pdxfisher

Great pics. Loved the lovely picture! So sad that you now have to make two casts to catch a bass instead of catching them on every cast I love my old lure that have show the scars of many battles. I swear they just become more and more magical with every fish they catch.

I just love those pictures. Out here I am fishing big rivers but when I lived in PA and NC I used to fish small bodies of water like you show from a small boat I built myself while I was in grad school. Launching at ponds in the woods with that thing was always such a blast. I don't get to experience that out here but your photos really trigger some great memories.

It's funny how we mirrored each other, but I really want to mirror you on one of your monster days: )

I took off this week from work and ended up going fishing on Wednesday due to the nice wind forecast for the gorge. Man, what a difference a week and a half makes. Last trip out the bass were chasing bait (smolts) until noon. The bass were schooling and busting bait until at least noon. The river felt alive and thick with life. Gulls and osprey everywhere. This week the river was dead quiet. I guess the smolt have out-migrated and nary a ripple disturbed the surface for most of the day. After an early flurry of topwater action that only resulted in two bass the rest of the day was quite a grind for me. I threw my usual favorite spybait quit a bit but only caught one fish on it all day long. I switched techniques constantly throughout the day and would have a sudden flurry when I changed things up and then things would just go dead again. I only caught 18 bass with the biggest probably going 16" or so (did not bother measuring). I had three times during the day when I caught fish on back-to-back casts and one of those times it ended up being 4 bass in 6 casts. Those three flurries accounted for 8 of the 18 bass I caught on the day. Thus, you can tell that otherwise it was a slow grind of an occasional fish here or there. I think the fish are just set up really differently compared to all my other recent trips. Spots that have been consistently loaded where ghost towns. I would have to say that I never really figured out a solid pattern. Every time I though I had something going for a few minutes the bite would turn off and I would not be able to repeat that short success. Very frustrating on both size and numbers. I finally decided at noon to go back to the ramp to grab my drift sock to try and stop the breeze from pushing me around. That ended up not working out very well since there was not really enough current to counteract the wind. Once I got that drift sock I decided to head East even though the wind was out of the West. That was big mistake. The wind seemed to pick up as I headed East and the conditions were too tough to fish since the fish were not very active. It was really hard to keep touch with my Ned rig and drop show while bouncing around like crazy. That ended up just being a bunch of pedaling exercise. I spent probably an hour and half of pedaling without a single bite. I did talk to one guy how had done better than me on size. He had two 19s and an 18 (which he caught in short order off one spots_ but otherwise he said the bite was really show for him as well. Anyway, I will have to make sure I bring my thinking cap on my next trip I was not ready for that kind of a day and it really through me for a loop. I look forward to figuring them out next time. Here are some pics and my video from the day:

Great report again. So great that you have your own slice if paradise!

That looks like an awesome path down to the water! Great pics once again!!

Glad you are back out there!

Looks like that was a fantastic trip and the write up was awesome! I love all the pictures, just so cool!!

Sounds like an awesome trip! The remoteness just sounds like it is soul recharging. Can't wait to read the report when you get back.

Wow. That is brutal. Sorry you missed out on the calm. How was the fishing at HR? Thanks! The calm was a really nice change of pace!

Thanks for the report, that is a great title! Man, now snagless sallies are an ancient lure. I remember those as a kid!! I always wanted one but could never find one in the stores around me. I just saw them in magazines. Really took me back seeing those!!

I may try a plopper or popper, something less erratic. The walking bait draws the most exciting strikes but my conversion rate this year has been pathetic. Not sure why I am doing so much worse this year. The hooks are razor sharp, but a feathered treble is an interesting idea. I am not sure how that will affect the action but there is only one way to find out :l

I met up with my regular fishing buddy on the 20th (Saturday). We had not fished together yet this year. Sadly, he has been inflicted with a bad case of steelhead-itis and there is no known cure Anyway it was just really exciting to be back on the water with him again and we definitely made a good go of our chance to fish together. Between the two of us we caught over 70 bass. I did a little better on numbers but he had the two biggest (17.5" and 18.5"). The best I could manage was a 16.75". Other than not catching any real big ones the day was as perfect as could be. The Columbia was glassy calm for most of the day. There was a slight breeze for a short while first thing in the morning and then a very welcome wind in the afternoon that freshened just as we were beginning to roast. I caught fish on topwater (Sammy), spybait, jerkbait, swimbait, swinghead jit+creature bait, drop shot and Ned rig. The fish were actively chasing bait until about 11am and we caught our fair share of fish chasing the bass that were chasing the bait. It is so much fun to see bait skittering and the bass swirling and toss into that maelstrom and immediately get slammed. While we did do well fishing for those fish it was definitely not as productive - especially for size - as in my last few outings. I was really hoping we were both going to get a 20+ inch fish but you can't have everything. Over the course of the day if one of us would get on some fish we would call the other over and hammer on them together. Just perfect teamwork. I would say I probably caught about 1/2 the fish on active baits and 1/2 on soft plastics. When we would get on them with the Ned rig we would often hook up doubles and that is just so much fun. My only real disappointment on the day was when several really big fish were jumping all over each other trying to eat my topwater. After much missing (it is off camera but you can hear them splashing, jumping and churning up the water) I did hook one, had it on for 5 seconds and lost it. I guess I would have to say I ended up losing a ton of fish overall. Not quite sure why. I think probably partly because we were often chatting or I would be looking over to see how he was doing. A bit of a lame excuse but I am a fisherman and that's what we do best Funniest thing is that three times over the course of the day I had gulls trying to eat my Sammy (a walking bait). The worst was one gull that kept diving at it as I reeled like crazy to keep it away. It kept attacking all the way to the kayak and I had to swing at it with my rod to scare it off. I guess that lure has a pretty realistic action! Anyway, here are some pics from a wonderful day on the water and a link to the day's video at the end.

That first pic is both beautiful and looks like the start of a Stephen King movie Great job racking them on a spinnerbait! Spinnerbaits used to be my favorite but the last few years I usually throw a vibrating jig instead (better casting distance, especially into the wind). With the smallmouth chasing bait like they are now maybe I need to tie one back on! Thanks for the great report and making me rethink my approach!

So far I would say I am catching a lot of 17-19" smallmouth but I have been having a heck of a time getting 20+" fish. Numbers have been good (20 to 40 fish) most trips but it seems like this year I am catching more small fish than in the past (which is maybe why numbers are up). I have not caught a 5lb smallmouth yet this year. I am guessing the small fish (~10-11") are just reflecting a really good spawn from a few years back and that age group is at that size this year (which should bode well a few years in the future).

Yes, on topwater hits I move the rod a little and if I feel resistance I continue the motion into a hookset. I guess I don't understand how that fish missed the lure that many times

I did follow up with a swim bait but no Bueno. Those fish are often moving really fast when they are chasing smolts.

That is definitely what happened. I should have titled it "How did that fish not get that lure"!

Great report! I remember using my first spinnerbait more than 50 years ago. It was called a one-eyed Jack.

I have tried that in the past but in the clear calm.water on a sunny day I usually just see the fish swirl and leave after a second. If it is a little choppy stopping it seems to work but not on calm sunny days.

In NC I caught a 20ish pound carp twitching a Rapala at dusk. My buddy and I both thought I had a new state record on for a bit. In PA my buddy caught a 10lb channel cat on a jitterbug night fishing. Once again we were think 10lb bass. I waded out in the pitch black to land the crazy thing. Used to catch a lot of cats at night on spinnerbaits. Out here I catch quite a few channel cats on Ned rigs but my best catch was a 8+lb steelhead on 4lb test while panfishing one day. That was a shocker.

Your water is so cool looking and different than what I fish out here. I love all the pictures of the weeds and swampiness. Looks like so much fun to fish. Thanks for all the cool photos!

I feel you on the boat traffic. I kayak fish two big rivers out here and in the summer the boat traffic can make fishing out of a kayak feel pretty dangerous. I am mostly worried about some drunk moron running me over in my bright green kayak with big orange flag. It is draining fishing the whole day with your head on a swivel. I love those rare (out here) rainy summer days. Not a drop of rain this month and none in the 10-day forecast, but at least the temps have dropped out of the 100s!

I think the dog and ball analogy is interesting. When a dog is in a chasing mood it will go after every throw of the ball but once it gets tired you throw the ball and it just sits there. However if you put a small dog treat a few inches from that dog it will reach out and grab it. Charlie Brewer (who was mentioned earlier in this thread) had a different analogy I remember reading back in the 70s. Say you have just eaten a big steak, then someone puts another steak in front of you. You are probably not going to eat that steak. However, even if you are full if someone puts a bowl of chocolate covered peanuts in front of you, you will probably take one or two even if you are full.

Sorry for your loss and thank you for using your unfortunate situation with your father to raise awareness. I always cover myself from head to toe but I often see beet red folks when I get to the ramp at the end of the day.