Columbia River bank fishing for bass

[Aervax]

It has been a tough bass season for me so far this year. Caught a handful over several short trips in places I like to bank fish, but I had released hundreds of bass by this same time last year. The fish just don't love me as much now. Haha. Today was the first time it started to pick up a little bit, went 5 for 9 over a couple hours. Most were a couple pounds, but there was one nice 3.5 pound jumping head shaker. A pick of the big one is attached, and hopefully there will be a couple lunker picks over the next few weeks. No takes on topwater. Every fish was caught on Senkos. Tight lines...

 

[TimberTodd]

I think the water is finally starting to warm up. The temps yesterday and today should help. Nice fish!

 

[C_Run]

Nice. I'm not much of a bass fisherman but decided to devote a trip to largemouth in the rain at Olalla on Tuesday. Ended up 1 for 4 and Senko was the magic bullet, too. No trophy but at least I got one.

 

[montym]

That smile is bigger than the bass. Probably one of these days i would hit Hagg with senkos only, they never seem to work for me.

 

[Aervax]

Went out again yesterday for 3 hours. Brutally slow for this time of year, picked up 2 bass in all that time. The good news is that one of them was 4.5 pounds.

The change in weather last night did not help. It was windy and cold in the Gorge this morning, like a late fall day. A pardner and I hit the Columbia at 0700 and stopped at 1400. We caught a handful of bass each in all that time. Most were 3/4 to 1.5 pounders. I do not think any surpassed 2 pounds.

I hope someone out there has cracked the code for spring bass this season. A couple days of warm weather should blow the bite wide open. Until then, I will be scratching out a few fish here and there.

Tight lines to all!

 

[Luis Dominguez]

Went out again yesterday for 3 hours. Brutally slow for this time of year, picked up 2 bass in all that time. The good news is that one of them was 4.5 pounds.

The change in weather last night did not help. It was windy and cold in the Gorge this morning, like a late fall day. A pardner and I hit the Columbia at 0700 and stopped at 1400. We caught a handful of bass each in all that time. Most were 3/4 to 1.5 pounders. I do not think any surpassed 2 pounds.

I hope someone out there has cracked the code for spring bass this season. A couple days of warm weather should blow the bite wide open. Until then, I will be scratching out a few fish here and there.

Tight lines to all!

You bank fish on the Columbia? Are there any good bank fishing spots? Are you able to just pull over anywhere and walk to the river?

 

[Aervax]

Columbia River bass fishing remains unpredictable in paralell with the changing weather. Hood River air temp dropped to 46 F last night , and during the day it rained, the sun came out, the wind blew, it became perfectly still, and it went back and forth from one to the other all day long. The bass are still in 8-15 feet of water and it takes some coaxing to get them to bite. I am have my best luck inching plastic worms along the bottom. When the sun was out smaller fish did get a little bit more agressive, but barely enough to be worth mentioning. Today was 10 for 14 over 3 hours. Big fish in the pic was 3.5 lbs. I am still watching for 3 days in a row of warm weather to crack the bass bite wide open. That day will be time to hoist a cold one in toast.

 

[Aervax]

Earlier question about parking along the Columbia and walking to the River to fish. There are lots of places where a person can do that. Much of tbe Oregon side of the Columbia is public access at least in the Gorge. If you look on the county planning web site for the area you want to fish, look at platte maps to see who owns the land next to the river where you want to go. That is how I figure it out when there is a question. There are lots of parks, state lands, ntl forest lands, and gorge commission lands along the river that are public access. Best of luck!

 

[Aervax]

5 hours of bank fishing on the Columbia yielded just 6 bass, yesterday. Big fish was 2.5 pounds. The river level rose 2.5 feet earlier in the week, then dropped 3 feet toward the end. I could see a few bass beds in the shallows that had been abandoned due to falling water levels. This latest warm spell should spark the spawn in earnest now. Post reports and pics when you have them.