Fishing report 3-6

Winter Steelhead fishing remains a stellar option on nearly every river system in the Northwest. We are getting reports of fresh fish showing up all along the coast as well as the Willamette valley. There have even been quite a few fish around in the Cowlitz for you Southwest Washington anglers. Bobberdoggin eggs and beads have been one of the most popular techniques lately. Bobberdogging allows anglers to effectively cover a ton of water. Fisherman’s Pro, Josiah Darr, has been finding success along the coast using beads or eggs and said that there have been lots of fish getting caught by anglers back trolling plugs as well. K11 kwikfish, wiggle warts, hotshots and small Maglips make up just a few of the great plug options. 

Spring Chinook are around, in small numbers, but there are some around. Fisherman’s Pro, Eric Baird, has been getting his rods rigged and gear prepped for the Willamette to start dropping back into shape. And once it does, it’s game on! Trolling flashers and a cut-plug herring has always been a go-to in the Willamette. These fish will spend their time in the lower river waiting for water temperatures to start to rise before shooting up river and over the falls. Trolling spin dawgs, Spinfish, Superbaits and prawn spinners behind a 360 flasher is the other very popular technique that gets used. 

Catch and release Sturgeon fishing can be insanely good this time of year and keeps getting better as the river temperatures start to warm up. Many anglers will spend their mornings trolling for Spring Chinook and then switch to Sturgeon fishing in the afternoon. Many times they are rewarded with some fast paced, non stop action. Squid, herring, sand shrimp and smelt are all great bait options. 

Walleye fishing has been a fishery that is gaining in popularity and for good reason. They are delicious and when you find a pile of them you can load up the fish box real quick. Fisherman’s Pro, Steve Leonard, has been finding great success on the Walleye grounds of the middle Columbia lately. Trolling bottom walkers and worm harnesses has been the key to his success. 

Bottom fishing has still been good and should continue to be good for a longtime. A good mix of bottomfish and Lingcod have been reported. Shrimp scampis, curly tail grubs and shrimp flies will all work well. 

Razor clamming at Long Beach has been good and is open from March 7th through the 17th. With a pile of tentative digs on the horizon after that. 

Crabbing remains a good option for folks. Especially if we have a decent dry spell. When the bays empty out of fresh water it seems that the Crab really pile in. 

Kokanee fishing is still going strong at Lake Merwin and while many anglers are focusing their efforts on Winter Steelhead or Springers, those that are in the know have the Kokanee all to themselves. The lake is huge and gives anglers plenty of room to spread out. Trolling is the name of the game and while Kokanee are still high in the water column, varying your depths is a great way to zero in on the exact depth they are running that day. Bringing along several scent options will really help increase your odds if the fish are being more stubborn that day.