fishingaddictsnorthwest.com

No, that doesn’t mean that pollution and radiation have given the fish three fingers, or that I set the world record with a hundred pound fish! It means that even in the hottest weather, Smallmouth and Largemouth are biting.

The hottest day at my house hit 109 in the shade, and I saw on national news that Vancouver, Washington had broken it’s all time record with 108 degrees. But I hit the Willamette above the falls at Oregon City and found many Smallies volunteering to bite soft plastics, crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Rapala’s Shad Rap suspending Rainbow Trout worked great, alternatively sitting it and ripping it. A firetiger DT4 crankbait, bumbling along on the rocky bottom also produced. Gary Yamamoto grubs on ballhead jigs ticking the rocks also worked. Most volunteers were relatively small, but my friend Roy caught a battling 4 ½ pounder that nearly escaped the best efforts of two excited guys to net him. This was all in 100+ degree weather. We found shady spots and hid under the boat’s Bimini top. The river breeze helped out too.

I also fished some backwaters behind islands in the Columbia and caught quite a few Smallmouth. I have heard that the Columbia slough near the mouth of the Willamette is producing a mixed bag of Smallies and Walleyes too. More than one fisherman told me that they are getting big Smallmouth – 4 pounds and above – using topwaters early in the morning. Might be worth a try, if you like the adrenalin rush of a topwater attack!

We’ve got more hot August weather coming, and I don’t think we should let the heat keep us off the water. Also, there is an alternative to broiling in the heat.

Go West, young Bass man!

Many of Washington and Oregon’s coastal lakes and ponds are loaded with Largemouth. Some are hefty fish approaching 10 lbs., and you’ll be fishing in much more pleasant weather. In the past I have fished Loomis, Siltcoos, Takenitch and other coastal lakes, but this Summer I vacationed for a week with friends near Florence, Oregon and we fished a lake a few miles inland that proved to be a real producer. Combining our two families, we rented a home on the lake and were able to moor our boat and canoe at a private dock just across the lawn from the house. What a hardship it was, getting up in the morning, walking over to the boat, motoring a short distance and immediately catching fish!

When we asked an old guy who lives on the lake about launching he asked us if we were Bass fishermen, then informed us that the water was cold and no fish were being caught. We found the launch, got set up at the house, then caught fish at all hours of the day all week long. Can’t blame the guy for trying to shoo us away though!

I am proud to report that I experimented with many types of baits. One of my biggest fish came on a Bill Dance’s Eel. I wanted a more subtle bait in a shallow cove, and the head-wagging, tail-rippling motion of the bait seemed perfect. Also, we had seen quite a few salamanders surfacing for air and the Eel has similar movements. I watched a huge shape move out from under a submerged jumble of limbs and logs, then felt the weight on my line. The treble hook under the Eel’s head did the trick and we had a monster in the livewell! (I have now caught a surprise backwater Chinook Salmon, Largemouth, Smallmouth and a Rainbow Trout on the Dance’s Eel). Jig and grub combos, crankbaits and floating and suspending stickbaits also lured in some good fish. Twin-blade spinnerbaits accounted for most of our bigger Bass and we found that concentrating on points seemed to be the best strategy. Shallow coves produced during low-light hours.

A bit of experience that might help on your next outing: Topwater splashes, chases and slurps might not necessarily mean that topwater baits will produce. On several evening outings on the lake, I noticed lots of noise and motion on the surface. Desiring to be as cooperative and adaptable as possible (I always try to help supply the fish with what they want!), I put on single, then twin-blade buzzbaits. Nothing. I tried a Skitter Pop baitfish imitation using varying speeds and actions. Nothing. I twitched a floating stickbait. Nothing. I tried a Spro frog. Nothing. I tried ‘burning’ a spinnerbait just subsurface through open water where I had seen baitfish being chased. Nothing.

As I was experimenting with these baits I noticed baitfish activity at the very tips of several laydown trees extending out into the lake. Active fish were using the swamped trees to hide from predators. We made a slow, quiet approach to one these half-submerged treetops and I made a cast beyond, then hurried my spinnerbait through the water, letting it bang among the smaller branches. Even without my polarized glasses on, I suddenly saw a big bass torpedo straight up from beneath the treetop and make a vertical hairpin turn as he smashed my bait and headed for the deeps of the lake. By the time I reacted and set the hook, he had already peened himself on the bait and disappeared. He was one of the strongest, best fighting fish of the trip, and we caught several others by using the same tactic on other laydowns. It is possible that the ultra-clear water made open-water surface baits a little too flashy. Also, we had noticed many predator birds such as Cormorants, Blue Herons, Ospreys and Bald Eagles. I saw Eagles and Ospreys tumbling through the air in mock battles, screaming at each other over prime areas. With so much danger in the skies, I think the bigger, smarter fish were reluctant to risk exposing themselves by chasing baitfish out in the open.

If your are prospecting and trying out new areas this Summer, remember to try different tactics. Even though one idea or bait might make sense, there may be some factor influencing the fish in another direction. Use your powers of observation, keep an open mind, experiment and don’t get discouraged. If you keep trying, something will work. Then you can duplicate that success elsewhere on the same water.

I am excited about next month. September can be one of the best months for intercepting turned-on, football-shaped Bass. Book-ending the strategies of Spring can yield deep-bodied, hard-fighting fish that are bulking up for the chilly Winter months ahead.

See you in September!

Your friend,

Bassmaster Bob