuse or green/chartreuse shad dart. Finding the location was
the key. Tying the knot on your leader to the very TOP of the dart/jig seemed to double
the catch rate, since I've learned over the years that doing that seems to have a better
action (only the shad know why). Fish always hit on the SWING of the lure. Should
continue until the John Day shad counts get below 10,000 per day or so (probably in July,
but check the internet US Corps
of Engineers web site for daily updates.) Tip: Cascade Locks gets RED HOT (100 per
day no problem) for shad when the daily average KCFS flow is between 380 and 460.
June 14, 1998
Thanks to: Tony Olszewski
Went fishing on the Columbia River with Pacific Salmon Charters our boat (The Stardust)
left the dock in Ilwaco, WA at about 5:30 AM and all 9 of us had our limit of 9 keepers
by 11:00 AM. Fishing was great as 2 of our 9 fish were large ones at 54" and 60".
Time between keepers was spent hauling in numerous shakers that put up a good battle
and were fun to catch and release.
June 9-10, 1998
Thanks to: Dave Weitl
Had the pleasure of fishing with outstanding guide,
Ken Elsea. I invited a couple of buddies of mine from junior high up to sample the
largest fresh-water fish in the world. There just happens to be some ridiculous number
like 20,000 sturgeon over 6' long in a short 2-mile section of the Columbia below Bonneville
dam. Well we found our share and it was nothing short of spectacular. I have not gotten my
pictures back from Costco yet, but will post when I do. In the meantime you can see the
results of my previous trip with Ken on the Columbia by visiting
Dave and Jo's Big Adventure.
In addition to the world-class sturgeon fishing, there are also a couple million shad in the river at the same time. These are very feisty fighters that run 3-5 pounds and are as easy to catch as bluegill or crappie at your favorite warmwater lake.
Mar 21, 1998
Thanks to: brad campbell
Went sturgeon fishing with Jim Evans. Put in at the Deep River Launch about 8:30. Made for
Portuguese Point under less than desireable conditions. Wind was not bad, rain was however
relentless. We had prepared for sunny conditions (or at least not WET conditions). We were
able to endure about an hour and a half before we became water-logged. No fish. No bites.
No fish seen taken by other fishermen in the area. Once again we learned that valuable
lesson, never trust the weatherman! Also, never go fishin' in Washington without yer
foul weather gear! The smelt we bought for bait was at a premium $8 a doz. OUCH!
Drano Lake - May 6, 1997
Thanks to Mike Thompson for the following report:
Drano Lake, where you can catch a springer with two or three hundred
of your close friends. Tuesday May 6, we put in at dawn. Trolling
mag-wigglewarts, orange and watermelon green, we joined the parade
of boats fishing the inlet. The custom is troll down toward the
river opening on the north bank then turn south along the bank.
Avoid the shore fishermen or they will try to catch you. There
were 5 fish caught in the early hours then it went dead. We got
tired of trolling in the tightly packed school of boats and went
to the hatchery arm. The fish finder revealed a huge school of
salmon hugging the bottom. I put on dropper weights of 1 ounce
and a 5 foot leader . We went back and forth for a few hours.
Other boats were still fishing with jigs, but no one was getting
any hits.
Around 10:30 I had a take down on the green wiggle wart. I set
the hook, FISH ON! He went under the boat, broke the surface and
finally surrendered. As my buddy netted the fish, the hook broke.
Fortunately we didn't lose the fish.
A few minutes later we had another take down, unfortunately my
buddy didn't set the hook. There are a lot of fish in at Drano
and Wind River but the water has been high so the bite has been
slow. Beware of the weak hooks on the wigglewarts, but they work
well. It gets windy and a depth/fish finder is a real plus. Its
crowded but fun.
