Customer Rami Shatar with a pair of nice Striped Bass he caught recently while casting jigs in San Francisco Bay. Great catch, Rami!
Fishing Report:
Spring Chinook is still cookin’ on the Willamette River from Oregon City down through Scappoose. The water is certainly warming up, however there are still fresh fish entering the river every day. Down in the Portland Harbor area folks are finding success trolling triangle flashers with herring, 360 flashers with prawn spinners, 3.5 size spinners or hard baits like Brad’s Superbaits, Yakima Bait Spinfish, and Simon Spindawgs. All of these options will work, and it pays to have several options as some days the fish will prefer one over the other. On the Columbia, the lower river will be opening up for Chinook, Steelhead, and Sockeye on the 16th of June. This fishery can be very action packed as the Steelhead and Sockeye typically run in the same areas and Chinook will follow as well. Prawn tails and Coon Stripe Shrimp fished behind a bright-colored Spin-N-Glo is the most popular technique. Kwikfish, Mag Lip’s, Flatfish or spinners fished on anchor is what everyone will be doing when targeting Chinook.
Shad Fishing is going great on the Willamette as well as the Columbia. These hard fighting and great biting fish are moving up the Columbia by the 10’s of thousands so once you get in front of those pods of fish the fishing can be extremely fast paced. Small bright-colored jig beads, small baby Simon spoons, small flicker spinners, and even small bright -colored curly tail grubs are all ideal Shad baits.
Tributary Springer fishing around the region has been decent. Bobber fishing, backbouncing, backtrolling plugs, or backtrolling divers and bait are all good techniques that can be used on any river. Mixing up different scents can absolutely be a game changer. At times these fish can be stacked up for prolonged periods of time so they can need a little “enticing” by using scent.
Spring Chinook fishing in Tillamook Bay has been steady for those heading that direction. These fish are the hardest fighting Spring Chinook that you will ever hook. Straight out of the salt and on a one-way mission to their designated tributary. Trolling triangle flashers and herring is a popular option as well as 360 flashers and small 3.5 size spinners.
On the Willamette and the Columbia River, the catch and release Sturgeon fishing has been stellar. As the Columbia continues to warm up look for the Astoria Sturgeon fishery to really take off. This is a world class fishery that goes on throughout the early summer every year. Squid, herring, sand shrimp, anchovies and even Shad strips are all killer bait options.
Bottom fishing has been killer along the Oregon coast. Out of Garibaldi Fisherman’s Pro, Ted Teufel, has been running trips and finding loads of Lingcod, Halibut, and a wide variety of other bottom fish. In southern Oregon Fisherman’s Pro, Andy Martin, has also been finding great success. Limits of Lingcod have been the norm, using P-Line Twin Tail Squid.
The spawning Smallmouth Bass are still hanging out in the shallows along the Columbia River allowing anglers to cash in on some great fishing. As these Bass move between the shallow and deeper water, fishing can usually be phenomenal. Small jigs, tube baits, shallow diving crankbaits and lipless crankbaits are all great techniques.
Trout fishing is still a great option that gives a ton of opportunities throughout June for anglers to take home a limit of Trout. Locally, North Fork Reservoir and Estacada Lake have both been stocked this past week along with other lakes. Powerbait, night crawlers, salmon eggs, small spinners, bubble and fly as well as casting Kastmasters have all been effective techniques.
