I hit the Columbia out of Stevenson on Saturday the 7th for the first time in 3 weeks. High temp was forecast to be 90 but Sunday was supposed to be 5 degrees hotter so I picked the lesser of the two evils. I got to the river at first light and there was a bit of a breeze. I started throwing to a mini-point that usually produces at least a fish or two in the summer but I got nothing but some weeds. Then I went over to a bigger point that ALWAYS has fish on this time of the year but again all I could conjure up were some more weeds.

 

Well, after 45 minutes I was having the kind of day that only a vegan would be excited about and I have to admit my confidence was beginning to get a little bit shaky. "How am I not getting bit" I said to myself again and again during those first 45 minutes. But I did all I could do and just kept plugging away and switching presentations.

 

Eventually as I cycled through my rods I picked my old faithful back up, the 1/2oz JH Stealthblade with a 3" MinnowZ trailer. I am not sure if the dinner bell went off, if the fish were waiting for more light, or what but all of a sudden the bite was on!! The bass were biting with ferocity that was matched only by my ineptitude at getting one into the kayak. I promptly lost 3 bass on 4 casts.

 

I have to say that after fishing for 45 minutes without a sniff only to lose the first 3 fish I hooked had me feeling kind of angry However, when I hooked the fourth fish and finally did manage to land it all the dark feelings were washed away. Amazing how that works! 

 

For the next half hour to 45 minutes the bite was just insane. I seriously got bit on almost every cast. I missed a ton of strikes and lost several more but the action was intense. It was extra cool because I saw so many of the bites where I watched them zoom in and just annihilate that JH. 

 

After watching like 3 bass in a row hit the JH right below the surface a few feet from the yak I switched to a Choppo thinking that maybe with two sets of trebles I would do better at hooking them but somehow it was even worse. I am not sure if those fish needed new glasses or what but their ability to actually grab that Choppo was pathetic. After finally landing one on the Choppo (I just could not give up without catching at least one) I went back to the JH stealthblade.

 

For the rest of the day I fished that JH. When I would miss a strike I would follow up with a wacky-rigged 4" Senko. It was the perfect combination. As the sun rose I kept expecting the shallow water bite to turn off but it never did. It did slow down a bit but all day long I was able to get bit on 1'-6' of water.

 

The bass themselves were definitely post-spawn and skinny as rails. I caught a 19" bass that only weighted 2lb 9oz. I ended the day with 40 bass with best 5 only weighing 12lb 13oz (biggest was a 2lb 12oz that was 18").  I should have measured the length of more fish but I would guess that my best 5 were about 90" total length.

 

Just to be thorough I did probe deeper water every once in a while just to see if maybe there were some big females out there chomping and I did manage one fish out of about 15' on a wobblehead and maybe had another bite or two but the shallow bite was so good and so much fun that I just could not stay out in the deeper water for very long.

 

It was interesting in that the river dropped 2' during the course of the day. Some of the spots I caught fish off of first thing in the morning were high and dry in the afternoon. Other spots were I was fishing over tops of the weeds now had the weeds all the way to the surface.

 

So the day started out really slow but once they started chewing they really never stopped. It was definitely one of the most fun days of fishing I have had. For me, nothing beats just slaying them on a moving bait.

 

Here are a few pics on the day and the usual video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're a heckuva fisherman.

Great day!

16 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Great day!

 

Not as good as yours but I was pretty happy. I love those days when they bite a moving bait all day long. 

40 is a great day no matter what you compare it to!  Really surprised they lowered the flows on such a hot day.  Would have thought the demand would be a little higher.  How long total did you fish for?  I wish I had a little better yak that I could venture into the big river with.  I have the drift boat, but the yak is much more convenient. 

I was out all day long. So fewer fish and it took me longer. I did waste several hours in total fishing deeper, hoping to run into a big female, but thats part of the game.

 

I think maybe the river dropped so much because Bonneville was pulling so much water. I think the big drops happen during high demand periods. 

 

There was a guy out on the main river in a little pond prowler with a tiny gas outboard on back and an electric up front. That really seemed like rolling the dice on the river. He did get off pretty early but that I don't think I would attempt that.