Willy report 5/6/11

[jpjule]

Fished the Willy near the Sellwood bridge for a few hours in the rain. The water has dropped a bit but is still pretty murky. Got 7 or 8 fish over 2 1/2 hours. All of them around 2 pounds. I didn't notice any damage to any of the fish on their tail fins so I don't think the spawn has gotten underway yet. The fish were quite fiesty though. Soft plastics in bright colors did the trick. 3" senko in chartruese with gold fleck was what I got most of the fish on. Had to fish 'em slow as possible though. A few more warm days and the smallmouth action is really going to pick up.

 

[burnsbabe]

This is encouraging. Any chance you've been out again since then. I feel like it's finally getting warm enough to expect some real action.

 

[jpjule]

This is encouraging. Any chance you've been out again since then. I feel like it's finally getting warm enough to expect some real action.

I went out three times this past week and had similiar results. The water is clearing up but I would like to see it drop a bit. I seem to catch more fish when the water is lower than the current levels. Small, bright and SLOW got the fish on. Still have not seen any banged up tail fins.

 

[burnsbabe]

I went out today, despite the....northwestish weather. Picked up a Northern Pikeminnow, about 14" on a swimbait early and then nothing. You're right that the water level needs to come down some more. Geez it needs to stop raining finally.

That said, any tips you have, especially for bank angling would be a help. I moved last year and can't seem to pick up the hang of Oregon fish.

 

[alseaalumaweld]

any tips?

 

[jpjule]

any tips?

Well, my first tip is to fish SLOW. Toss some tubes, senkos and craw imitations.When the weather warms throw some spinners and top water lures and work a bit quicker. I generally use lighter or more natural colors for clear water and darker colors when the water is murky. That said, the water was stained last week and I caught most of my fish on bright colors like chartruese. Rig your bait weedless/rockless. Fish around structure and drop offs. Look for gravel bottoms. Fish Slow. Start at the bottom then work your way up in the water column or the other way around if you like. Remember that what worked yesterday may not work today. Don't get stuck in a rut throwing the same bait in the same color to the same place because you had luck with it last time out. I catch myself doing that all of the time.
The best tip I can give is to just get out on the water and get a line wet. It also wouldn't hurt to use the search feature here on the OFF site. Type in smallmouth and read through the posts. A wealth of info at your fingertips.

 

[JASMINE]

We launched yesterday at 4:30pm and fished between Wilsonville and Newberg, bite was really slow. We managed eleven still but nothing of any real size, few around a pound. Purple tubes on the bottom caught most, purple/red smallie beaver got a few as well. Water is crazy high still and water temp was like 55 at best. Thing should really be turning on soon....i hope!

 

[burnsbabe]

I'm pretty concerned that the entire spawn will start and finish while the water is up as high as it is. The Columbia hit flood stage yesterday and there's plenty more water where that came from. I'm really getting impatient for this to drop to normal levels and get some decent fishing going.