pdxfisher

They fight like wildcats too!

Great report!

Great year and beautiful pics! I love seeing the nature shots from your slice of heaven! Last year may have been better but it doesn't stop this year from being great.

My kayak is quite stable. I just have to make sure I don't get broadsided when leaning the wrong way. I don't spend much time turning and showing my fish to the camera when it's sloppy like that! Not tough or foolhardy just vonstantly hyper-aware.

I hit the Columbia on Saturday the 18th out of Stevenson. The forecast was for a stiff East wind and the forecast did not disappoint! The day started out calm enough so I decided to try and hit some of my top-producing spots from the past few trips. Those spots were decidedly less hot than previous trips. I only caught a fish or two at best over the handful of spots that had been so good to me. By the time I had finished those rounds the wind had picked up in earnest and I decided I should not venture too far from the ramp so that at least my body would not be hard to find Last winter I had found some small somethings in 25-45' of water not too far from the ramp. I decided to give those winter spots a try and the good news is that the bass were home! I never had a lights out spot like I had on the previous trip but I was getting bit often enough to keep me out on the water. I think I could see my truck in the parking lot for every fish I caught. I probably never got more than 1/4 mile from the ramp and most of the time I was much closer than that. Once again I did not have any luck up shallow, but at least I was smart enough not to spend as much time trying to make that happen. The best news was the quality of the fish. I ended up with 32 bass and I would say only a handful would have weighed less than a pound and a quarter. My best 5 went 14lb 6oz which is decent and 4 of the 5 were over 3lbs (3lb 1oz, 3lb 3oz and two that weighed 3lb 7oz). The baits of the day were the Ned rig, drop shot and I went old school and broke out the Carolina rig!! I think a lot of my success I can trace back to tying a CR on my new rod and reel. The past few trips I had a big swimbait tied on that rod and had received a few bites but had not caught a fish on the new combo (Dobyns 704 and Curado 200DC). I started the day with the swimbait on but once the wind and waves picked up I thought, "I bet a Carolina rig might work well for fishing while I am bouncing around like a pinball". I rigged up the CR and quickly hooked a good-sized fish that I lost after a few seconds. I was desperate to get the curse off the new rod and reel!! I kept that CR in my hand and a little bit later I hooked another good fish! I was totally stoked when I slipped my net under a 3lb 7oz beauty! That's the way to break in a new rod and reel!! I have to say I was heaving that CR into a very stiff wind and the DC kept me backlash free all day long. While I was fishing it I kept humming "In my mind I'm going to Carolina (rig)..." I am sure James Taylor would have been impressed After that I used the CR as my search bait and if I caught a fish or two off a spot I would follow up on that spot with the Ned or the drop shot. The CR allowed my to search quickly in 25-45' of water - especially in the wind and the waves. The Ned and drop shot were good to scratch out an extra fish or two that would not eat the CR. Of course just to mock me a little bit the wind laid down at the end of the day as I was getting ready to leave. If I was not so worn out from fighting the wind all day I might have stayed a while longer but I decided I would just enjoy not have to load up in a gale. Overall it was an awesome day on the water. Battling the elements to catch a lot of nice sized bass is always about as much fun as you can have and I caught some nice bass on my new rod! Anyway, here are some pics of the 3lbers and the video from the day. Only disappointment is that when youtube compressed my video it pixelated a bunch of it. I promise there was nothing racy going on

Big chonker on the swing-head jig. That water is so beautiful. The clouds reflecting on the water makes it look magical!

Thanks @Swamp Girl and @A-Jay! I agree that yhose bass are pretty and that the action stills from the videos make for cool pictures.

I hit the Columbia River out of Stevenson, WA on Friday the 10th. I had not been out in 2 weeks so I was curious how long it would take me to find the bass since fall smallmouth are notoriously mobile. Last trip I did not have a sniff on the first point closest to the ramp. It was starting to seem that way again this week since I blanked on several lures before giving the drop shot a try. First cast with the drop shot and I hooked a good fish! I fought it up close to the kayak when the hook pulled out. Aargh! A cast or two later though I once again felt some weight as I lifted my drop shot off the bottom and I set the hook into another decent fish. This one at least had the courtesy of letting me unhook it. It was a nice 2lb 3lz smallie - a great way to start the day. I figured I was going to be laying the smack down on that point but after those two quick bites I could not buy a third. The next spot I hit produced a decent fish on the drop shot. At the next spot I caught a decent one right away, then a handful of dinks, and then another 2+lb fish. Then that bite shut off. The fourth spot was a gold mine in terms of numbers of fish. I am not sure how many I caught of that spot but it was more than 10 bass. At one point I had 5 bass on consecutive casts. Many of these fish were dinks but there were some nice ones mixed in. The funny thing is that I fished the drop shot on that spot without a bite, wobblehead without a bite and then just slayed them on the Ned rig. With the wind being nothing more than a gentle breeze I was able to fish the Ned effectively and it was just what they wanted. The rest of the day went about the same. A spot would produce one of none or a boatload. I fished quite a few spots that I thought would be good without a sniff only to move a short distance away and start to wail on them. After the initial calm of the morning the wind picked up a bit and I mostly kept the drop shot in my hand. I felt like I really had to talk them into biting it. I often had to jiggle it around a fair bit in a spot before getting a bite. I did have one other spot during the day where I caught 5 consecutive bass. It really seemed like they were grouping up into bigger schools and so that meant more empty water but when you found them the bite was on fire. The wind was funny on the day. It started out nice and calm, then it spiked up to about 18mph for about an hour, then it went back to being calm, then it spiked up to 26mph for about an hour, then it calmed down to about 12-15mph for the rest of the day. When the wind had picked up to around 26mph I almost packed it in. That was around noon and I had over 20 bass at that point. I am glad I decided to tough it out though as once that big wind passed (I caught nothing during that time) I was able to get back to catching them pretty good. I ended the day with 43 bass - which included a lot of dinks - but I did have 9 bass over 2lbs and my best was a 3lb 2oz. Not fantastic on size but not too bad. My best 5 weighed 12lb 4oz which was not too bad. Plus I had a lot of fish around a pound and three quarter. The interesting thing is that some of those bass were so fat and strong and fought like demons. Then on the next cast I would catch a super skinny one that could not fight all that hard. I think that lends credence to my thinking that different schools of fish were combining in to bigger schools and some of the schools that were combining ate much better over the summer than others. I did try to fish shallow off and on during the day but I never had a sniff in less than about 18' of water. I don't understand why there aren't fish up shallow on a cloudy day with a water temp of 66F. At least I was not too stupidly stubborn about trying to get them to eat a moving bait up shallow. Maybe with all the shad smolt outmigrating (you can see clouds of them on the sonar) the fish are happy to sit in deeper water and just suck in the dead and dying.I also did not catch a fish on the wobblehead which is really surprising. I think I had one bite but on it but that was it. They really only wanted small plastics all day long Anyway, here are a few pics from the day and the video:

Those are pigs. Looks like they have been sucking down a lot of poutine up there

Great trip! Our water temp is 66F and I can't catch a bass out of less that 20' of water. I have not had a topwater fish in weeks! Last trip I could not get bit on the swing-head either so I loved watching you rack up a few fatties that way! Thanks for sharing some quality bass!

That's a couple off good trips! Glad you have a good friend who can get you out.

I was rooting for you. I am sure 1400 will fall next trip!

I like to watch MLF and in the present format the pros are only allowed to use FFS for one period because it is too effective. Usually the pros catch more in their FFS period than the other two periods combined. Now this is not true of every pro at every event but by and large it is mostly true. I would love to play around with FFS some day just to see what its like. I think it would be pretty fascinating. That said, I doubt I will ever add it to my kayak though because it would require a larger battery, more wiring, and to have a transducer hanging over the side adding asymmetric drag. I see youtube videos of guys with it on kayaks and they use it well but to me (at least for now) it seems like it would over-complicate my day.

That or the old Charlie Brewer (of Fishing Facts) Do Nothing Slider head with his 4" worm on it. He described it as trying to sneak his bait past the bass. I still have a bunch of slider heads that I carry around and use from time to time when the bite is extra tough.

Sounds like an awesome day! Those bass are stout and that scenery is beautiful. I did not get out this weekend so reading your report was extra sweet.

In Oregon most folks hate on bass and walleye even though we have awesome fisheries for both. I just remember the penguins from the Pixar moves and I smile and wave, just smile and wave.

I have not but my buddy caught a huge one on a wobblehead once. I think the walleye tend to be a bit deeper than the smallmouth. Usually I see people fishing for them in 60' or more. I am sure there are some shallower but I just have not been lucky enough to catch one.

@Swamp Girl my memory is pretty good but I look at the video as I write my reports to help me remember details. That plus my click counter help me get the details correct.

I hit the Columbia on Sunday the 28th and conditions could not have been more perfect. The river was like glass until about 11am which was quite the treat! With those conditions I just knew the topwater bite was going to be on fire. I was extra excited because I had just bought a new Whopper plopper color on eBay that looked awesome. I made that first cast and I was laser-focused on that lure as it gurgled back to the kayak. "Well catching one on the first cast is bad luck anyway" I said to myself. However, it is even worse luck to not catch one on your first 30 casts I then probed around the point I was fishing a little deeper with a drop shot, Ned and wobblehead. Nada! I thought it was bizarre given the almost perfect conditions that I could not buy a bite on that first spot (that pretty much always produces). That's OK, I wlll head to the next spot. Now the weeds are pretty bad right now given their growth and the water level so I swung out a bit deeper on my way to the next spot to avoid them. I was cruising along when I spotted a fish arch in around 33' of water around some kind of junk on the bottom. I figured I might as well try and catch that fish since so far I was looking at a skunk. I looped back around and dropped my drop shot down and felt some weight when I lifted it up. First fish of the day was a dink out of 33' but the exciting part is that as I reeled that fish up my FF lit up like a Christmas tree! There were a LOT of bass down there on this pretty nothing spot. For the next hour and 15 minutes I caught a bass on more than 1/2 my casts. Mostly fishing the drop shot, one on the Ned rig and a few on the wobblehead. The thing that took the most time was getting back on top of the spot after each fish would pull me off of it. It was just incredible fishing under such beautiful conditions. The bass also wanted to see how calm it was Off that first spot I caught some dinks, lots of pound and a half to pound and three quarters and a 3lb 5oz 18.75" beauty. It was only about 9:15am and I already had an awesome day. I was spoiled though so after two casts in a row without a bite I left that spot. I am sure I could have stayed there and picked fish off for the rest of the morning but I was actually getting a little bored fishing the same spot - especially when I knew another spot very similar to the first spot. I headed down to that second spot and as soon as my drop shot hit the bottom I felt a thunk and had a fish on. It was crazy that on this beautiful, warm, partly cloudy day that fish were kegged up in 30-35' of water. Once again as I reeled that fish in my FF lit up like a Christmas tree. I fished that spot for close to 2 hours and once again I was getting bit on almost every drop on the drop shot. Once again a mix of dinks and pound and half to pound and three quarters. After a while I decided to put down the drop shot and just fish the wobblehead in hopes of catching bigger fish. Typically that larger bait is decent at weeding out smaller fish. Of course the first one I caught was small one, then I caught one of the pound and three quarter variety. Then I snapped off the lure on a mighty cast Fortunately I carry a bunch of those since donating them to the river bottom is part of fishing them. The next fish I hooked had some weight to it. When I leaned on that fish it leaned back! I was really stoked when I slipped my net under a 4lb 0oz, 20.25" smallmouth! The bite on the wobblehead was not as fast as on the drop shot but getting a 4lber makes it worth it. I continued to fish that spot for a while longer until I picked up my 27th bass! Once again I could have sat on that spot and continued to catch them but I really wanted to check up shallow again. I really wanted to catch a bass on my new rod (Dobyns 704) and a new lure Megabass Magdraft 6" swimbait. I went to a spot where there is a long shallow flat (couple of feet deep) that drops sharply into 15-25' of water and started chucking the Magdraft around. While I was doing that I saw some bass chasing bait and sped after them. I tossed the Magdraft and felt a bite but it did not stick I kept tossing around the edge when I felt another thump but once again I missed it but that fish thumped it again and then the lure felt funny. When I reeled it in it was balled up on the treble hook. Dang! Missed that opportunity. I kept pitching the Magdraft for a while without any more bites but before I abandoned that spot I went back to where I had the good bite on the Magdraft and through out my spy bait. That was immediately thumped by a good fish that put a deep bend in my rod. This was another big fish! I guess I was a little overzealous on trying to get that fish up to the surface because as I was leaning on it the hooks popped out and I was left berating myself for not taking my time. Dang it! I fished around there for a while longer without a bite, or seeing any other surface action. The wind was starting to pick up so I decided to another deep spot I like to fish. I got on that spot and quickly picked up 3 more bass. The wind was now getting stiffer and I figured I could come back and fish this spot some more later on if I felt like. Plus getting my 30th bass was a good time to move. As I headed further downstream I met a fellow kayak angler and we exchanged info on how we had been doing. He had caught one nice one but had said it had been pretty slow overall. I told him that I was catching lots of fish in 30-35' of water and pedaled back upstream to show him the spot I had just left. I told him that they were biting good when I left. He saw the big rocks that were holding the fish. I wished him luck and went on my way. I spent the next few hours trying a bunch of shallow spots with the Magdraft but I could not get a bite. It seemed so perfect for it that I had a hard time putting it down even though I was not getting bit. Finally, I decided that I would in fact like to catch a few more fish. I went to a medium depth spot (~15') and picked up one on the wobblehead but could not get a second bite. I started back upstream and stopped at another favorite spot where there is a hump that comes up to about 15' and is surrounded by 25' to 30' of water. The wind was really howling pretty good by this point so I picked up the wobblehead and started dragging it around I picked up two nice ones and lost a third at the kayak. After that burst of action I was having a hard time finding the holding and casting to the spot I wanted to fish. At that point I decided I would give the drop shot a try and then head home. Sitting right on the spot and fishing vertically made it much easier to keep my lure in the danger zone. I pretty quickly picked up 3 bass which gave me an even 3 dozen. I decided that was enough. I was tired and still had to slog back to the ramp, but at least I had the wind assist! It was quite the awesome day. 36 bass with my best 5 going 12lb 15oz. I certainly had my fair share of dinks but there were a ton of bass in that pound and half to two pound range by the time the day was done. Anyway, here is the video for the day. It is extremely long because I did not cut out much from the times when i was wailing on them in the morning. Even when my catch rate slowed down with the wobblehead. I figured it might be intereting to get a feel for the catch rate rather than just seeing fish after fish.

What a great day on the water!

I love when the smallmouth are distinctly striped up like that.

Awesome! You are the tank commander!

Yikes! That just sounds like the universe was unfairly against you. Hopefully that means you are owed many lunkers on your next trip!

I hit the Willamette out of Willamette park in West Linn on Saturday. I was not there hoping to catch a coho like most of the folks, I just wanted a laid back, calm, no wind-fighting day of fishing The Willamette delivered on that and even gave me a bonus, my first upper Willamette river walleye!! The bulk of the fishing on the day was typical for the Willamette (at least for me). Lots of bass, but most all were dinks. My "big" fish for the day was a 1lb 10oz bass and I probably only a handful of the 27 bass I caught were over a pound. Most of the bass that I caught came out of 15-25' of water and were caught on a drop shot. The Ned rig was second best. I also caught at least one fish on a wobblehead, spy bait and jack hammer stealth blade. Even though it was a perfect morning for it I did not get so much as a sniff on topwater. I did see some surface activity but they weren't buying what I was selling. Now for the exciting part of the day, my first upper Willamette walleye! That thing was just total luck. I was fishing a drop shot in about 20-24' of water and had missed a decent fish that came off after a brief hookup. I was reeling my drop shot back up to check it and the walleye must have followed it up from the bottom. It grabbed my bait right at the kayak, you can see it happen on the video! No skill involved in catching that fish. I was still super excited. I had just seen someone else catch one in another youtube video and a guy said that at the kayak tournament on the upper Willamette that there were 5 walleye caught during the day. I was surprised at hearing about that but I guess it was foreshadowing for Saturday. The little walleye I caught put up a pretty spirited fight and really made my day. Overall the day was just what I was hoping for. The water was like glass i the morning and then when it started getting hot in the afternoon there was a pleasant breeze. Much more relaxing than fishing in the wind tunnel known as the gorge. The fishing was easy, the fish were mostly small but it was a perfect day in its own way. I am not sure where the bigger fish are hiding in the Willamette right now I can only tell you where they weren't I did end the day fishing one of my favorite ways though. I decided as I headed back to the ramp that I would toss my stealth blade around and through the weedbeds. I got 3 bites doing that in pretty short order, maybe I should have spent more time on that earlier. I did try fishing shallow off and on during the day but not around the weedbeds. Well, anyway, that trip was really refreshing. I might have to squeeze some more trips in on the Willamette in the future - especially when I am feeling beat up by the Columbia. Anyway, here are some pics and video from the day.

Thanks for the concern guys! I wore my pdf when I swam after my kayak. It was pretty easy to get it and bring it back. Water was 72F and quite comfortable. It was the rest of the day, fishing wet, that was miserable. @Glenn I fished the Willamette yesterday instead of braving the gorge this weekend. Nothing but sunshine and glassy calm giving way to a pleasant afternoon breeze!