pdxfisher

Wow! That is just an incredible report and some gorgeous bass! They look so incredibly healthy and strong (besides being big!). That water is so cool looking as well. It just looks so placid and serene. I love the backgrounds in the pictures as much as the bass themselves.

How many of you all have a checklist (I have one in Google Keep) for fishing. Then every time that I forget something or forget to prepare something I update the list. It has grows longer every year My last trip I forgot to put my lunch in the cooler so that was my last update to the list. If I am fishing weekly I automatically do everything on the list and don't need it but when my fishing days are spotty I often find that I have forgotten something and I am happy to have the list.

That is a fair comment. It was really that my expectations were pretty high and the day just fell well short of what I was looking for.

Wonderfully stated!

This time of year there are lots of big fish around. I can usually at least hook a big fish. We are lucky to have a good fishery. Tourneys around here this time of year require at least 20lb bags to win. As long as you send me some big NC largemouth in exchange

I took a day off work to fish the Columbia on Friday the 7th. I had not been on the Columbia since early April since I had not been feeling well enough to make that trip so I was really excited to have a big day. I got to the water pretty early and it was as gorgeous as it could be. The sky was a beautiful pink as the sun was just about to rise and the water was flat as glass. Unfortunately, that was a beautiful start to a frustrating day on the water. It was not an awful day but too many things just went wrong. First, I forgot my lunch and given my health I don't have a lot reserves so I only ended up fishing the morning. Second, my video camera stopped recording video after a couple of hours and only recorded audio with a single frozen video frame for the rest of the day. In terms of fishing it was frustrating as well. Too many lost fish and no big ones (best was only a 2lb 4oz). It was not awful, I did catch 14 bass but only 3 were over 2lbs (biggest was 2lb 4oz). This time of year if I don't get a 20"+ (4lb+) fish I feel like I have failed. Another frustrating point on the day was all the junk in the water. There was just little bits of weed, algae and scum floating around everywhere. I was constantly cleaning off my lures. I think the junk is because the river has been fluctuating a bit and the current was running pretty good. Water temp was around 59 in the main river but in the low 60s in shallow spots out of the current. Clarity was pretty good (a couple of feet) in most places. The lure of the day was the Jack Hammer Stealthblade. I caught 12 of the 14 bass on that lure. I did not get a bite on any soft plastics but I did not throw them very much. The fish I was catching all looked to be post-spawn (long and skinny). I did not see any bass chasing bait but I did make a bunch of casts to what turned out to be some spawning carp. In a foot of water they sure do look like bass chasing bait from a distance Anyway, enough complaining. Here is a pic of my first fish over 2lbs (only one before video froze). You can see how gorgeous the water was. Here is a video of the first few hours.

Wow! That is incredible!! I got a 7 today to but that was inches

OK, the underspins I have are just a regular swimbait jighead with an underspinner attached. I see that is a weedless shallow water lure. No need for weedless ones out here fishing for smallmouth. I would think you could repair those if they broke. I would use a split ring and tie a heavy (50lb test mono or wire) and attach a new blade. I have bought a lot of blades from netcraft. They have great selection and prices.

Maybe I am talking about a different kind of underspin. The underspins I have are just jigheads with a little willowleaf spinner on the bottom (opposite the line tie). You would not want to fish the ones I have in a foot of water.

That is an awesome report! How fast are you fishing that underspin? I always think of those as a deep water lure but you are obviously smashing them with it in shallow water.

I use braid with a fluoro leader but I think that it is not possible to have a line setup that won't do a good job catching fish with a Ned rig

Another great report and beautiful pics! I have no idea what that flower is but it is really cool looking! You really like that underspin. That is something that I almost never throw out here. I tend to go with just a swimbait on a jighead. Maybe I will have to dig out an underspin out of my the bottom of my jig box and give it a whirl whenever I can get out next.

Same here. I have a tackle bag that holds all my boxes of lures. Never had an issue.

Awesome report! Those pics are awesome. You always say it is beautiful out here but it is sure gorgeous there! I hope you keep posting reports because yours are my favorite. I love seeing all the pics and reading about your adventures!

As an old guy I approve this message

Maybe some day you will get a video camera, we will just have to wait That confluence is actually a little slough arm. A couple of weeks ago the fish at the mouth (according to one of my buddies) were all 16-18" so it was a little disappointing to be catching dinks there. Although I guess that I can't complain too much since he went two days after my trip and could not get a sniff there. Around this time of the year that slough starts to get this stringy, filament-y weed growth. Usually when that happens the bass move out and carp move in. I think I barely caught the tail end of the exodus with the better fish having already left.

Thanks @ol'crickety! It only seems fair to show some of the missed opportunities. Plus it often helps me remember the day better when I review them later. It is often the missed fish that really stick with me. Thanks for the complement! I am not sure how skilled or smooth I am but I catch enough to keep me happy. It would be cool if you ever started making videos I would love to watch you wrestling in some of those swamp monsters you call bass!

Sounds like a perfect day to me!

Nicely done!

Thanks A-Jay! Felt great to be on the water. Hopefully it was healing as well

I had not been feeling great the last 6 weeks - kidney failure had been getting the better of me. I had several false starts over the last 6 weeks where I would load up the night before but then feel miserable when trying to get u, but p and go in the morning. Stinks to feel bad during the best part of the season but you have to play the hand you are dealt. Well, I decided to try to give it a go again on Friday. I figured with taking an extra day off I would have plenty of time to recuperate if the fishing wore me out too much. I was torn on where to go since I know the Columbia is on fire this time of the year with big fish but the Willamette is a lot closer and less taxing to fish. After going back and forth I decided to ease back into things and make a trip to the Willamette our of 10th street. It ended up being an OK but not great day. I caught 29 bass but they were mostly dinks. My best was only 2lbs and I struggled to catch fish over a pound. Still, overall it was better than sitting at home again Water temp was ~58F and the fish that I caught were mostly in 6-12' of water. None of the fish I caught showed any signs of spawning (tails were all pristine). I am not sure if they have spawned and recovered or not spawned yet. I only saw fish chasing bait one time all day. Usually you see that a fair bit on the Willamette. I never did figure out where the bigger fish were holding but I know where they weren't Probably my best lure was a jerkbait but I did not fish it that much since it is a lot of work and it was killing my shoulders. I probably caught the most on (and fished the most with) a 3" white swimbait. I also caught fish on a flat-side crankbait, spy bait, Ned rig, wobblehead jig and a drop shot. Some of the bites were really hard and some were super soft. It seemed like the bites got softer as the day wore on. Overall I can't complain too much. I was able to get out and I really enjoyed just being out on the water in my kayak. Here are a couple of pics from the day and a pretty boring video.

When I was a kid in the 70s I used to fish a Snagproof frog all summer long. I still have some of those in my box. Other lures that I used to use from that era were a Mann's jelly worm, Zorro aggravator spinnerbait, Mann's one-eyd jack spinnerbait, hula popper, jitterbug, and a rapala or rebel minnow plug (they weren't called jerk baits back then). This thread really took me back.

Just awesome videos! So glad to hear that your wife is getting stronger!

You need to tell us about the 2 casts that you didn't catch one on What an awesome report. With the rate you catch them at you might want to check out Bass Pro Shops Speed shad swimbaits. Those are incredibly durable swimbaits. I bet I can usually get 15-20 on a speed shad and at least double that one a single Speed shad. Those are what I use and they catch at least as good as Keitech, at least out here.

I can't believe you had enough strength left to write up your report! What a great day!!