Small mouth bass on the Willamette

Otter · May 8, 2019

Anyone catching any bass yet? With all that high water and the snow melt, I haven't given it a try yet cause the water temperature is still pretty cold. Typically we wait until it gets 60 degrees, and last time I checked it was about 55.

Mikej · May 8, 2019

Otter said:
Anyone catching any bass yet? With all that high water and the snow melt, I haven't given it a try yet cause the water temperature is still pretty cold. Typically we wait until it gets 60 degrees, and last time I checked it was about 55.

Coincidentally...We fished today between Milwaukee and the falls today. Fish weren't shallow. The few we found were in 6'-10'. The temp is 61 degrees. My thought is, the easy pickin's were 5-6 degrees ago. They're going to be setting up making nests and getting ready to spawn I'm guessing. If that's where YOU shine then go get 'em. I'm more of a early pre spawn guy. I was disappointed.

Otter · Jun 28, 2019

Headed out this weekend and next Tuesday for a Willamette River float and some bass fishing. Anyone have any fresh reports? Suggestions on what to use or where to fish at this point in the year?

86k5krawler · Jun 28, 2019

Ive been catching smallies on rocky points and sharp ledges using senkos. Have caught a few on crankbaits but with the algae floating in the water you spend more time cleaning than you do fishing.
Early am fish tend to be shallow chasing on the bait fish, as the sun moves up i find them backed off in the 8-10 ft range or at the first drop off point waiting for an easy snack.

Member 5605 · Jun 28, 2019

We have some at the warehouse in a 250gallon container out back. Some good side ones caught by warehouse manager last weekend.

kmk1012 · Jun 29, 2019

I'd like to get one or two to place in our pond, there's tons of guppy type fish that would be great food for a bass. I e heard that's it's not legal to transport live fish though, at least a game type fish.

Flymph · Jun 30, 2019

kmk1012 said:
I'd like to get one or two to place in our pond, there's tons of guppy type fish that would be great food for a bass. I e heard that's it's not legal to transport live fish though, at least a game type fish.

https://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/private_ponds/index.asp

Otter · Jul 2, 2019

Bass fishing on Sunday was a pretty good success considering the effort I put into it. I caught 3 really nice bass and two pike minnows. It started off slow so I didn't put a lot of effort into the fishing. Was more fun to enjoy a beverage and the conversation. A guy in a drift boat with a motor kept getting ahead of me buzzing the places I wanted to fish. He was looking for rocks and not fishing, but I know that didn't help the fishing. Yes, I killed the pike minnows and let the osprey get them.

Last year this time is about when it really heated up, so I'm looking forward to a few more floats.