Columbia river small mouth

[FishermanChris]

First time trying for small mouth in the Columbia. I wasn't sure what to expect but I feel like I crushed it for an hour at the end of the day. Is this normal or did I have a better than regular day? Just casting a little craw crank from the kayak.

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[ilikegunspdx]

Many smaller rivers the smallmouth are spawning now through May. Haven't fished for them in a while but it's not uncommon to get 50-75 in a day of float fishing. I've heard as much as 150 fish a day but have never got that many my self.

 

[WAYNO]

The Columbia and Willamette now have an abundance of smallmouth. And that's good. Gives folks something to fish for when other species require a whole bunch more effort.

 

[Tpnw1994]

Smallmouth fishing on the big c is a hoot ! Love side drifting a worm in the current up by the dam and waiting for a good bite !

 

[fishfearme]

We've had good and bad days, but dropping worms in the river or throwing a crank bait at the right time can get you quite a few smallmouth in an hour on the willamette. I'm sure it's the same on the Columbia.

 

[Onstep]

We have world-class small and large-mouth fishing. It's just not a valuable resource to fish for in the PNW.

 

[fishfearme]

Gave the Columbia a try down by the bonneville dam. Threw spinners parallel to the shore from a boulder that got me out about 6' and landed three small mouth within an hour. Easy fishing

 

[Mikej]

Gave the Columbia a try down by the bonneville dam. Threw spinners parallel to the shore from a boulder that got me out about 6' and landed three small mouth within an hour. Easy fishing

Be careful out there with with spinners....

7 Day and YTD Adult Counts

The Fish Passage Center (FPC) provides current and historic data on salmon and steelhead passage in the main stem Snake and Columbia river basins. Data from the Smolt Monitoring Program (SMP) is intended to provide the information basis for federal, state and tribal recommendations for fish...

www.fpc.org

It's been known to happen. Happened to me when I first moved here. Fishing for, 'Whatever', bass most likely. At the park on the river in Lake Oswego. My go-to was always natural colored twist-tail grubs.

 

[Aomvi]

Nice catch! What a blast.

 

[Lazyfaire]

Many smaller rivers the smallmouth are spawning now through May. Haven't fished for them in a while but it's not uncommon to get 50-75 in a day of float fishing. I've heard as much as 150 fish a day but have never got that many my self.

What would you do with 150 fish?

 

[Mikej]

What would you do with 150 fish?

Turn a lot of them loose. Save a bunch of your preferred size, fillet and freeze in ZipLocs. Or, might not be technically legal, killem' and toss em' back in for the crawdads, especially if your fishing salmon/steelhead holding rivers.

 

[Lazyfaire]

Turn a lot of them loose. Save a bunch of your preferred size, fillet and freeze in ZipLocs. Or, might not be technically legal, killem' and toss em' back in for the crawdads, especially if your fishing salmon/steelhead holding rivers.

Thanks

 

[Dxbills]

First time trying for small mouth in the Columbia. I wasn't sure what to expect but I feel like I crushed it for an hour at the end of the day. Is this normal or did I have a better than regular day? Just casting a little craw crank from the kayak.

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You caught a hot streak! Maybe you just figured out what the fish were looking for. Either way, congrats on the success!