Upper Williamette action

[boblag]

I launched out of West Linn and fished the Rock Island area. The water temp. was 57 in the main river and about 60 in the backwaters, but I couldn't find any fish in the backwaters. Instead, they were in prespawn mode in 5-10 feet of water by current seams in the main river. I found a spot where, within 10 minutes, I caught a 17 incher, broke off on a bigger one, and then caught this one, which was about 19":



All in all, I got about 20, with several others in the 14"-16" range. A great day of fishing.

[team doyle]

that's a good trip bob.
and sounds like a furious flurry of action in there too.
do you think they were pre or post spawn?

joe

[boblag]

Well, they seemed to be in classic prespawn spots, and the water temp. all year has been below the usual spawning temp. for that area (except for that brief period a couple of weeks ago). The big ones had bellies on them, and I was assuming they were females, though I don't know the difference. There were some in the backwaters a couple of weeks ago, but right after that the water rose and all the backwaters got overrun with cold main river water, so I don't think they spawned there.

[MXRacer105]

Nice fish, glad to see that area is producing some fish....

[ExBassGuide]

Great report! Nice bass too!
Thanks
Roger

[beetlespin]

Nice meeting you on the water today, Bob. You were more successful than I. I didn't get bit until it started raining. Two to the boat, broke off three and missed the hook set on another. This was my first serious bass outing this year and it apperas I'm a little rusty.

Mine also came off the main river. As we discussed, my two temperature gagues showed only 53 and 54. The Willameete Falls Passage website reported 54 for today also. I guess it's still a little too chilley to sit on eggs.

Mike

[boblag]

Nice meeting you too, Mike. It was slow for me on the big fish yesterday; my biggest was probably 12". Anything "craw" seems to be working.

I guess I'm the one that needs a new thermometer.