I hit the Columbia with my good friend Mike (Michael Jarvis) again. We had been having a devil of a time getting out together the last month and a half so getting out together 2 weeks in a row was a real treat. The week before Mike was teaching me the ways of the S-waver and I am definitely now in the comfort zone with that lure.

It's the difference between saying "Oh my God, I got a bite" vs "It's about time I got another bite" when fishing a lure. It is now in the confidence bait category. I just need to get better at landing them when I hook them!!

The drive to the river was bizarre. About a 1/2 mile from the ramp I drove through a cloud of bats. I hit like 3 or 4 before I knew what was happening. I felt really bad. I felt even worse later when I noticed there was a bat's wing stuck to my antenna :(

The fishing did not start out great either. I always get to the water well before Mike and I was doing my usual searching with a topwater. Pretty quickly I made a long cast - high up in a tree.  I mean I was not even close to having that lure hit the water. It was like I was trying to set a record for how far up a tree I could make a cast. Nothing like starting the day standing in the kayak trying to trace your line to find your lure in the tree. I mean, who doesn't love a treasure hunt.

Fortunately, I was able to eventually solve the puzzle and get my lure back. I have to say though my luck did not improve much and for the first half hour I only had a couple of half-hearted blowups. l am stubborn though and eventually I had a good sized bass blast my plopper. Whew! The skunk was off. That ended up being the only topwater fish I landed. I did have some other bites and did lose another hooked bass that felt like a big one when the hooks just pulled out. First, big fish lost for the day.

After a bit I started cycling through all my rods trying to see if the bass were interested in something else, or if they just weren't hungry yet. In the next hour I caught bass on a 4" paddle tail, Jack Hammer Stealthblade, Z-man Swag LT (swimbait) and the S-waver. Eventually, I settled on the S-waver because like the previous week they were chewing it.

I was fishing around a small island when I felt that S-waver just stop. I reared back and that rod tip did not budge one inch. For a second I thought I was hung but then I felt some big head shakes. I leaned on that fish to try to get to the kayak and in my net. Unfortunately, that fish made a power dive and the hooks just pulled out. I was really bummed because that was a big fish. Second big fish lost for the day!!

I was not a happy camper for a while but as soon as I had my next bite on the S-waver, and I actually landed that fish, I felt much better. I figured that Mike must be getting to the ramp soon so I headed back to fish near the ramp. He was not there when I got to the ramp so I started downstream and gave him a call to see if he was coming.

He said "I'm not going to make it. I'm not feeling well". I was bummed but that's how it goes. Then he says, "Just kidding I'm on the ramp now". What a funny guy.

While I waited for Mike to finish launching I decided to fish a little point that is close to the ramp. I quickly hooked what would be my best fish of the day on the S-waver, a 19" but only 2lb 15oz skinny post-spawner. A few minutes later I picked up another decent sized fish. By now, Mike had launched and we started fishing together.

We fished the point a bit more with no luck and then decided to head down river to hit some of our favorite spots. We were fishing near this pier when I hooked another big fish on the S-waver. This guy was ripping out my drag when the hooks pulled out again. Again!! Aaargh!!

As we fished our way along I kept that S-waver in my hand and was getting bit often enough to make it seem like a good idea. As we worked our way along we got to a spot that Mike said he likes for big fish. I immediately hooked a giant. The other bass I had lost were big but this was a true giant. Mike watched me play the fish when it came half way out of the water and just tossed my S-waver right back at me. I was really beside myself. That was the 4th big fish I had lost. That fish was so tall dorsal to belly and just looked thick and long. I have no idea exactly how big but it was huge.

I have to admit that for a while after losing that fish I did not really put my best foot forward. I just kept seeing that beast coming out of the water and tossing my lure. Of course, eventually you just have to shake it off and get back to bassin'.

The rest of the day was marked with lulls and spurts of action. One of our favorite spots only produced a single fish. Another did not produce any. Every one in a while I would hit a group and catch a couple, sometimes on back-to-back casts and then go half and hour or more without a sniff.

We were fairly far downriver when all of a sudden I lost steering. My rudder was just not working. I used my paddle to steer and pedaled my way to a shallow spot. I got out of the kayak and tried to troubleshoot what was wrong. At first, I could not see the problem. I thought perhaps a rudder line had snapped inside the hull. I was just about to give up and head back - while Mike was joking about me being a jerk for asking to meet up and then bailing on him   - when I saw what the issue was. The screw that holds the rudder on had backed almost all the way out.

I went into my hatch and got out a screwdriver. Mike said "You carry tools?" and I said "If you have a Hobie you need to carry tools". Lucky for me the rudder had not fallen all the way off so it was just a matter of tightening the screw and I was back in business. Whew!

By then the wind had been at full force for quite a while and the bite on the S-waver seemed to die off. We fished one of our favorite humps without a bite but I did have a follow on the S-waver. At that point I decided it was time to give the Megabass 110 +1 a try. That is another lure Mike has been slaying with this year. I have tried a few jerkbaits but I just never had any confidence in or real success with them. So I decided to take out a home loan and buy a couple of 110 +1s. Those things are pricey!

I wanted to see if it was me or if perhaps the brand of jerkbait made a difference. On my first cast with it, on the spot where I had just made many casts with the S-waver, I hooked a good one but quickly lost. It was just a day of lost fish. However, in short order I caught a decent one and a dink. I was starting to like that 110 +1. However, after those fish the bite seemed to turn off and we started to fish our way back.

Eventually we made our way back to a big shelf that drops froma  couple of feet into 25' in short order. I first tried to fish the shelf with a few lures without success when I decided to pick the 110 +1 back up. Once again, on the first cast I caught a small bass. I kept casting that 110 +1 and eventually caught my second best bass of the day 18.25". That was a good fight in the middle of all that turmoil with the wind and the waves but I was so happy when I got the net under that fish without losing it!

The thing that helped me fish out there was using a drift sock. Without the wind was blowing me upriver at 2+mph. With the drift sock out I slowed down to .2mph.  With a tiny bit of pedaling I could basically hold my position. Huge difference when you can spend your energy fishing rather than controlling your kayak.

After that bite died we fished the rest of the way back to the ramp picking up another fish or two. By the end of the day I had 35 bass but my best 5 only weighed 12lb 13oz. I could have had a monster day if I had landed all the big fish I lost, but that's fishing. Even with the lost fish it was just another really fun day on the water with Mike, laughing and bassing. The lulls are almost as fun as the bite windows when you are out with Mike!

Here are some pics from the day and my video.

Great report, enjoyed it 👍.

I love where you fish and love reaching your accounts, but I'm sad you lost that big bass. Dang it!

31 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I love where you fish and love reaching your accounts, but I'm sad you lost that big bass. Dang it!

When we lose a big bass it just makes us even hungrier to get back out there!

21 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

It was like I was trying to set a record for how far up a tree I could make a cast.

Don't even bother trying. I have that record, and it will never be bested.