Fishing report 5-22

Spring Chinook fishing continues to be good all across the region. Many anglers are finding success trolling the lower Willamette Harbor and Multnomah channel, 360 flashers with small spinners, Superbaits, Spindawgs and Spin-n-fish have all been working well. These fish will be suspended in the water column so varying your depths is a great technique to help you find the fish.

Up at Drano Lake and the Wind River bubble fishery the fishing has continued to be really good. The fish are still flying over Bonneville Dam which means that there are still fresh fish entering these fisheries daily. Trolling 360 flashers with prawn spinners, Spinfish, Spindawgs, Spin-n-fish and herring have all been producing well. The bobber fishing has started to pick up and will continue to become more productive as the water warms up. Bank anglers have been having success as well, casting wiggle warts, spinners or bobber fishing eggs and shrimp. 

Summer Steelhead are really starting to show up around the Northwest. We have Pro Staff finding success from the Willamette to the Cowlitz and the Columbia River. Anchor fishing coon stripe shrimp and spin-n-glos has been productive on the lower Columbia and then in the tributaries there have been anglers finding success bobberdogging eggs or jigs and prawn tails. 

Shad are starting to trickle in! This fishery on both the Willamette and Columbia is short lived, they are really only here for about a month. But, in the time frame there are literally millions of Shad entering both rivers. This means that many days the action is a as fast paced as you could imagine. Small bright colored knights heads, small curly tail grubs, small dick nite or baby Simon wobblers will all work well. 

Catch and release Sturgeon fishing in the lower Willamette is definitely going on. Anglers are finding success catching keeper size and oversize Sturgeon on every trip. Pro, Steve Leonard, has been bouncing back and fourth between this fishery and Drano lake springers. And for good reason. He is having great success at both fisheries!

Squid, herring, smelt, sand shrimp and strips of Shad have all been working well. 

Bottom fishing remains a constant option and Fisherman’s Pro, Ted Teufel, has been doing extremely well, as of late. He is running bottom fishing and ocean salmon trips as the same time, which gives anglers a load of opportunity. Large curly tail grubs, shrimp flies, chaser baits and larger plastic baits have been enticing all types of bottom fish this week. 

Walleye fishing in the Columbia Gorge has been good and is often overlooked by most anglers. These delicious fish are really plentiful and who doesn’t like spending a sunny day on a boat loading a cooler with quality eating fish? Pro, Phil Mattson, has ben having great success trolling bottom walkers and worm harness rigs. 

Smallmouth bass fishing is starting to fire up throughout the Columbia. Last weeks warm weather started to warm both the Willamette and Columbia which is exactly what these fish are looking for. Warmer water triggering them to head into shallow water bays to spawn. This is when you can have days where your boat will land over 100 super aggressive smallmouth! Tube baits, plastic worms, spinnwrbaits, lipless crankbaits and even topwater baits will all work well. 

Kokanee fishing remains a stellar option for anglers. This is a low key fishery that doesn’t have quite the boat traffic that other salmon fisheries have. Which makes for a super fun fishery in a more relaxed setting. Pro, KC Talaro, has been quietly loading up his clients coolers with limits of fat, delicious Kokanee at Lake Merwin. Dodgers and bright colored spin-n-glos, Brad’s Kokanee Cutplugs and the new Hot Tails from Hawken fishing. 

Trout fishing is ramping up all across the state. ODFW has ramped up their stocking efforts even more this past week, with some lakes receiving over 10,000 trout. Locally lakes like Trillium, Clear, Timothy and Foster reservoir all revived over 2,000 Trout a piece. While Wallowa Lake was planted with over 18,000 Trout! Fishing Powerbait off of the bottom is a tried and true method, as is drowning a nightcrawler. Boat anglers will find great success trolling small Maglips or Flatfish as well as a wedding ring tipped with a nightcrawler. Being along several different techniques to give your delve options throughout the day.