Fishing Report 04-07-2023
The Steelhead Kid was fishing with Fisherman’s Pro, KC Talaro, earlier today when he caught and released this chrome steelhead! Nice catch, Team! (KC’s Guided Fishing: 360-713-1507)
Fishing Report:
Winter Steelhead fishing is still going on; however, it is starting to wind down. This past week Fisherman’s Pro, Terry Mulkey, finally hung up his Steelhead gear and switched to Springers, but he was still catching quality Steelhead every day! There have been a few Summer Steelhead in the mix and you will usually know when you hook one. They typically spend more time out of the water than in it. Spinners, spoons, plugs, bait, jigs, worms and beads all work well when targeting summer or winter Steelhead.
Spring Chinook become the number one target for anglers as we head into April. There are fish being caught in the Columbia, fish being caught in the Willamette and some tributaries in both Oregon and Washington have seen some Spring Chinook action as well. Trolling a triangle flasher and plug-cut herring has been a very popular choice lately, with anchor fishing Kwikfish, Killerfish or Mag Lips coming in as a close second. The Columbia has had a ton of smelt in it this year and with the abundance of smelt the Chinook have been feeding on them as well. Depending on your location in the river, you may find the herring bite being a bit lack luster and the anchor fishermen doing better. This just goes to show that being versatile can pay huge dividends on the Columbia and Willamette.
Catch and release Sturgeon fishing on the Willamette doesn’t get the credit it deserves this time of year. You can easily have good action on a mixture of shakers, keeper size fish and oversize. Herring, anchovies, salmon eggs, sand shrimp and smelt all make great Sturgeon bait.
Kokanee fishing has been good and should continue to be good for quite some time. This cold and wet Spring has kept the Kokanee high in the water column, which gives anglers the ability to use little to no extra weight when trolling a dodger and lure. Small Spin-N-Glo’s, spinner blades, bright-colored hoochies and Brad’s Kokanee Cut plugs have all been taking fish with regularity. It can pay off to have a rod or two set slightly deeper as you never know when the depth of the school may change throughout the course of the day.
Razor Clamming opened back up at Long Beach this week and WDFW raised the limit to 20 Clams per person! The clamming was great during the last opener and folks are looking forward to more good Clam digging.
Bottom fishing has also been a good option for anglers. Obviously, this fishery is a bit more weather permitting. When the seas have allowed, anglers have been pouring over the bar in search of some fresh fish tacos. Quality Lingcod definitely have been in the mix, along with a whole array of other Bottom fish. Farallon Feathers, shrimp flies, curly tail grubs and swimbaits that mimic the colors of bait fish have all been great bait options.
