What do springers do? Theories...

[Silver Hilton]

when the tide stops running in the Columbia?

From Kalama on down, the Columbia can almost stop flowing when the tide is coming in. What do you think the fish are doing when this happens?

Do they wander aimlessly where they are?

Do they continue upstream? How do they know how to?

Do they remain associated with the bottom, or cruise around, depth wise?

Do they wander further out in the channel?

What do you think?

[Flatfish]

They swim around.

Had to be said.

Mark and the swimmin thru the ice dog.

[Rakkasan]

Darn you beat me to it......I am not really sure. I would imagine they keep going, but I am not a fish.

[wootersen]

I think we've all been inside too long... :grin:


Time to get out and fish !!!

[ 01-18-2004, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[FishinMission]

They also fall prey to the "Dance 'O Death" herrring roll...and subsequently get "thumped" on the head.
:grin:

Does that answer your question??

Mark

[blacktail519]

Ya know, I think of it like this. we are talking about a fish that leaves this river as a very young smolt, heads downriver and makes it out into the ocean, at wich it spends the next 4 and even 5 years wandering around in the pacific ocean feeding hundreds and hundreds of miles away from the mouth of the columbia, Yet those fish make it back to the original spot they had only been to once before in there lives( the mouth of the big columbia. Now you tell me, Do these fish need a little downstream current to know where they are going? I DONT THINK SO!!!!! :grin:

[CATCH AND EAT]

The ones that pass me end up on the table, except for the native of course. Just the responses you wanted a Silver H.?

Sorry, the brain freeze has hit us all.

[ampersat]

Salmon come inland with one thing on their mind, much like college students on a Friday night headed to the bar except fish don't drink banana daquiris. :grin:

Horizontal: With current, their goal and purpose is clear. Without current, they would try to continue upstream if they can discern which direction is upstream and could easily be fooled by convection currents and countercurrents in the water.

Vertical: Their selection of depth would be based on water temperature and light. Ideally, they would seek 55 degree water as that would maximize their metabolic ability. The corollary to this would be available light. In brighter conditions, they would tend to move into deeper water; more overcast conditions would allow them to seek out their most ideal conditions.


All of this is, of course, just speculation. I'm not a salmon and I don't play one on TV. I haven't been a salmon in a previous life. I don't have dreams where I'm a salmon. I don't have out of body experiences where I take the form of a salmon. I'm just a guy with a little knowledge and an active imagination. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me (well, two out of three ain't bad).

[ 01-18-2004, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[Quasimodo the fish killer]

I am just guessing here but I believe when the water has gone slack they mill around and feed.

I asked a comercial fisherman I know once and he told me that most of his fish came at slack tide in the ocean and his theroy was that during the flow of a tide they hold close to the bottom or move with the tide to find more food then when the slack tide hits the bait fish frolick freely and the salmon go on a feeding frienzy untill the tide changes and the currents push the bait fish back into cover.

I would thingk that a life long habit of the way they feed would follow them into fresh water thats influenced by the tide.

it seemed to make sense to me but what do I know i am just a dumb mechanic [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]


.

[Silver Hilton]

Originally posted by CATCH AND EAT:
The ones that pass me end up on the table, except for the native of course.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">You must be anchored downstream of me then. That was my table you were referring to, right?

The cabin fever is hitting us bad.

[ 01-18-2004, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[Dipnet]

No kidding Rick, we'd better be getting the boots!! :grin:

Dipnet :grin:

[Silver Hilton]

Originally posted by ******:
You probably know a lot. :smile:

Kinda' the rebirth, just like everything else in nature. Man....gettin' deep :grin:

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Boy, that Cabbage Silk must be some good stuff.

Yeah, I have my theories, too. Kind of wanted to see what other folks thought. My theory is that they follow smell to get into the river, and are current associated after that, which would imply that they might mill during times of low current. That would mean you'd have to go find them rather than stay in an area waiting for them to come to you. I am sure that someone has done a radio tag study of this, Maybe STGRule will know of one.

Another theory of mine is that when they start at a given depth, after having been forced there by a bar, they tend to stay at that depth if the bottom drops off upstream. That means that if there is a bar just downstream that is 20 feet deep, and you have your lures 20 yards upstream where the bottom is 26 feet deep, the fish are gonna be swimming 4 feet over your gear (assuming 2 foot dropper). I proved that to my satisfaction over the last couple of years on the series of humps down near Longview.

I do OK on the anchor. I do less well trolling. Always trying to learn more.

[Silver Hilton]

Originally posted by ampersat:

Vertical: Their selection of depth would be based on water temperature and light. Ideally, they would seek 55 degree water as that would maximize their metabolic ability. The corollary to this would be available light. In brighter conditions, they would tend to move into deeper water; more overcast conditions would allow them to seek out their most ideal conditions.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">I have suspected for years that the level of light at 10 to 15 feet of spring Columbia river water, which is usually a bit murky, is the level that Chinook find comfortable, hence why you can catch so many of them at that depth. When the water is muddy, I troll shallower, when the water is clearer, I troll deeper. When there is current, I only fish the bottom. But I don't consider myself a trolling pro.

[ 01-18-2004, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[Slade]

Just a thought from a Newbie. I have been taught by others more wise to fish shallow when the tide runs hard. The purpose of such an approach is that the fish will move out of the main current, the deep channel, because this uses less energy (fish are masters of the cost-benefit analysis). Knowing that the fish are also following their noses in order to know where to do their deed, it would seem logical that they have a motive to stay where they can continue to smell their way home. Fish also have a strong awareness of what is above them because of their natural enemies lurking in the air; thus, they have a tendency to stay deep. Therefore, I believe that they move in to the deep current when the tide goes slack and move upstream towards their river of choice.

[Silver Hilton]

******, I concur. I only move because I am forced to in order to catch fish. I like to say that I have a 175 hp couch. Now, if I could just get cable...

[ 01-09-2004, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: Silver Hilton ]

[HOGTIDE]

Ya, I am kinda hooked on the anchor fishin' thing myself. I think the primary advantage is that I can eat a whole lot more with both hands free.

One thing I have noticed in the slough at slack tides is that the fish seem to run shallower and dont adhere to the contour lines of the bank and bottom....I guess that makes sense?

So frequently, my high slack troll method is a shallower troll, with pretty good success on the top rig. But with some really fresh donuts in the boat...I'll even anchor through the slack!

[FishinTechnician]

I have caught Springers in 3-5' in the Columbia, below Portland when its high and dirty and really rolling hard. I can't catch fish there all the time because it gets to shallow in that particular spot when the water drops. But when its high that particular spot seems to always hold fish as if they are resting in there from the swifter water to either their immediate left or right. Very unusual spot. Either herring or prawn spinners fished with 2 oz or less to get it back far enough behind the trolling motor so as not to spook them. I'll never forget watching my uncle hook a fish back in the 60's down around Kalama. We were trolling water 3-4' and I watched him stand up to hook a fish and simultaeneously beach his boat on a sandbar. Much prefer trolling over anchor fishing, but haven't done a whole lot of the latter.

[Silver Hilton]

On the slack tide thing, I had two or three days last year where we fished through the slack. There wasn't enough wind to cause us trouble, and enough current to keep the plugs going, though just barely. We caught fish all day. The end of slack, changing to outgoing, was money. So, those fish at least, are still bottom associated. This was in about 24-26 feet of water.

[HOGTIDE]

SH Yes, I have some pals that did very well last year anchored up during the slack tide along the picket Fence. I think the water still ran a bit though...at least at that particular spot. They got so they actually timed their trip for the slack tide fishin'.

.....Prawn & SpinGlo combos did the trick.

[Silver Hilton]

Not sure I know where the picket fence is. Is that the line of pilings at the head of the island downstream from Willow Grove?

[FishinMission]

I have to buy the theory that the fish feed on the slack tide more than any other time. Years of trolling on the Willamette has taught me the BEST times are at the top of the incoming tide. I've seen this also on the Columbia.

I like the trolling "thing"...but I also like being an "anchor-holic"...cause I can nap on the anchor until the bell rings. :shocked:

But then..we must all realize that if you're not out there at all...it aint gonna happen.

Mark

[ 01-18-2004, 07:13 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[slabhunter]

SH, they just keep heading upstream. Two years ago my uncle from Kansas had his line go slack. I told him REEL REEL REEL! Once he caught up with that fish all *&$# broke loose. After a while we got the 16# out of the water. I'm looking at my sounder 3ft! And my uncle said " They sure fight harder than the catfish back home!" :smile:

[TonTo]

They play with the sea lions to pass the time.

[HOGTIDE]

Picket Fence: Washington side of the Columbia across from Columbia City uptstream from marker [77]


....sorry for the delayed reply.