Weekend Report - June 11-12

I gave sturgeon fishing another try down at the lower Columbia river area. I finally got the chance to explore down river from Cathlamet with the help of my good friend Duane.

For the past 3 years Duane has zeroed in on keeper sturgeon down in that area and was kind enough to show me where. We plotted the GPS coordinates and he showed me the passage through the islands that litter that area. Unfortunately, Duane wasn't able to join me for the weekend so I was on my own.

I dragged my buddy Tim and his son Clint for this expedition. Saturday was a good day of fishing but not catching. Clint and I only managed 1 shaker and a couple of missed opportunities. I blamed the lack of fish on the big tide swing.

Sunday was another interesting day. The day started out navigating through thick fog - for the entire 12 mile route! I basically drove my boat while following my tracks on my GPS. Tim kept a lookout for any obstacles while I had my eyes glued to my small GPS screen. It felt like I was playing a video game. Thankfully, we got to the fishing grounds without incident.

As for the rest of the day, we sat on anchor for almost 8 hours and only caught 3 shakers. Again, I have to find soemthing to blame, so I blame it all on the big tide swing and the wind that kick up around the afternoon and during tide change; yeah, that's it.

Considering the lack of keeper sturgeon, I still thought that it was a great trip, I learned a new spot and I got to know my GPS a little bit more. I'm hoping to make it back down there before the season closes. We will see.

Still Early For Summer Run Steelhead

Nowadays, it's become a rare occassion when I am able to fish with John, aka "The Professor," a very good friend of mine. There was a time, when he first introduced me to steelhead fishing, that we were fishing together almost every weekend. I fondly think back to those days of discovery and learning the finer points of steelhead fishing.

We would jump in his Custom Weld jet boat and scream towards Blue Creek to his favorite hole on the Cowlitz River, which I appropriately called "John's Hole." Anyone who fishes with John on a regular basis would become familiar with this hole.

On this day though, I only found smolts. Lots of them. Early in the morning, John did manage to hook into a small spawner buck and lost another. Later in the day, we boondogged the Blue Creek area and his friend hooked a "recycled" buck of about 8-9 lbs on a sandshrimp fished under a float.

We gave "John's Hole" another shot before heading in. After an unproductive hour, we finally called it quits and returned back to the launch. A few more weeks I think and this river will be full of bright summer runs and hopefully I'll get another chance to fish with "The Professor."

Weekend Report - June 3 - 4

It was our second annual weekend Shad fishing trip to the Bonneville Dam with our good friends Tim, Teri, Tori, Clint, Matt, and Maria. And of course we also had the pooches; Clyde, Teddy, Moose, and Daisy. We had such a good time last year that we decided to make it an annual pilgrimage. This year we elected to stay at the Columbia Gorge Riverside Lodge in Stevenson, WA.

It's a convenient 7 minute drive to the dam where we fish. The cabins were nicely furnished and were quite comfortable. My only grief were the trains that roared throughout the day and in the middle of the night. They did warn us about the trains, but it was tough to get any kind of restful undisturbed sleep.

Despite the lack of sleep, unstable weather, and poor counts, we did catch plenty of Shad. We decided to hold a friendly competition for the biggest shad. The winner would be bestowed the title King of Shad and a trophy. Youngster, Clint, took the lead early on Saturday with a 2.9 lber but was quickly over taken by his dad with a 3.1 lber.

On the second day I caught a fish that put on quite a tussle. When I finally weighed it, the fish went to 3.4 lbs! Clint tried hard, fish after fish, to find the elusive 4 lber. But at the end of the day my fish withstood the assualt and won. So until next year's trip, I will be the owner of the King of Shad Trophy.

When we finally got back from the trip, I checked the fish count to see exactly how much fish came through while we were at the dam. On June 3rd, 71,752 Shad passed through Bonneville. The following day 100,802 passed through. Wow! This is an amazing fishery that everyone should try once.

Before you go, stock up with 1/16th ounce shad darts and plenty of swivels, lead, and leader material. The river bottom is quite snaggy. I bought 100 darts for less than $50 from Woo's Lures and they worked great.

I personally prefer using light tackle such as long noodle rods and small spinning reels. With this set-up I feel every ounce of fight that the Shad is capable of throwing at me. One word really sums it all up - fun!