I hit the Columbia at the Dalles on Sunday. The wind forecast was for a strong east wind in the gorge the Dalles is the one place that is usually protected and calm when that happens. I am happy to report that I had glassy conditions all day long. Water temp was 43F and the visibility must have been about 7 feet!. A buddy of mine fished out of Stevenson (I tried to talk him into the longer drive) and he was big wave fishing all day long.

Enough with the weather report now on to the fishing report. It was a big day for quality but not really for numbers. I only caught 12 smallmouth but 10 of them were over 2lbs. Of those 10, 6 were three pounds or better. Of those 6, 2 were over 4lbs. My best 5 went 18lbs 3oz and measured 93". Best 5 fish: 20" 4lb 7oz, 19" 4lb 1oz, 18.25" 3lb 5oz, 17.75" 3lb 5oz and an 18" 3lb 1oz.  I also had a 17.25" 3lb bass.

I am really thankful to have had such a good day in such nice conditions. That was definitely one of the most pleasant days of fishing I have ever had. There was not much current in the area I was fishing so I hardly had to pedal at all.

Of course it was not like they were jumping in the kayak right off the bat. It did take me a little while to figure them out. My previous trips out of Stevenson I was catching all my bass in 35-45'. So that is where I started fishing this trip as well. However, after fishing a couple of amazing looking rock piles without a sniff I knew I had to go into search mode. So I kept trying shallower and shallower until I stumbled upon the magic depth.

The first bass I caught (after about an hour and half of searching) was almost a 3 (2lb 13oz) and definitely put me on the right track. I always worry when I catch a fish out of different conditions than I had been in recent trips that the fish is a liar fish. You know, the one fish that sacrifices themself by letting themself be caught in area where there are no other fish. I am happy to say that the fish was actually a beacon of truthfulness because they definitely set me on the right path.

I did most of the damage (10 of the 12) on the Ned rig with Smelt TRD. Now I did fish that most of the day so perhaps that is why   I did catch one on a drop shot and one on a Carolina rig. However, it was hard to not keep going back to the Ned since they were eating it so well.

The only downside for the day was then number of fish that I missed or hooked and lost on the way to the kayak. I should have caught twice as many as I did. I am not sure what the deal was with that.  Good solid bite, good hookset, play the fish close to the kayak, hook pulls out. Lather, rinse, repeat. However, since I did end up with such a good bag it was pretty easy to forgive the bass for not fighting fair

Well here are pics of my 3lb plus fish and video from the day:

My best one:

Slayed em!

Your bigger ones are bigger than any smallies I've caught in Maine. I know the Dalles well as I had family in Sandy and Gresham.

That's a heckuva day for river bass, which can't pack on the weight like lake brownies and especially lake brownies eating gobies. You'd win a lot of kayak tourneys with those numbers.

8 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

The only downside for the day was then number of fish that I missed or hooked and lost on the way to the kayak. I should have caught twice as many as I did.

I have had days like that. I've also had days when I land 90% of what I hook. I think such variance is due more to the fish than the fisher.

I was thinking about the number of nice fish that I caught. My guess is that the bigger females are starting to group up in preparation to head into the spawning areas. I think that is why I was able to catch so many quality fish - and from water 10' shallower than previous weeks. I guess maybe the males are either still in deeper water (and I did not find them) or were already up shallow (which I never got around to checking).

I don't know Smallmouth, but i know what a fine day looks like. Awesome!

3 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

My guess is that the bigger females are starting to group up in preparation to head into the spawning areas.

She sure looks pre-spawn to me. Again, she's a river fish and not just any river, but the Columbia.

Nice catching!