Portland Fishing Report: Warmer Weather is Here
What a difference a week makes. Most Coastal and Valley rivers remain high, but our weather could not be nicer!
A vision of things to come as we slowly pull out of Winter and on in to our Spring months and fisheries. What this nicer river does mean, is that our rivers should be dropping and clearing…but slowly. The low level snow will be melting off and continuing to add flow and color to our rivers. However, the forecast is for more rain this weekend. Yet, it is not expected to be nearly as much as what we have seen in the past few weeks.
The next system looks to be bringing only about a half of an inch of rain. This could actually help out with the bite! This rain could keep the rivers just barely on the high side with some color to keep the fish moving upstream.
After all of this warm weather, our water temps will be rising as well! Warm water and good flow could make for some fantastic Steelhead fishing this weekend!
Steelhead
Look to the coastal rivers to fish first leading up to the weekend. As the rains begin to fall, the larger rivers will hold out and fish longer before possibly becoming blown out once again. As for techniques, let’s look at options from both the bank and the boat. Bank anglers should focus on drift fishing bait and the heads of each hole. The side planer is one of the most underutilized tools for bank anglers. If you have a side planer, fish close to the bank with a plug or Diver and Bait. Fish the inside bend of the river or the seam closest to the bank that offers just enough current to work the lure. Boat anglers should spend their time back trolling the inside corners and soft seams. Another good option would be to simply cover as much water as possible by side-drifting eggs.
Spring Chinook
Salmon fishing has been quite slow as of late. This can be attributed to the high water on the Columbia as well as the tens of millions of smelt in the river. The smelt make it difficult for the Chinook to pinpoint your bait aside from all of their other options! The Willamette has been slow as well due to the very dirty water and lots of debris floating downstream. But, the cherry blossoms are blooming which typically signifies the beginning of the Springer season on both rivers. Starting this week might still be a bit early as far as conditions are concerned…but the fish are here, and it’s up to us to start finding ways to catch them!
Sturgeon
Sturgeon fishing continues to be a great option for those just looking to do some catch and release fishing. Smelt is by far the bait of choice. If fishing from the bank, give each spot an hour at most, then move on. The fish are active and aggressive enough that when you find the schools, action should be fast. Same is true if fishing from a boat. Spend most of your time utilizing your electronics to find the fish! Once you find a good group, make sure to drop your anchor well above them, and simply let out line until you are 50-100’ above where you marked the fish. The scent trail from your baits will pull the fish up to you and ensure that you are putting your baits in the strike zone!
Hopefully this info will help you make the right decisions and have a successful weekend on the water! Although we are in the doldrums of our transition from winter to spring…have patience. In another month, salmon will be in full swing, we will be targeting 2 runs of steelhead, trout will be open and the hunting seasons will be getting underway!
