Fishing Report 04-01-2022
Lola Talaro recently fished with her Dad, KC, and caught and released this colorful steelhead, putting a cap on a pretty good winter steelhead season. Way to go, Lola and Pops!
Fishing Report
Spring Chinook have taken over the conversations among many Northwest anglers. There are fish being caught daily in both the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, which is giving folks plenty of choices when it comes to planning their weekend fishing trip. The Columbia is set to close on Wednesday, April 6th, so if you are limited to weekends; this may be your last chance at a Columbia River Springer. At Least until they reopen the river, that is. There have been people finding success anchor fishing as well as trolling, with trolling being the more popular option. A triangle flasher with a plug-cut herring behind it it is far and away the most popular choice. The anchor fishermen will use a variety of baits to entice bites from Chinook. Kwikfish, Mag Lips, Brad’s Killerfish, Spin Fish, Herring, prawns and Brad’s Superbaits are all known producers. In the Willamette, fish are being caught from Scappoose all the way up to Oregon City. As the water warms up some anglers will congregate closer to Oregon City falls and fish eggs, shrimp, prawns plugs and even 360 flashers with small spinners.
Winter Steelhead fishing is still going and while many anglers have switched over to targeting Springers, there are still plenty of Steelhead to be caught. Along the coast many folks are still launching drift boats and bobber dogging their way to limits of Steelhead. Fisherman’s Pro’s, Ted Tuefel and David Johnson, are among the anglers still spending their time showing their clients some of the year's best Steelhead fishing. Bobberdogging, drift fishing bobber and jig, spoons and spinners are all great bait choices when chasing these fish. Also, be prepared to hook an early Summer Steelhead or even a Spring Chinook. On Steelhead gear, a fresh Spring Chinook will give you a run for your money! Remember , some streams closed to Steelhead after March 31st, so be sure to check regulations.
Walleye are one of the fish that anglers start chasing this time of year and they tend to take a back seat to Spring Chinook, those in the know have a fishery all to themselves. Trolling worm harnesses and bottom walkers have been the most popular option lately. Fisherman’s Pro, Steve Leonard, is one of those anglers that have this fishery “figured out” and has been giving his clients a great opportunity to take home some fillets for the freezer as well as catch and release some of the large females that are getting ready for the spawn.
Smallmouth Bass fishing is just starting to get going as the fish have now started their journey up from the deep water getting ready for the late spring spawn. Look for these fish around ledges and deeper water drop offs for the next few weeks. Tube baits, jigs, deep diving crankbaits and spinnerbaits should all give you a good shot and catching a few of these bronzeback beauties.
Catch and release Sturgeon fishing has been quite good in the lower Willamette. Many anglers are finding success in the deep water depressions of the Portland Harbor. This fishery is so much fun for anglers at any level. This is also a great fishery to have as a back-up plan if your day Springer fishing doesn’t go as planned. You can take your brined herring and drop it to the bottom and play tug-of-war with some prehistoric dinosaurs. Sand shrimp, herring, smelt, squid and roll mop have all been productive beats as of late.
Bottom fishing is another great fishery that many anglers start to think about as we move into periods of warmer weather. These delicious bottomfish can be found all along the coast and you can target them from docks, piers and jetties, or, take a larger boat out onto the big pond and try to find one of the many schools of bottomfish that are eager to bite. P-line Farallon Feathers, rock cod rigs, shrimp flies and vertical jigs have all been putting fish in the box.
Kokanee fishing has been really good on Lake Merwin. The fishing pressure has been fairly light as many anglers are focusing their efforts on Spring Chinook. These delicious landlocked Sockeye Salmon have still been relatively high in the water column. Anglers have been finding success trolling brads Kokanee Cutplugs, Wiggle Hoochies, wedding rings and small bright-colored Spin-N-Glos. Tip your offering with a kernel or two of shoe peg corn and you are in business.
Trout Fishing continues to get better as ODFW has been stocking Trout as fast as possible. This past week there have been many lakes and reservoirs that have been stocked with legal size or trophy Trout. Dorena Reservoir received over 5600 trophy Trout and Dexter Reservoir received over 3000 trophy Trout. These freshly stocked Trout love to bite bait as well as Spinners and Kastmasters. Now, if you are fishing out of a boat, you can catch fish while still fishing bait or by trolling small 2.5 size Maglips, Flatfish or wedding rings. Trolling flies is another great way to catch these fish as they start to get leery of bait. Very few Trout can pass up a slow trolled Woolly Bugger.
