I hit the Columbia on Friday the 22nd.  It was a typical summer wind pattern. When I got to the river it was like glass (and stayed that way until about 10am). After that the west wind built up to the low 20s in the afternoon. I knew that was the prediction so I decided I would head east (upriver) to start the day and fish until the west wind just started to pick up. Then I would pedal back down past the ramp so that I would have the wind assist on the way home. I always try and use that wind to my advantage!

The water temp was 59F when I got there and rose to about 63F by the afternoon. Fish were in all three stages. A few pre-spawn, but spawn and a lot of post-spawn. I spent they entire day in less than 10' of water mostly throwing moving baits but occasionally slowing dow.

It was an exciting day from the start. I saw a beaver swim by and had a bite on my first cast. Second cast yielded my first bass of the day. No monster for sure, but the 1lb 14oz was big enough to give me a nice tussle. With the calm start I was throwing the old spinnerbait. Casts great on a calm day but man those things are tough to throw in the wind!

I picked up a few fish on the spinnerbait before I decided to try a Z-man SWAG LT in the hopes of getting a bigger fish. I did catch my first bass on that lure (just a 1lb 10oz) and had several other bites, but no giants. I would pick that bait up off and on throughout the day and could usually draw some strikes and catch a few fish but I never did get the giant I was hoping for on that bait.

After that I got to a little point that usually holds some fish around it and I fished it hard with the spinnerbait without a bite. I then picked up the bladed jig Stealthblade just to see if they would bite that since it is a little smaller profile. Second cast I got hammered. I only caught a fish or two on that point but I missed like three others. It was interesting that they would not bite the spinnerbait but were all over the vibrating jig.

I kept the JH in my hand for a while but a bit later I got to a spot I thought I would definitely catch some fish on but blanked. I switched to the spinnerbait and in a uno reverse card situation they were now al over that spinnerbait! That told me to rotate my baits all day long.

For moving baits I cycled through the spinnerbait, JH, 3" swimbait, SWAG L. I also occasionally mixed in a Ned rig on a 1/16oz head, a 1/4oz wobblehead and a wacky worm. They all caught fish. My primary lure was the spinnerbait in the morning when it was calm and the JH later once the wind picked up. I broke out the soft plastics on spots where I was sure I should catch a fish but they were ignoring my moving baits. It was just one of those days where I felt completely dialed in! I love that feeling!!

By the end of the day I had caugh 56 bass. Certainly plenty of dinks but with that many there were also plenty of 2+lb bass. My best 5 went 15lb 3oz which is an OK bag but I had hopes for a few more big fish. I think a lot of the big females have spawned and are in the post-spawn recovery phase. My two best fish came on soft plastic. I caught an 18.75" 3lb 8oz bass on the wacky worm (also the jumper below) and a 19" 3lb 10oz bass on the Ned rig.

I caught the most bass by far on the 1/2oz JH SB.When that wind picks up I can still cast that thing like a bullet into the teeth of the wind and those bass love to eat it when the water is churning into a froth!

Anyway, here are a few pics (inlcuding a nice action shot) and my video from the day:

Here is my best fish:

Here is the video:

Enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing.

6 hours ago, Bird said:

Enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing.

Thanks! I fished the Shenandoah river once back in the early 80s. Caught my first smallmouth there!

You are boating so many bass. Way back when, I caught the most bass. Then Clayton surpassed me. Now you have too. I see the trend and it ain't pretty!