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@00Swede
Well said. Your comments are spot on. And yes, I'm pretty sure I've seen you in your kayak at least a couple of times fishing in places on my regular go to list. I'm sure we have overlap, which I take as a compliment. One of these days I'll pull over and fish right on top of you to ask what you're doing in my spot, again!
@Fletchpdx
I do get as much satisfaction from seeing someone catch a big fish as I get catching one myself, frequently more so. I'm glad to share what to look for in good bass fishing spots without sharing any of my specific locations.
This time of year you're looking for the right water depth and current. As the water warms in the summer the bigger fish always move deeper, so if you want to do some bank fishing while water temps are perfect now is the time to get out there. Most of the Columbia fish are still running at depths of 5-15 feet. As the summer progresses and water temp rises bank fishing for smallmouth bass gets tougher and average fish size for bankies decreases.
Look for places where you can cast and work your choice of lure directly through moving water that is slow current, or even better can be along seams of slow current and fast current at the right depths and near trees or rocks that offer some cover from predators. Eagles osprey and otters eat thousands of bass on the Columbia every single day. The fish figure this out and the bigger ones dominate areas where they have current, depth and cover combined.
I have discovered a handful of locations with this combination where I can fish from the bank and catch a few fish in the 1-2 pound range and an occasional one that'll run 3-4 pounds. Bass do move up and down in water depth depending on water temp, flow rate, position of the sun, fishing and predator pressure, barometric pressure and so on. If I keep hitting those spots at different times of the day and at different river flow rates and varying conditions I'll occasionally land one over 6 lbs from the bank, maybe 1 or 2 a year in that size range.
I frequently scout new fishing spots on the river using google maps satellite view looking for bank locations that might have some of the right factors. Then I go there and fish them under different conditions to learn if some decent fish are there, and how they orient themselves under a variety of conditions.
Some places produce every single time. Others only produce under certain conditions. The still water sloughs and marshes along the Columbia are a good example of that. They fish well for spawning bass in April and May. Once the spawn is over the residual fish that decide to stay become a captive population to otters and osprey, so everything but the little dink fish are gradually decimated by mid June. I would not waste time fishing for smallmouth in shallower still water places like that this time of year.
If you want to go out and fish sometime I am always open to heading out together, and these days we would have to take separate vehicles of course. We could both choose a couple of new bank fishing spots to try together and see what comes out of them. I learn something new from each fisherman with whom I share time on the water. I can be a slow learner sometimes, so I need to spend a lot of time fishing to accumulate the know how to be good at it. Always grasping for another excuse to get out there and play in the water.
Tightlines! Cheers. Eric
Well said. Your comments are spot on. And yes, I'm pretty sure I've seen you in your kayak at least a couple of times fishing in places on my regular go to list. I'm sure we have overlap, which I take as a compliment. One of these days I'll pull over and fish right on top of you to ask what you're doing in my spot, again!
@Fletchpdx
I do get as much satisfaction from seeing someone catch a big fish as I get catching one myself, frequently more so. I'm glad to share what to look for in good bass fishing spots without sharing any of my specific locations.
This time of year you're looking for the right water depth and current. As the water warms in the summer the bigger fish always move deeper, so if you want to do some bank fishing while water temps are perfect now is the time to get out there. Most of the Columbia fish are still running at depths of 5-15 feet. As the summer progresses and water temp rises bank fishing for smallmouth bass gets tougher and average fish size for bankies decreases.
Look for places where you can cast and work your choice of lure directly through moving water that is slow current, or even better can be along seams of slow current and fast current at the right depths and near trees or rocks that offer some cover from predators. Eagles osprey and otters eat thousands of bass on the Columbia every single day. The fish figure this out and the bigger ones dominate areas where they have current, depth and cover combined.
I have discovered a handful of locations with this combination where I can fish from the bank and catch a few fish in the 1-2 pound range and an occasional one that'll run 3-4 pounds. Bass do move up and down in water depth depending on water temp, flow rate, position of the sun, fishing and predator pressure, barometric pressure and so on. If I keep hitting those spots at different times of the day and at different river flow rates and varying conditions I'll occasionally land one over 6 lbs from the bank, maybe 1 or 2 a year in that size range.
I frequently scout new fishing spots on the river using google maps satellite view looking for bank locations that might have some of the right factors. Then I go there and fish them under different conditions to learn if some decent fish are there, and how they orient themselves under a variety of conditions.
Some places produce every single time. Others only produce under certain conditions. The still water sloughs and marshes along the Columbia are a good example of that. They fish well for spawning bass in April and May. Once the spawn is over the residual fish that decide to stay become a captive population to otters and osprey, so everything but the little dink fish are gradually decimated by mid June. I would not waste time fishing for smallmouth in shallower still water places like that this time of year.
If you want to go out and fish sometime I am always open to heading out together, and these days we would have to take separate vehicles of course. We could both choose a couple of new bank fishing spots to try together and see what comes out of them. I learn something new from each fisherman with whom I share time on the water. I can be a slow learner sometimes, so I need to spend a lot of time fishing to accumulate the know how to be good at it. Always grasping for another excuse to get out there and play in the water.
Tightlines! Cheers. Eric
