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Fall fishing brings many opportunities to fisherman on the Columbia River. The best part about this time of year is the size of the fish. Chinook are the main target on the Columbia, and there’s a good reason for it. Imagine hooking into a 40-50lb salmon and bringing it to the boat. Well this is the time of year for it. With anticipated strong runs of salmon migrating up the river many fisherman are looking to hook into the big one. Nothing is more relaxing than sitting on a boat with friends enjoying the warm weather and hooking monster salmon. With these simple tips and tactics you can go out and hook one yourself.

Fishing for salmon this time of year is a little different but very easy and straight forward. With warm water temperatures, it can be a struggle to get a bite at times. Your best luck will be found in the deeper water where the water will be cooler and fish will be more active. Try and locate water between 40-50ft but be careful not to get into the shipping lane or you and your boat will end up at the bottom of the big C. To start out you’ll want to check the tides for the area you are fishing, because you’re always going to be fishing the outgoing tide. Fishing the outgoing tide will allow you to stay on anchor and for your lure to properly work. The setup is simple, I start with my main line which is around 50 or 65lb braided line. I connect the line to a spreader and then attach my weight. As far as line lengths go, the most typical setup is a 5×5. This means 5ft of leader from the spreader to the lure and another 5ft from the spreader to the weight. Just because a lot of people use those lengths doesn’t mean it’s the only thing that’s going to work so don’t be afraid to vary lengths until you find what is best for the day. All that’s left on the setup now is just run your leader to your lure. The main lure used this time of year is called a wobbler. There are several companies that make these lures, top choices are, the Simons, Alvins, Clancy, and Brads Wobblers. Colors will always vary from day to day so carry a selection. Reliable colors are blue and nickel or chartreuse and nickel. As far as how much lead to use, it will depend on how deep you are and how strong of a tide you have. I will use anywhere from 8-12oz of lead most of the time. Sometimes as an extra attractant you can add scent there are many to choose from but my favorites are shrimp, sardine, WD40 or herring.

With these tactics you now have the basics on how to fish for fall Chinook on the Columbia. All that is left to do is head out to river and put it all to work and enjoy the weather and fishing with your friends Get off the computer now and get out there and put a 40 pound Chinook in your boat!

Summer steelhead brings many choices to anglers this time of year. Gear tactics can range from plunking bait and spin n glo to bobber and jig fishing. One method which is by far becoming bigger each year is night fishing.

This method is extremely deadly and fairly easy to do. Glow in the dark setups can work but to take the hassle of re-charging your gear every several minutes take a look into lighted plugs. There are several on the market the well known ones around the northwest are brads wigglers, Luhr Jensen Kwikfish and Wazzat Spin-n-Glo. This lures are different but all have the same key concept which is they blink in the water. Most of these plugs will blink either green or red and both have been known to have success. Red often times will out fish the green.

When I night fish I like to get on the river while its still light so I can get a better idea of where I am fishing at. Once I have found where I want to be, which is about 8’ to 11’ of water I anchor up and fish into the dark. I like running a 30lb braided line to a barrel swivel. From the swivel run 4ft of a 15lb line to the plug. Being that the wigglers and kwikfish are diving plugs the easiest way to fish these is a method called flat lining. This method means putting no weight on and just letting the plug dive down on its own. This can vary depending on your current in slow water you will want to add weight and keep you lure at the bottom. When flat lining I usually run about 12-20 pulls depending on how deep the spot is I am fishing.

Now as for running spin-n-glos there’s really not too much to the setup. I like running either a single or a double hook setup. With the double hook setup you can run bait such as prawn or sand shrimp which can really trigger a bite depending on their mood. I run my main line down to a 3 way swivel or a spreader either will work. From the spreader I like to run about a 2 foot dropper to a weight. Then from the other end of the swivel about a 4ft leader to the spin-n-glo. With these tactics described you got all the basics you need to know. All there is left to do is get out there and put them to use. Fishing at night will be awesome from not til the end of the summer! Check your local game laws to see if its legal in your local rivers.

By:  Travis Bishop AKA CatchADoradoWithMYCurado

If you’re looking for a fun day of successful fishing you may want to consider shad fishing. Although not considered a good eating fish they are a fun fighting fish. With millions going over the dam each year it’s easy to have high number success days and even come home with sore arms.

Shad also make excellent crab and sturgeon bait. Fishing from the bank you’re a limited on where to fish. The best fishing is found up at Bonneville. The technique used is simple and similar to drift fishing for steelhead and salmon. Using about a 10lb line run it down to a swivel. At the swivel attach a weight which will always vary depending on the current speed. You’ll have to make a few casts and adjust your weight from there. Make sure your lead never hits the bottom or you’ll soon find out how much gear you go through from snagging up on the rocky bottom. From the swivel and weight run about a 3 to 4 foot leader at 6-8lb. There are many different lures that can be used to catch shad but as you may find out the cheaper the set up the better because you can go through them. Shad darts in a 1/16oz is what the majority of fisherman will use. Colors vary but best success will be found on bright colors such as chartreuse. Although the river is large you don’t need to cast further than 30ft to catch shad. Cast slightly upstream and let your gear sink downstream until it comes to up a 45 degree downstream. At this point as long as your gear isn’t touching bottom do a slow retrieve. Almost all of you fish will be picked up as your gear is swinging in to shore. Fishing from a boat can be a challenge finding the fish at times even with millions of fish. There are many times when you can sit on anchor and watch boats right next to you using the same lure catch fish and you might not touch a single fish. The reason behind this is because these fish follow current seams upstream. Don’t sit on anchor and wait for the fish to find you. Look for water any where from 8ft to 12ft and keep moving until you’re able to get into the seam of fish and once in that seam get ready to have some fun. Run your main fishing line down to a three way swivel. The strength of your mainline won’t make a big difference to these fish. At the swivel run a dropper line about 2ft down to your lead. The size of your lead again will vary but you’ll want to make sure you’re on the bottom this time. Also coming off the swivel run a 3ft leader to your lure. Again many lures can be used as long as they are small and create a flash in the water. Dick nites in size 0 and size 1 have been found very successful.

by Travis Bishop AKA CatchADoradoWithMYCurado

Beginning this month any angler that wants to earn some extra cash can do so just by fishing. BPA has a bounty on northern pike minnow to help get these fish out of the river. These fish are trash fish and are known for a pretty big appetite on salmon smolt. The season will end September 27, 2009. For every qualifying northern pike minnow 9 inches or longer returned to a registration station, anglers will receive $4-$8. The more fish an angler catches, the more they’re worth: the first 100 in one season are worth $4 each; after 100, they’re worth $5 each; and after 400 they’re worth $8 each. Special tagged northern pike minnow will be worth $500 again this year. This can add up to large amounts of extra cash depending on how much time you put in

You can catch northern pike minnow almost anywhere on the Columbia River. Northern pike minnow congregate in rocky areas with fast current near dams, islands, stream mouths, points, eddies, rows of pilings, and ledges or bars in the river. Most fish are caught in 7 to 25 feet of water. Northern pike minnow feed heavily on smolts, freshwater clams, and crayfish. They move to find concentrations of prey. Finding northern pike minnow may not be easy. Don’t spend all your time in just one spot. If you’re not doing any good after about 30 minutes move upstream or downstream until you find fish.

Worms are the most common northern pike minnow bait. Chicken liver is the next most popular bait. Make sure it is fresh and keep it cold to prevent it from getting too soft to stay on the hook. Salmon eggs, grasshoppers, crayfish tails, and shrimp are also popular. Fish these baits similar as you would salmon or steelhead fishing. Casting upstream slightly and let your bait drift along the bottom with the current.

Bait isn’t the only way to catch these fish you may also use soft plastics. Use grubs or worms (3 to 6 inches long), tube jugs (3 to 4 inches long), or shad type bodies (1 1/2 to 4 inches long). One-eighth or one-quarter ounce jig-heads are the most commonly used. The basic technique for fishing grubs is to drift-fish. Cast slightly upstream, straight out, or slightly downstream, depending on the amount of current. Count down to the proper depth (one-one thousand, two-one thousand…), then start reeling. You are at the proper depth if your lure occasionally lightly ticks on the rocks. In the evening northern pikeminnow are most consistently attracted to grubs with purple bodies and either blue or green glitter. These colors are also available with chartreuse tails, which often work well. Try purple grubs with blue or green glitter first. Red is the last basic glitter color to try for evening fishing. For daytime fishing, try light colored bodies like chartreuse or smoke. Experiments with glitter colors, fish don’t always follow the same pattern. Light colors or white usually better in the evening and dark colors usually work during the day. Experiment with colors to find what works best and make some money while you’re out there.

For more info check out

THE OFFICIAL PIKEMINNOW SPORT REWARD FISHING WEBSITE

If you’re looking to catch Kokanee now is the time to start. Spring is be the most productive time to pull out these fun and very tasty fish in both Merwin and Yale. Spring is not the only time you have a chance at these fish. You can find them throughout the entire summer but its going to take a little more effort finding them and a lot more weight, preferably a downrigger to get down to them.

Early in the season, March and April, Kokanee are in large, very concentrated schools near the surface of the water. You’ll need to fish very shallow with little weight. Troll the west end of Merwin where the water temp is warmer until you start catching fish, then stay in that area and you’ll notice patterns in where you catch fish due to the large schools.  In May and June the fish will follow the water temperature line down deeper into the lake. As the water warms, the fish will go deeper and deeper. For this reason you’ll need to fish deeper than you did before. Using a quality depth finder is an easy way of targeting the fish. If you don’t have one fish at different depths until you find them. Also, as the water warms, the fish will move to the east end of Merwin where fresh and cooler water enters from the upper Lewis River.  Fishing for kokanee can be done many different ways. Jigging, trolling, and casting are most popular. Trolling will be the easiest way in Merwin and Yale due to their size. Start by trolling ford fender flashers followed by a wedding ring spinner. When fishing on sunny days, use silver flashers, and use copper or brass on overcast days. Wedding ring spinners come in many colors but only red and green are your must have colors in your tackle box. Use the red early in the season when the kokanee are shallow and green when the kokanee move deeper. Also use Green Giant white shoepeg corn for bait, just one or two kernels per hook. Other bait such as single salmon eggs or a night crawler can work but corn tends to be must productive. Kokanee are strange in that sometimes they will bite best on things that other days they won’t touch. If you aren’t catching fish, make a change to your presentation about every 30 minutes, you’ll eventually find something that works, then stick with it.

To  many anglers Spring Chinook is one of the best tasting fish the North  West has to offer. Anglers each year head to the Columbia to try their  luck in hooking these amazing fish. Typically you’ll find that the  Willamette will start producing fish before the Columbia. This is because  smolts are released from the Willamette a little sooner than the rest  are released.

A relaxing, fun and successful way to catch these fish is anchor fishing.  This can be done on any river that is tide affected but found most popular  on the Columbia River and Willamette. The first thing you must always  be aware of is your tide. The only way to properly fish on anchor is  to fish an out going tide. This will keep your boat straight on anchor  and give your plugs the action they need to work in the water. The best  way to get started is venturing out and exploring holes with a fish  finder. You want to find water anywhere from 18-30ft. You can find fish  in other water as well but these depths are more common to hold fish  this time of year. Using your fish finder you want to find holes that  provide shelves or drop offs. Often times these salmon will just lay  behind these shelves looking for slower water to rest in before continuing  their journey upriver. Once you find shelves the best thing to do is  mark your location on your GPS either on your fish finder or a hand  held. If you don’t have either you can still manage it just may take  longer to locate the shelf next time you go out. The best thing to do  if you don’t have a GPS is try and memorize something along the shore  directly across so next time when you come back you can line yourself  back up and come close to getting in the same spot. Once on anchor you’ll  want to start getting your gear ready to go. I prefer to fish a braided  line either 50lb power pro or tuff line when fishing plugs or spinners.  This is because there is no stretch in your line which increases your  hook sets because fish will often hook them selves before you even grab  your rod. From my braided line I run it to a spreader which looks just  like heavy gauged wire bent in a 90 degree angle with swivels on the  ends. Three way swivels will work as well but you’ll find the spreaders  prevent tangles and frustration. From there you’ll want to tie an  18”-24” 15lb mono dropper line down from your spreader. This is  the line that connects down to your weight. Weight size may vary depending  on the current but for the most part 8-10oz will work. The reason I  run a lighter monofilament line for my dropper is because if your weight  snags on the bottom you want your weight to break loose first. This  will hopefully save you from having to re-rig a whole set up and also  save money. All that’s left to do now is tie on your plug. I like  running Luhr Jensen Kwikfish in a size K14 or K15. Colors will always  vary but there are few that seem to be winners each year. One of my  favorite is one many refer to as the “Double Trouble” it’s a chrome  body with Chartreuse on each end. The most key part to this whole setup  is making sure your plug is properly tuned. To do this put your plug  in the water and pull it upstream and watch the action. A properly tuned  plug will always stay straight inline and not pull to one side. If your  plug does run to one side you’ll want to tune it by adjusting the  eyelet your line connects to. If your plug pulls to the left turn the  eyelet to the right and vise versa if it pulls to the right. Now that  the plug is properly tuned wrapping your Kwikfish with bait will greatly  increase your catch rate. You’ll find the majority of everyone fishing  will be using Sardine fillets which you can buy filleted already or  take whole sardines and fillet them yourself either is fine. The reason  sardine is chosen over many other baits is because of its oil content.  Being that’s it’s a very oily fish it leaves a stronger scent in  the water attracting more fish to your plug. Wrapping your plugs is  easy I start by cutting fillets down to about 1” X 2” fillets. You’ll  want to place your fillet on the belly of you plug. So in order to do  that cut a slit about half way up the fillet. Using that slit you can  now slide it around the hook on the belly of the plug. Magic thread  or miracle thread is a couple threads out there you can use to wrap  your plug. I like to start at the back of the plug and work my way to  the front of the plug then wrap back towards the back making a total  of about 20-30 wraps. To finish it off just make several half hitch  knots and this will keep your bait secure. Now you’re ready to put  your lines in the water. Make sure to check your drags ahead of time.  You want a drag that is snug but not tight and not too loose. If a fish  hits you want them to be able to take line. You’ll find more fish  will hold the plug longer with a looser drag which equals more hook  ups. Hopefully some of these tips will help bring more fish to the boat  this year good luck!