Northwest Fishing Reports

I am not much of a river fishermen but I am going to hells canyon and thought I might try to fish the snake river for bass.
I was wandering if any one could help me out with what tackel to use what a good spot looks like or any other tips.

In fishing current the idea is to make your offering appear to be disabled or helplessly disoriented in the current. Bass will ALWAYS be facing the current waiting for food to come to them. So...fish the current breaks or seams where a bass can expend as little energy as possible waiting for dinner.

Casts should be accurate because the fish won't chase in most circumstances.

However, lure selection or rather color is not too critical because you are relying on a bass to make a quick decision either to commit and hit your lure or allow it to passby. Therefore, spinnerbaits, trout spinners, Rat-L-Traps, and shallow crankbaits can seriously kick butt here. In slower areas you can pitch tubes or jigs where there is debris or obstacles.

I love Rapala Jointed Shad Raps for Smallies when fishing rocky banks...I don't fish them in a river, only on rocky walls/banks...Never fished for smallies in river....
Tick em off the top of rocks and hold on....If they are biting good, they'll hit em hard....If they aren't working, slow it down and slow roll a smaller sized spinnerbait off the top or bump a tube jig....

Gotta love smallies. Great fight outta those little things....

I have fished the Hells Canyon res. all my life send me a pm and I will give you our family's hole:-$ As for small moth they are all over down there all the big ones I have caught on a whole night crawler cat fishing but stick with crawdad colors in hard baits and plastics. I have a couple places to send you so I will be looking for your pm!

cavdad45 wrote:In fishing current the idea is to make your offering appear to be disabled or helplessly disoriented in the current. Bass will ALWAYS be facing the current waiting for food to come to them. So...fish the current breaks or seams where a bass can expend as little energy as possible waiting for dinner.

Casts should be accurate because the fish won't chase in most circumstances.

However, lure selection or rather color is not too critical because you are relying on a bass to make a quick decision either to commit and hit your lure or allow it to passby. Therefore, spinnerbaits, trout spinners, Rat-L-Traps, and shallow crankbaits can seriously kick butt here. In slower areas you can pitch tubes or jigs where there is debris or obstacles.

In fishing in the Mighty Columbia near Vancouver I do not find the conditions mentioned, ie current breaks, seams, etc.

All there is is current and strong current at that. I saw a guy at Wintler Park using a 12" crescent wrench for a weight just to slow down the offering. Can I use the crankbaits in this situation? Pitch up stream and drift it by and then retrieve when it passes you? You said in "slower areas you can pitch tubes or jigs" and even the slough is fast and dirty.

Sorry if I am hijacking this thread, but it is about fishing for smallmouth bass in the Columbia and it is a river.

Lewis, in the Columbia I stay out of the main river and work the quiet coves and backwaters. Then I fish it like a moving water impoundment like in the south. Drano Lake, the inlets near the Bridge of the Gods are good. Also look at the big pond near Cascade Locks and my personal favorite....Mayer State Park near The Dalles.

One nice thing about the backwater areas of the Columbia is that once in a while you get a cool surprise like a walleye. The main river is too fast, cold, and dangerous right now.