Best day of Springer Fishing Ever

[Killertraylor]

Thought I'd wet your whistle a little - fished the mouth of the Columbia today - hooked five, landed three - all fin clipped, all about average - two 15 pounds and one 16. Cought two on a plug cut herring/spinner combo - I think they call it a 101 rig at FMS. Blue and green size 7 blade. The other three were all hooked on a k-14 flatfish - I call it a clown - silver with pink dots. My dad took the digital pictures and will e-mail them to me tomorrow and then I can post them. What a beautiful day also - sunny, no wind, not a cloud in the sky. I saw 8 other fish cought among the 10 boats I was fishing by and ALL were fin clipped - the local guys there were saying they were Willamette run fish, but I'm not sure they can tell. Also, for those of you who posted on my transducer thread - moving the X-85 transducer over on my transom about 2 inches worked great - I was able to read depth at full throttle no problem. None of the 3 fish we cleaned had smelt in them - I'm not sure there are any smelt left in the mouth of the Columbia. I'd look forward to a good couple of days here in Portland - hopefully this is the start of the good run we've all been hearing about! images/icons/smile.gif

[Up-4-Air]

"...mouth of the Columbia..." Do you mean between Bouy 10 and the Astoria Bridge? images/icons/confused.gif

[Killertraylor]

I knew that would be the first question - I'm not real eager to give my lucky spot away, but I'll tell you this much - I was about 12 miles above the bridge on the Washington Side of the river. If you follow the ship canal up from Astoria, it crosses over to the Washinton side above Tongue point - you can launch at John Day if you know you're way out of there. You go past Rice Island - that big Tern nightmare and a few more miles up there is a wingdam of pilings that come out from a small island on your right - there are 10-30 boats tied up to the pilings there on any given day - mostly local gillnetters that sportfish. It's not the most friendly crowd - but better than dealing with the OC crowd in my opinion. You can only tie up an fish on the outgoing tide - about 1 1/2 hours past Astoria book time. I've fished there 4 times in the last week and come home with fish each time. It can be a rough ride up and back if the weather is bad or if the wind is blowing - although guys do it in Skiffs all the time. I'd only do it in a decent sized boat. A guide that I'm sure you've all seen -Jody Mathers - big open sled probably 25 feet with really high gunnels, with green writing on the side has been fishing up there, but he trolls and only anchors up below the piling several hundred yards - I don't think he gets along with anyone down there from what I hear. I saw him land one fish today, but I wasn't keeping a real close eye on him. There you go - an honest fishing report with detailed instructions on how to get there. I'd probably have kept my mouth shut, but others here have shared some secrets too - maybe I'll even get rated!!! Good luck guys.

[Starr]

I'll rate ya KT ! anybody that has that good of a day, and shares his spot right down to the blade size on his spinner, well, is just awesome images/icons/grin.gif Congrats ! Do I sound GREEN with envy?

P.S. I'd have given you 5 stars if you had taken me with you images/icons/smile.gif

[ 03-21-2001: Message edited by: Starr ]

[Up-4-Air]

Thanks Killertraylor. You were far more specific than I expected. It's nice to know the fish are down there and they are coming our way (Portland area). I know who Jody is. An impressive boat to be sure. images/icons/smile.gif

[Phish_on]

That's a long way from "mouth of the Columbia". Sounds good, though!

[Killertraylor]

When you consider how long the Columbia River is - I think that spot fits the general description of"the mouth" - but you are right, it's probably 20+ miles above buoy 10. Man I wish I was back there this afternoon!

[Joe Schwab]

Know the spot well. How did you get along with the locals? Good to hear the fish are there. Jody is a great guy, just doesnt like crowds. He does catch fish, if they are there. You are right it does beat OC. images/icons/shocked.gif images/icons/frown.gif

[Killertraylor]

I'm not trying to stir things up, but because I know several gillnetters down there, I didn't have any problem at all getting along - but I can see how some anti-gillnetters might. They're actually fun guys to fish with, but they seem to lose a lot of fish - most of them try to fight the fish upriver to the boat - I always untie and drift downriver to net the fish - keeps the fish away from all the other boats and lines, etc.

[Finn-icky]

Does anyone know if Jody has taught that dog of his to fish yet. I'm sure he has it licenced. images/icons/grin.gif