Punchbowl substitutes

[WaterDog]

I can speak to the area below the Willamette along Sauvie’s Island. It’s no big secret there is a decent hole below marker 40. And there can be some good action above and below the gas line crossing. I have fished as low as maker 32 with spotty success although I know keepers are had down there. There are lots of holes, more like depressions, along that entire stretch. Believe it or not I have boated lots of keepers in that area. :rolleyes:

My 2 cents worth of cracker advice. :wink:

[Pilar]

Hey all, I buried this info in another thread .. anyone fishing the Kelley point hogline aka the punchbowl .. here's some other spots close by that produce fish this time of year.

You have to come back and tell how it went. That's the deal...

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CP, thats the spirit! I might be out there 1st thing too. No one wants to run up the gorge tomorrow so I'll fish instead.

There are several areas to fish in the vicinity of the Willamette mouth. I fish the point when I can because it concentrates the fish into a predictable area. Easy pickens in other words.

The other places are up by Hayden Island and clear up by the power lines. On the opposite (Wa.) shore there is a green bouy and the slot just north of that is productive.

Just below the Willamette mouth you'll see boats all along Sauvie's island. I rarely fish here and so maybe somebody else can talk about it.

To find the other holes I'll give you some things to line up on.

T-6 - Go to the container docks right at the end of Hayden Island. At the downstream end you'll see a '2700' stenciled on the dock. Start there and go towards the barges moored on the Washington side. Watch the sonar for the drop off. Once you find it double back and put the boat at the top of the hill.

Green buoy - On the Washington side almost at the end of Hayden Island is a green Nav. bouy that marks the channel. Anchor near it and just north of it by 100'. That whole corner is good with fast water and fish moving through.

Power line - Between Oregon shore (T-6) and Hayden Island follow the slough upstream. Anchor mid channel under the first set of power lines you go under. This spot can be slow but kicks out huge fish. Don't look for the same shaker rodeo here that you get at the point. Any fish you get will probably be a keeper.

End of the Island - It's been a few years since I fished here but the trick is to find the drop off and get upstream of it. The good thing is there is always current here. This is the area all around and downstream of the Dolphin the barges and tugs use.

Downstream - You can run down about 5 to 6 miles from the mouth of the Willamette and fish along Collins beach at Sauvie Island. Look for the drop to 50 feet and get on the edge of it. BTW the cold weather discourages the nudists. Later in the spring all bets are off.

This years frozen will work. What can I say, I like the chain reaction fishing trip. Bait and then bigger quarry.

Salmon rods work best for the class of fish we find at KP. Sometimes big daddy comes a calling, then you just have to cut loose and chase him down. The sensitivity of a light rod will really pay off in light current and with slack biting fish. Mono has alot of stretch and that will protect the light rod. Or use the tuff and deal with no stretch and light drag settings.

The meat stick rods work too but miss the subtle bites.

[Tacklebuster]

Twoshottem,
Congrats on the fatty bro :cool: I actually thought about hitting that area myself today but found some fish in pretty shallow water. We put 2 keepers on the boat today with a bunch of bigger shakers. See ya at bonny....

[Twoshottom]

Despite the poor reports my crew and myself decided to venture out of our comfort zone of the Longview area (mainly because the fishing has been so bad) and head to the Kelly Point area. First we had to go to the Cowlitz so we would have the "freshest" smelt. After driving by it the first time we were able to get turned around and find Freds boat launch. After launching we headed down the Willamette to the Columbia. Lots of boats. We did some cruising around to see if any one was catching fish and didn't see any action. Decided to head to the Washington side which was a little less crowded and try a few places as suggested by Pilar and Tacklebuster. We only managed to catch one shaker and didn't see anyone doing much better so we headed downstream. Once again a lot of boats fishing along Sauvie Island but didn't see much action. We decided to try a spot a little less crowded near the red 30 marker. We ended up catching 10 fish total including a nice 46-inch keeper. Beautiful weather and even some catching. :smile:
Thank you to everyone who has helped with areas to fish. Next I'm going to tackle the gorge sturgeon fishing. :grin:

[CP Inlet Isle]

Thanks everyone for the info on spots by Kelly point.We went, we fished, and we stunk!We tried a few of the spots and some of our own.Spent quite a bit of time by Sauvie island, and didn't see anyone catching.I got one that was close , a forty, on the salmon gear and that was fun.The point was too much for us.Way too many boats.I just can't get into that combat fishing.O' well, another humbling experience on the river for us.I'm going to crawl back into my hole now and hope that one day I can post a good fishing report.We had a blast though.Lots of laughs and a few cold ones, that counts for something. :wink: