Fishing report 5-15
Spring Chinook fishing around the Northwest continues to be productive! From the Willamette to Drano Lake and from the Cowlitz to Tillamook bay. There are Springers all over the place. We have Pro Staff fishing in almost all of these fisheries and the reports have been flying in. Pro, Tim Juarez, has just shifted his efforts to Tillamook Bay and the ocean recently and the fish are starting to show! Trolling herring or spin-n-fish and triangle flashers has been the ticket thus far. This fishery doesn’t always kick out large numbers of fish, however the quality is said to be the best in the world! In the Willamette the fish are spread all throughout the river, from Scappoose through Oregon City. These fish will continue to enter the river over the next month, even as the river warms up. Down in the Multnomah Channel and lower Willamette the fish are suspended in the water column, for the most part. Trolling 360 flashers with spinners-n-fish, prawn spinners, 3.5 size spinners, Spinfish dawgs and Superbaits will all give you a good shot at hooking a springer.
Drano lake and the Wind River bubble fishery have been absolutely going crazy this past few weeks. We have had nearly all of our Pro Staff heading over there just to fun fish if not take clients. Trolling prawn spinners, herring and Spin fish have all been techniques that have been putting fish in the box. These fish have been flying over Bonneville dam this past week and heading straight for these fisheries. Which means that they are great. Others and super fresh fish. This fishery will continue to produce well and start to turn into more of an egg fishery as the water warms up and the fish start to fill in throughout the lake.
Summer Steelhead are starting to get caught in rivers throughout Southwest Washington and the willamette valley rivers. The fishing will only improve as we move into June. Allen types of bait will work like prawns, coon stripe shrimp, eggs and sand shrimp. Beads, jigs, pink worms and hardware will take a good portion of the fish as well. Be ready for a rodeo if you hook one, as summer steelhead are known for being super aggressive and super acrobatic.
Catch and release sturgeon fishing in the Willamette has gotten better in the last few weeks and we have had Pro Staff like Steve Leonard finding great success. Fishing herring, sand shrimp, smelt and anchovies are all killer bait options.
Catch and release Sturgeon fishing down in the estuary of the Columbia River is just about to get really, really good. Although this is a catch and release only fishery, it is still a fishery that everyone should experience. Not all of the time, but a good portion of the time you will be hooked giant 6’ plus sturgeon in water less that 8’ deep. Which means as you hook up they only have one place to go. That’s
up! Seeing an oversize sturgeon come flying out of the water in super shallow water is as exhilarating as it sounds!
Bottom fishing has been excellent as well. Pro, Ted Teufel, has been finding major success fishing out of Garibaldi lately. There are loads of giant Lingcod in the mix and the Salman fishing has been picking up as well!
Kokanee fishing at Merwin and Yale has continued to produce well and should for some time. Pro, KC Talaro, found piles of fat Kokanee this past week trolling dodgers and small brite colored Spin-n-glos tipped with some Shoepeg corn. He mixed up his scent combos between anise and krill to find his success.
Walleye fishing is another fishery that is slowly gaining more traction and for good reason. The middle Columbia packed with these delicious tasting fish and at times, can be easy to target. Trolling worm harness rigs behind bottom walkers have been accounting for the mass majority of the success lately.
Smallmouth Bass fishing is picking up and will continue to improve in the coming weeks as well. Look for these super aggressive fish to be along steep drop offs and rocky outcropping as they move their way into the shallow water bays of the Columbia and willamette. Tube baits, jigs, spinner baits, shallow water crank baits and lipless crankbaits will all produce well for bass anglers.
Trout fishing is picking up all around the state. Fisheries managers continue their planting efforts and will start to plant some of the higher mountain lakes as soon as more of the snow starts to disappear. Many lakes have received very generous plants of over 3,000 legal trout. This list includes Foster Reservoir, powers pond, McKenzie River, Lemolo Reservoir and several others. Fishing Powerbait, nightcrawlers or salmon eggs has been a very effective for bank anglers while boat anglers have been finding success trolling wedding rings tipped with nightcrawlers or small flat fish or Mag Lips.
