pdxfisher

Maybe you got all the bad luck out of your system for the rest of the summer! Nothing but tanks from here on out!

@Swamp Girl your writing, pictures and fishing are all top shelf and captivating. The guy I fish with now, @Mjchaeljarvisfishing ,has a great attention to detail and he regales me with stories all day while we are out fishing toggether.

I always find those days when I have to work to find them to be really rewarding. Figuring them out on a tough day is the most fun part of fishing. Way to go!

Thanks @Swamp Girl ! If I waited for calm days I would not be able to fish in the gorge very often. The wind is a bit tough but you get used to it after a while. Anything becomes normal with enough exposure.

I do like it when we get the morning clouds for a few hours. I picked Saturday over Sunday because the morning clouds were supposed to last longer. I know I look bundled up but the morning temp was 65 and the high was near 80. That 25mph wind blowing across the 67 degree water makes those air temps feel pretty chilly.

I am not sure if it would work in your conditions but I have been doing well on a Megabass Vision 110 +1. It will run about 8' deep and sounds like it would be just above the grass you mentioned. Might be worth trying a deep jerk bait. Sometimes that erratic jerking action can trigger bites for fish that are otherwise disinterested. At least you caught some nice bass!!

I hit the Columbia for a solo trip on Saturday the 11th. The wind forecast for Saturday was worse than Sunday but there was supposed to be a longer period of cloud cover in the morning. I figured it was worth the extra effort of fishing in the 20-24mph wind to have a better chance at a big bass. Even though I got to the water well before daybreak, the wind was already blowing pretty good. I was expecting that though so I was ready for those conditions. I started the day throwing topwater but could not generate a sniff. So I quickly switched over to the S-waver because it has been doing a great job lately. Within a few casts I had a good-sized bass hit it right at the kayak but the hooks did not catch. A few casts later I caught my first bass of the day, just a little guy but its always good to get the skunk off quickly! I fished the S-waver for a while and had a lot of follows that just would not commit. It was frustrating to see a decent sized bass right behind it at the kayak and then either swim away or take a half-hearted swipe at it. After a bit I put down the S-waver for a bit and picked up the Vision 110 +1. That produced a couple more small fish. I thought that maybe the big fish were just out deeper so I picked up my wobblehead. That produced a better fish (2+lbs) but I could not get a second bite. I then fished my way up to a little island without getting another bite on anything I was throwing. I decided to pick the S-waver back up and quickly caught a 2 and quarter pounder but could not get a second bite. I was feeling a bit frustrated at this. I thought I would be catching a ton with some giants mixed in but that was not the case up to that point. After flailing around with the S-waver for a bit I picked up the 110 +1 again. I am not sure if the bite just turned on or if that was just suddenly the right bait but on my second cast I caught a beautiful 20.5" 3lb 12oz bass. Still pretty skinny from the spawn but a good fish. On the next cast, lightning struck again. This time it was a 19" 3lb bass. As I fished my way further upstream I mostly kept that 110 +1 in my hand. I occasionally would hit a shallower spot with the S-waver but that 110 +1 was getting it done! I caught nice fish here and there mixed in with my fair share of dinks. All the bass wanted that 110 +1. The bass were being super aggressive. I made one cast and as my jerkbait tumbled in the wind the line caught in the trebles. As I quickly reeled it spinning across the surface a bass came up and smashed it. I jerked it out of the mouth of that fish and flew through the air about 5'. As it landed another bass smashed it and I ended up landing that one. I love when they are just being greedy like that!! After getting reasonably far upstream the sun came out and the wind picked up a bit more. I decided to head back downstream past the launch and fish that water so that I would have the wind assist on the way home. That's always nice at the end of a long day. As I made my way downstream I came to the little island where I had caught the 20.5" and 19" (and a handful of other decent fish). I decided it was worth a cast or two. On about my 3rd cast I felt a bass smash that jerkbait. This time it was an 18.5" 2lb 15oz bass. That spot was pretty amazing!! As the day progressed I mostly fished the 110 +1 jerkbait and they kept biting it. I did briefly throw a 4" paddle tail swim bait and (MinnowZ) caught some fish on that including an 18.5" 3lb 3oz beauty. The cool thing about that fish is that a couple of casts earlier I caught a small bass and as I was reeling it in I saw a good-sized bass try to grab the swimbait hanging out of its mouth. I am pretty sure that was the 18.5"er I caught. Later in the day I did have a stretch of bad luck just to remind me that even the best days have their moments. I made a cast with the jerkbait and hooked a good-sized bass. I had it most of the way to the kayak when the lure came flying out and went about 15' in the air. When it landed I saw 2 bass come up and smash it. I hooked one of them and then lost that one at the kayak. I quickly cast back out and hooked a big one! I had this one about 1/2 way back when it came up and made a big jump and tossed that jerkbait back to me. So I lost 3 bass on two casts. Two of them were pretty big but the third one was in the giant territory. I could not complain too much since I had done well landing the big girls up to that point. It was an awesome day of fishing until tragedy struck right at the end of the day. I snagged up my 110 +1. I think it was in some old gill netting or something in a rock pile. I spent a good 1/2 hour trying to free that thing and broke my telescoping lure retriever in the process. It was just impossible in the current, waves and wind to get that lure back. I felt pretty sad losing that magic bait. I think the river gods thought I was having too much of an advantage over the bass and decided to take that lure away. I have to say that I did order another in that color while still out on the river. After that I headed back to the ramp I stopped and fished a couple of spots and picked up a few more bass including a pretty decent one to end the day. Overall, even with the loss of that lure, it was a pretty awesome day. I ended up with 41 bass with the best 5 going 15lb 7oz and 94.25" (20.5, 19, 18.5, 18.5, 17.75). I probably caught about 25 of the bass on that 110 +1, maybe 10 on the swim bait a handful on the S-waver and one on a drop shot. So when do the big bass bite? The answer my friend is blowing in the wind! Here a are a couple more pics and the video.

Thanks for the report! Having any success in water that hot is impressive.

Great report! That's a lucky kid!

When we lose a big bass it just makes us even hungrier to get back out there!

I hit the Columbia with my good friend Mike (Michael Jarvis) again. We had been having a devil of a time getting out together the last month and a half so getting out together 2 weeks in a row was a real treat. The week before Mike was teaching me the ways of the S-waver and I am definitely now in the comfort zone with that lure. It's the difference between saying "Oh my God, I got a bite" vs "It's about time I got another bite" when fishing a lure. It is now in the confidence bait category. I just need to get better at landing them when I hook them!! The drive to the river was bizarre. About a 1/2 mile from the ramp I drove through a cloud of bats. I hit like 3 or 4 before I knew what was happening. I felt really bad. I felt even worse later when I noticed there was a bat's wing stuck to my antenna :( The fishing did not start out great either. I always get to the water well before Mike and I was doing my usual searching with a topwater. Pretty quickly I made a long cast - high up in a tree. I mean I was not even close to having that lure hit the water. It was like I was trying to set a record for how far up a tree I could make a cast. Nothing like starting the day standing in the kayak trying to trace your line to find your lure in the tree. I mean, who doesn't love a treasure hunt. Fortunately, I was able to eventually solve the puzzle and get my lure back. I have to say though my luck did not improve much and for the first half hour I only had a couple of half-hearted blowups. l am stubborn though and eventually I had a good sized bass blast my plopper. Whew! The skunk was off. That ended up being the only topwater fish I landed. I did have some other bites and did lose another hooked bass that felt like a big one when the hooks just pulled out. First, big fish lost for the day. After a bit I started cycling through all my rods trying to see if the bass were interested in something else, or if they just weren't hungry yet. In the next hour I caught bass on a 4" paddle tail, Jack Hammer Stealthblade, Z-man Swag LT (swimbait) and the S-waver. Eventually, I settled on the S-waver because like the previous week they were chewing it. I was fishing around a small island when I felt that S-waver just stop. I reared back and that rod tip did not budge one inch. For a second I thought I was hung but then I felt some big head shakes. I leaned on that fish to try to get to the kayak and in my net. Unfortunately, that fish made a power dive and the hooks just pulled out. I was really bummed because that was a big fish. Second big fish lost for the day!! I was not a happy camper for a while but as soon as I had my next bite on the S-waver, and I actually landed that fish, I felt much better. I figured that Mike must be getting to the ramp soon so I headed back to fish near the ramp. He was not there when I got to the ramp so I started downstream and gave him a call to see if he was coming. He said "I'm not going to make it. I'm not feeling well". I was bummed but that's how it goes. Then he says, "Just kidding I'm on the ramp now". What a funny guy. While I waited for Mike to finish launching I decided to fish a little point that is close to the ramp. I quickly hooked what would be my best fish of the day on the S-waver, a 19" but only 2lb 15oz skinny post-spawner. A few minutes later I picked up another decent sized fish. By now, Mike had launched and we started fishing together. We fished the point a bit more with no luck and then decided to head down river to hit some of our favorite spots. We were fishing near this pier when I hooked another big fish on the S-waver. This guy was ripping out my drag when the hooks pulled out again. Again!! Aaargh!! As we fished our way along I kept that S-waver in my hand and was getting bit often enough to make it seem like a good idea. As we worked our way along we got to a spot that Mike said he likes for big fish. I immediately hooked a giant. The other bass I had lost were big but this was a true giant. Mike watched me play the fish when it came half way out of the water and just tossed my S-waver right back at me. I was really beside myself. That was the 4th big fish I had lost. That fish was so tall dorsal to belly and just looked thick and long. I have no idea exactly how big but it was huge. I have to admit that for a while after losing that fish I did not really put my best foot forward. I just kept seeing that beast coming out of the water and tossing my lure. Of course, eventually you just have to shake it off and get back to bassin'. The rest of the day was marked with lulls and spurts of action. One of our favorite spots only produced a single fish. Another did not produce any. Every one in a while I would hit a group and catch a couple, sometimes on back-to-back casts and then go half and hour or more without a sniff. We were fairly far downriver when all of a sudden I lost steering. My rudder was just not working. I used my paddle to steer and pedaled my way to a shallow spot. I got out of the kayak and tried to troubleshoot what was wrong. At first, I could not see the problem. I thought perhaps a rudder line had snapped inside the hull. I was just about to give up and head back - while Mike was joking about me being a jerk for asking to meet up and then bailing on him - when I saw what the issue was. The screw that holds the rudder on had backed almost all the way out. I went into my hatch and got out a screwdriver. Mike said "You carry tools?" and I said "If you have a Hobie you need to carry tools". Lucky for me the rudder had not fallen all the way off so it was just a matter of tightening the screw and I was back in business. Whew! By then the wind had been at full force for quite a while and the bite on the S-waver seemed to die off. We fished one of our favorite humps without a bite but I did have a follow on the S-waver. At that point I decided it was time to give the Megabass 110 +1 a try. That is another lure Mike has been slaying with this year. I have tried a few jerkbaits but I just never had any confidence in or real success with them. So I decided to take out a home loan and buy a couple of 110 +1s. Those things are pricey! I wanted to see if it was me or if perhaps the brand of jerkbait made a difference. On my first cast with it, on the spot where I had just made many casts with the S-waver, I hooked a good one but quickly lost. It was just a day of lost fish. However, in short order I caught a decent one and a dink. I was starting to like that 110 +1. However, after those fish the bite seemed to turn off and we started to fish our way back. Eventually we made our way back to a big shelf that drops froma couple of feet into 25' in short order. I first tried to fish the shelf with a few lures without success when I decided to pick the 110 +1 back up. Once again, on the first cast I caught a small bass. I kept casting that 110 +1 and eventually caught my second best bass of the day 18.25". That was a good fight in the middle of all that turmoil with the wind and the waves but I was so happy when I got the net under that fish without losing it! The thing that helped me fish out there was using a drift sock. Without the wind was blowing me upriver at 2+mph. With the drift sock out I slowed down to .2mph. With a tiny bit of pedaling I could basically hold my position. Huge difference when you can spend your energy fishing rather than controlling your kayak. After that bite died we fished the rest of the way back to the ramp picking up another fish or two. By the end of the day I had 35 bass but my best 5 only weighed 12lb 13oz. I could have had a monster day if I had landed all the big fish I lost, but that's fishing. Even with the lost fish it was just another really fun day on the water with Mike, laughing and bassing. The lulls are almost as fun as the bite windows when you are out with Mike! Here are some pics from the day and my video.

That's pretty funny. Next time he sees me make sure he tells me he's your dad!

I took work off on Friday to fish with my good friend Michael Jarvis. We had not been out together in a little while and I was super excited to get out on the water with Mike. I was also excited because Mike was going to teach me the way of the River2Sea S-waver. The weather forecast for the day was for wind and rain mixed with rain and wind It started out calm enough though. I got to the river about an hour and a half before Mike and started fishing - excited to have these conditions in June! 30 minutes later I was a bit less excited since I had only manage one dink on a topwater. I was feeling the pressure to catch something reasonable before Mike got there. I cycled through all my presentations without success until I came back to the topwater. I am not sure if it was the area or if the bite just turned on but I almost immediately had a bite. I quickly cast out with a followup lure (Sebile magic swimmer) on my new heavier spinning rod and caught a nice 2lb bass. A few casts later I caught another but then I missed a couple and had several follows. I felt like the fish were there and feeding but I did not quite have the right presentation. I switched to a 4" MinnowZ paddle tail on a jighead and that was the ticket (at least for a while). In the next 45 minutes I added 10 more bass. Around then Mike called me to let m know he was at the ramp. I fished my way back to him (catching 5 more along the way) and found out he had caught 5 as well by the time I got there. After that he fished together for the rest of the day. We laughed and bassed and just had an all-round great day on the water. Sometimes the wind was so loud it was hard to hear each other talk but we both know that the smallmouth love that weather and are always willing to battle the elements to catch big bass. Now, Mike is a great fisherman and he is a magician with that S-waver. It is a bait that I have fished half-heartedly a handful of times but I could never get over that hump that I need to when learning a new bait or technique. I had no confidence in it and I needed a lesson from the master. Fortunately for me Mike is as generous with his is knowledge as he is fun to fish with. He talked me through the different ways he fishes it, when he uses what color, all the little things that separate a great fisherman from a good one. I have to say I was not the best pupil because even with that tutelage I still struggled for a few hours while I watched Mike land giant after giant. Talk about a humbling experience! But with enough good-hearted kidding and a continual stream of pointers I was able to finally hook a good one on the S-waver! Unfortunately, I almost immediately lost that fish. I think it is that I did not get a good hookset because I was in total shock when my lure finally got slammed. Still, just getting that bite was huge for me. I fished with renewed confidence. MIke decided to move to our next spot but I wanted to stay where I had finally gotten a bite for a bit longer. It took about 15 minutes but I finally got pounded again. I could tell this was a good one and it put a healthy bend in my new spinning rod (which I bought for throwing wind-resistant baits on windy days). I was ecstatic when I slipped my net under a beautiful 19" 3lb 5oz bass! It felt great to finally feel like I had broken through some plane of understanding with that S-waver and catching a big one on a new rod is also the awesome. On the next case I got thumped again. This turned out to be a nice 2lb 4oz The wind was whipping, the white-caps were busting but I did not care. I was learning the way. For most of the rest of the day I kept that S-waver in my hand. I am far from an expert with it but I now have the confidence to fish with it without worrying that I am wasting my time. 3 of my best 5 bass came on that S-waver including my biggest, mentioned above. During the course of the day the wind would occasionally let up for a bit and then pick back up, It was sunny for a bit then it would rain again. Through it all they were eating that S-waver. Late in the day a cable on my drive broke. I could still pedal it but I was worried I was damaging it so I told Mike I was going to fish my way back to the ramp. He asked if I needed him to come along with me but I told him to keep bassing! On the way back to the ramp I decided to re-fish some of our earlier spots but decided to switch to the old Jack Hammer Stealthblade to show them something different. That ended up being a good call because I racked up quite a few on that lure including my 2nd biggest of the day, 18.75" and also 3lb 5oz. That fish made a couple of big jumps in the waves. It was just a great way to finish off the day. Eventually I made my way home and texted Mike as i was putting things away. I told him I had re-hit our earlier spot (when I got my best one) and he immediately replied that we sitting on that spot right then! He is not only a great fisherman he is relentless. Some days I almost feel sorry for those bass when Mike is on the river! So, I guess the point of the story is that an old dog can learn new tricks! If you want to learn about PNW bass fishing I recommend visting his channel: Michael Jarvis Here are some pics from the day and the video:

Great report! Those are some burly bass! Sounds like it was quite the circus in that creek! Those pictures of your pond are just gorgeous. They are so peaceful and serene. They are so relaxing to look at. Your eye with the camera is outstanding!

No, it is cold and rainy out here in Oregon :)