Columbia River, Oregon and Washington
The Columbia River stretches across most of the Northwest, draining major parts of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, and small portions of Nevada, Wyoming and Utah. It has been an icon of the Northwest since it was explored by Lewis and Clark. (Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose, gives an excellent account of the early northwest.)
(Following is a map file of the Columbia River Basin from the Wikimedia Commons.
Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Thanks to KMusser for making
it available.) ↓
This amazing river is the home of many types of sports fish. We've been catching them for years and we'll give you our best tips."
The Columbia River has taken its share of abuse over the last century but, even so, it still has annual runs of Salmon and Steelhead that are some of the best in the world. (I often think with sadness, however, about the 80- to 100-pound Chinook Salmon strain, the “June Hogs” as they were once called, that have been lost. http://www.nwcouncil.org/history/JuneHogs.asp )
Five of the seven types of Pacific Salmon are found in these waters at various times of the year. Of them, it is the Chinook and the Coho that have captured the passion of Columbia River anglers. For more information about Pacific Salmon open our Pacific Salmon page. It will open in a separate tab or window.
CHINOOK SALMON -- “Springers” or “Spring Chinook”
Blake Short with his first "Upriver Bright" ↓
Fortunately for those
of us who live close to this river, salmon runs are present for the majority of
the year. Early in the spring, the most sought after of all salmon are the “Springers”
as they are locally called. These Chinook Salmon are in prime condition, (as they
do not spawn in their natal streams until the fall) full of fat and nutrients to
make their way to their home streams to survive and complete maturation for reproduction.
Most of their lives are spent in the North Pacific, living on krill, herring, sardines,
smelt, and squid, which make these fish some of the very best quality, commanding
the highest prices on the retail market. They are often so fat that they self-baste
on the grill! Many of us who have had the pleasure to enjoy fresh Springer, find
them no less a treat than (and often preferable to) the famous Copper River salmon
from Alaska. Often these Springers will travel many hundreds of miles to reach the
end of their travels, spawn, and ultimately come to the end of their lives seeding
their natal streams with ocean nutrients and protein for young salmon smolt. Columbia
Springers will range most commonly from 10 to 25 pounds, with the occasional fish
over 30 pounds.
Annual regulations often change year to year, and even during the season, so stay informed! All native spring salmon must be released to promote increased natural spawning success. Only hatchery fish are legal to take and are identified by a missing or stubbed adipose fin. http://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2009/february/022009.asp
Though most salmon techniques that anglers employ are similar, this spring fish has its peculiarities that need to be understood if one is to be successful on a consistent basis. As with any fishing, successful catching is the product of fishing where there are fish, presentation, and persistence, and even so there are days when one comes up empty handed. Nevertheless, the Columbia River is always an adventure of sights and sounds.
Spring Chinook begin to show in the cold and off-color waters of the Columbia in March. Often the first fish of the season is caught in the Willamette River, a large tributary of the Columbia that runs through downtown Portland. This first fish is often taken in January. Because the river is very cold this time of year, and the water is often colored due to the spring run-off, fish are found between 10 to 25 feet deep most often. Because the river is so large, it can be intimidating to the angler when considering where to fish. As with any river, current breaks, shelves, natural and man-made barriers such as wing dams, islands, rock out- crops, underwater ledges and walls all can concentrate fish. Fishing these features will increase your opportunities of catching a fish. A depth finder is very important when fishing from a boat, not only for navigation but for finding fish and fish concentrating structure.
Columbia Salmon Fishing Etiquette
Salmon often take long hard runs after being hooked, and losing a fish and your gear to nearby anglers unconscious of their surroundings or to those that are downright rude, really makes a dent in your trip. In spring when the shad are running up the river by the millions you can anchor just about anywhere and do well catching them. Often groups of anglers will be within 50 feet above or below fellow shad anglers, without interfering with their success. Unfortunately those who are not informed take this anchoring behavior with them when fishing for salmon. You can only imagine the problems you'll encounter when you hook a hot fish that promptly runs downstream through a cluster of boats anchored shad-fishing style. To solve this problem, Columbia anglers (who choose to anchor) fish in “hog lines” with boats anchored side-to-side in a straight line perpendicular to the River current (abeam). In areas where multiple hog lines form, they are at least 150 yards or more apart. Many times boats use “bumpers” (boat fenders) to keep from banging into each others “sides” (gunwales), because the boats often touch each other. When a fish is hooked, nearby boat anglers reel in lines quickly, and the boat fighting the fish drops out of the hog line to play the fish away from other boats, thus minimizing fish losses due to fouling the fishing line in anchor ropes or the fishing lines of napping anglers. This is really important to understand. When you catch a fish, get away from the hog line immediately. Those who understand it increase their odds of landing a prized fish; those who don't lose fish, gear, and friends on the water.
Those who troll on the Columbia generally stay clear of the hog lines for obvious reasons, and, there is a whole lot of good river out there to troll without hassling the hog liners. For the most part you'll find that all enjoy catching and watching salmon being caught, and there are often cheers shouted across the water after an angler successfully nets his/her fish.
Gear
The primary techniques in early spring are multiple. By far the most typical method is the use of Herring and Sardines. Herring are purchased by the dozen most often in the 5- to 6- inch size. Plugging them, or “fishing cutplug” can be very successful, although whole-fish trolling is effective as well. Fishing with a cut-plug herring requires only the most basic of gear. I use a fairly stout 7 to 8 ½ foot rod in the 10-25 pound class, and a reel that holds at least 200 yards of 30 pound test nylon monofilament or braided line in the 30- to 50-pound class. The line from the rod is threaded through a “sinker slider” followed by a bead or two (used as bumpers to protect the knot) and then tied to a bead chain swivel.
Fishing the Columbia in October Fog ↓
A pre-tied mooching
leader of 20- to 30-pound test is then tied to the bead chain swivel, leaving a
6 to 7 foot distance from the swivel to the hooks. Mooching leaders come in either
a sliding upper hook variety or a solid tie upper hook. What to use is certainly
personal preference, but I find the solid tie variety is best for how I fish. Hook
sizes for Springers are best in the 3/0 to 4/0 sizes. All the major hook manufacturers
provide good hooks for this purpose. The Mustad 92553 has been the gold standard
for many years, but over the past 20 years, Gamakatsu, Owner, Eagle Claw, and others
including Mustad, have come out with new super sharp styles that all work very well.
Most of these manufacturers also produce pre-tied mooching leaders if you prefer
not to tie your own. Hook brand is not nearly as important as keeping your hook
very sharp. Always keep a hook file handy. It really doesn't take too much filing,
just a few light passes in the correct direction, but hooks must be sticky sharp.
There are countless underwater photos of fish “sampling” a bait or lure
and spitting it out without the angler ever detecting the slightest tug. Ultrasharp
hooks greatly increase the odds of a hook-up when a fish mouths your bait or lure.
I like to say that that your hook needs to be so sharp that if a fish even thinks
about your bait, it's in trouble! So after you've fished a while check your hook
point, as it is often bent or dulled by dinging the boat, your pliers, river rocks,
your watch, etc., so its time to get the file out, or even retie a new hook set
up.
My basic set-up for all my salmon fishing is this one, where “a” goes to the lure or bait, “b” goes to the weight or diver, and “c” goes to my rod. This basic configuration will serve you well as you can use it with either lures or bait in the ocean, rivers, or estuaries. Changes in lead-line length and leader length are made for each locale and lure type.
“a” is a 6 foot leader tied directly to a clip for attaching a spinner, plug, or wobbler. Or, when fishing with herring it is a mooching leader with two single hooks tied in a sliding or stationary style. “b” then is the line for my weight or a diver, to hold my offering at the correct depth. “c” is the line to my rod. Though many use a three-way spreader made of wire, I have discontinued that habit and have gone exclusively to the set-up I describe. The reason is that too often a netted fish finds freedom just as it is being netted, breaking the leader in the process because the wire spreader became entangled in the net. Having a slider allows the fish to run even when the weight or slider is tangled in the net. I have had too many hard lessons to endorse spreaders. Save yourself the grief; nobody wants to lose a gorgeous Chinook.
Editor's Note: Since writing this article my basic set-up for salmon has
changed, and now includes a LongLiner™. The LongLiner holds the weight, and
locks it at any point on the mainline. When a fish strikes, the LongLiner releases,
and is free sliding while you are playing your fish. Thus, the LongLiner allows
you to vary the leader length between your weight and your bait. You can fish with
a long leader and play your fish with a short one.
If you fish with a leader length of six feet or less, the standard, basic set-up
is all you need; but if you use longer leaders the LongLiner is a great help. A
leader length of seven feet or more is often more effective when fishing herring.
The fishing action of the herring seems to be markedly improved by longer leaders,
and shy fish are not put off by seeing the weight close to the herring. But long
leaders make bringing fish to net much more difficult. With a LongLiner, the primary
leader need only be 2 to 4 feet in length, but you can fish any leader length between
your weight and your bait (or lure), and you can still land your fish with a short
leader. For more information on the LongLiner, click
<here>.
Here is a rigging illustration for using LongLiners in large rivers: ↓
Herring
Many anglers cut plug a herring in a compound miter by hand. The available cut boxes are excellent, quick, and a sure thing. These are widely available and are a good tool to have when fishing with herring. After the head is removed at the proper angle, the viscera is removed leaving a hollow in the belly open. Rigging the bait is done in many ways, and most salmon anglers have their own preference. The objective is to rig the bait so it has just the right spin in the water when trolled. In recent times, the preference of spin is of a tighter faster style, whereas traditionally the large “slow roll” was thought to be best. Herring is typically used in the ocean, estuary, and into the lower river, but tradition has been broken now, and herring are being used throughout most of the system. The thought barrier has been that the fall fish were too mature to be interested in feeding. Hungry or not, these fish will strike out of habit or increasing territorial behavior—two common theories. Herring are used fresh and frozen most commonly, although there is a growing crowd who like them salted, brined, dyed, or scented in any and all combinations. A close friend of mine often injects his herring with multiple scents, often out fishing those around him.
The compound miter of a cut-plug herring is most common, but whole herring, fillets, and chunks all have their place in the quest for salmon. At times the fish aren't finicky how their herring is presented. On one occasion while fishing at the mouth of the Columbia, I was being extremely precise with my slice when making a cut-plug herring, only to find the herring heads I'd been tossing overboard in the stomach of the salmon I caught that day. More often though a good bait makes the difference between catching fish or not.
Sardines
Sardines are common to the Northwest and are known for their high oil content. Sardines are the preferred bait for wrapping Kwikfish and Flatfish plugs. Sardine wrapped plugs account for a large number of sport-caught salmon each year. The most typical plugs used are the Flatfish and the Kwikfish. Pieces of sardine fillets are cut into pieces that are split halfway to pass around the the center hook and secured to the plug with elastic thread. Light monofilament can be used as well. Care is taken to keep the fish strip in the mid line of the plug. Always tune your plug after wrapping it with fish strip so that it runs true in the current.
Shrimp (Calianassa californiensis “the red ghost shrimp, or sand shrimp”)
Sand shrimp have accounted for huge numbers of salmon and steelhead ending up on the grill. They can be used alone, combined with cured roe (cluster eggs) or with drift bobbers like the oakie, corkie, or cheater. My personal favorite coupling for springers is a sand shrimp with a green or watermelon colored spin-n-glow, back trolled behind a diver, back bounced down the river behind a boat, or worked in the current at anchor.
Prawns
Prawns can often be the best bait on the river. As the water begins to warm in the spring prawns become the bait of choice for most spring-salmon anglers. Many times they are fished alone and “back bounced” down the river from a boat slowly working downstream, slower than the river current. Prawns are most often cured and dyed. Many recipes exist but by far the preference is toward pink, though orange and green can be your ticket to success.
One of my very favorite ways to fish for spring salmon with prawns is to place a spinner blade above the prawn when the boat is at anchor. Behind a spinner blade I fish prawns stretched out, removing the customary curl shape they often take on. Many anglers fish prawns with the curl intact, whether behind a blade or by themselves.
Bait Eggs or Roe
Cured salmon eggs in clusters are excellent for spring salmon. Both eggs alone with bright yarn, or a drift bobber typically in green/chartreuse or red are used for drift fishing or back bouncing. Float fishing for spring salmon omits the drift bobber above the hook, but yarn or a painted egg sinker is used so the bait hangs down. Cured eggs, sand shrimp and eggs, or plain sand shrimp are often used under a float.
Spinners
Spinners should always be part of the salmon anglers tackle box. When used plain, without bait, for Chinook or King Salmon they most typically are size 5 blades on up, depending of how they are used. When used with prawns the blade sizes vary greatly depending upon preference and conditions. In the Columbia, spinners are most often used at anchor. The basic set up works well although the leaders are best when kept at 3-4 feet in length. The length of the lead line is quite variable. In the spring fish often run in shallower water, less than 20 feet, and a lead line of 24 to 36 inches works well. In the fall deeper water is more typical and a lead line may vary from 36 to 72 inches. Colors vary a great deal, though a rainbow colored blade is the traditional standard. Brass and chartreuse, chartreuse, red and white, green tipped rainbow, blue tipped rainbow, chrome with red beads, and brass with red beads, have all caught many salmon. The rule for the rainbow type blades is that when the water warms into the mid and upper 50's, try a blue tipped pattern.
Plugs
The Kwikfish and Flatfish plugs are essential gear for Columbia Kings. Most often wrapped with a sardine fillet, they do work well by themselves or with scent. Colors and sizes are important. The basic set up is used. The slower the current the smaller the plug is the general rule. By far the all around most effective color scheme is silver and chartreuse, either colored on the butt or the bill, or both; this is a tackle box essential. Always tune your plug. That is, make sure that the screw eyes for the hooks are in line, then fine tune with the line attachment eye. Always attach the plug with a clip to ensure the best action, and to change plugs quickly. Slight, really slight, rotation of the main screw eye will cause your plug to veer one way or another. Adjust this screw until the plug runs straight and true, with no tendency to veer to one side or the other. For whatever reason, salmon don't like a plug that veers to the side. I always pre-wrap multiple plugs, in multiple colors, when out on the river so I can get back into the water quickly after catching a fish, as well as changing out colors when searching for the best color combo for the day.
Many anglers find that altering the hooks on their plugs can give them an edge, as well as making the release of a native fish less traumatic and easer. I have gone nearly exclusively to two siwash hooks on my plugs. A 60-80 pound barrel swivel to the split ring and then crimp on a 3/0 siwash to the barrel swivel is deadly. Such a set up is easy to remove from a fish in the net that is to be released, with less damage to the fish and net tangling so common with trebles. I have developed a strong respect for how this hook arrangement catches fish over the years.
Wobblers
Wobblers, or large spoons, have been a top producer of fall salmon for many years. It seems that the large lazy swing of these lures is very attractive for these fish. Spring salmon also take these lures like no other at various times. There are many of these lures now available and distributed by a variety of manufacturers. Wobblers and great salmon producers like Alvin, Brad's, Ten-Spot, Clancy, Simon, and others are available. Recently I came across an Original Egg Wobbler, long forgotten and extremely effective, it has now become my favorite.
My first chrome Alvin spoon was a killer. Then half brass and half chrome seemed better. Now all of these lures come in a wide variety of colors. Over the test of time though, the basic “must have” colors are chrome/brass, chrome with blue, chrome with chartreuse, and all chartreuse with a green spot. Many of my fishing friends like trebles on these lures, but I am convinced that more fish are landed with a siwash. As with most other lures, the basic set up is used but with the longer leaders and lead lines, especially in the fall. See the Original Egg Wobblers available from Angler Innovations, LLC.
Columbia River Spring Chinook -- Almost Ready for the Grill.
More techniques for fishing the Columbia River and Northwest Coast can be found in our "Species-Specific" section, also available <here>. It will open in a separate page or tab.
If interested, here is a link to salmon history in the Pacific Northwest. http://oregonstate.edu/instruction/anth481/fish.html