GUEST BLOG: Time to spread out over Columbia tribs for springers
NEW April 24, 2009 / 10:30 a.m.

Finally, Late April and May are when spring Chinook will flood lower Columbia tributaries like the Sandy, Clackamas, upper Willamette (including the Santiams), Hood, Cowlitz, Lewis, Wind, Drano (Little White Salmon), and Klickitat.

And while the number of Chinook expected back to the Lewis and Kalama is predicted low (where a one adult limit is now in affect), most other salmon producing tributaries will likely offer excellent opportunity for 2 per day limits on hatchery salmon. 

By the numbers, here’s what to expect: the Sandy River will likely see 5,200 fish; Clackamas: 6,400; Willamette, above the falls at Oregon City: 24,000; Hood River: 1,200; Deschutes: only 400 wild Spring Chinook returning - sorry, no sport season expected here - Cowlitz: 4,100; Wind River: 6,900; Little White Salmon (Drano Lake): 9,600; and Klickitat: 2,000.

The good news for anglers that frequent the lower Klickitat is that you’ll get to fish 4 days per week this year as opposed to the normal 3, due to the Klickitat expecting twice the number of spring Chinook as in 2008. This spring, the fishery from mouth upstream to the Fisher Hill Bridge – about 3 miles - will be open Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.  The limit here is 1 fin-clipped salmon or steelhead. 

Targeting the right water: If you’re relatively new to fishing salmon in tributaries, realize that while all river fishing methods can produce spring Chinook - especially when salmon are moving through the riffles and tailouts - these fish (unlike steelhead) will mostly be found holding in the deeper holes. 

For a bank-bound angler, this means using enough weight to get your drift-rig to bottom. Another approach is to suspend your bait (egg cluster and/or sand shrimp) near bottom under a bobber capable of floating a 2- or 3-ounce sinker. This method can make pulling limits easy when fishing big, deep, perhaps slow-moving holes where salmon can collect in large numbers.   

Often the most productive fishing methods for those fishing from drift or power boat include back-bouncing bait or bait-wrapped Kwikfish or Flatfish. Realize that Flatfish is now offering a unique looking plug called the M2SP that is designed to swim with a fillet of sardine strapped to its belly. Given decent current, this lure is capable of diving up to 20 feet on a flat line. 

Drano and the Wind: Two fishing methods dominate the fishery within Drano Lake and at the Wind River mouth where anglers forward troll plugs and/or prawn-n'-spinner harnesses.

The Wiggle Wart or other similar diving plugs produce when trolled 40 to 60 feet behind your boat and offer consistent action when the salmon are suspended 8 to 15 feet from the surface – like early or late in the day or on overcast days. It’s easy, let your fluorescent red (chartreuse is worth trying on cloudy days) or other plug color out behind your moving boat and set the hook when your rod tip surges downward. 

If you're a bank-bound angler, you can find success at Drano or the Wind River mouth too by casting and retrieving diving plugs from shore.

Salmon size spinner harnesses (sometimes called spinner n’ bait rigs or bait actionizers) are effective for salmon at the Wind and Drano when used in combination with baits like prawn or sand shrimp.  I've had the best success running spinner n’ bait combinations near bottom and rigging them such that the bait spins when pulled through the water. 

The key to hooking and ultimately landing fish on spinner n’ bait combinations are to wait until Mr. Salmon pulls your rod tip down three to four times before setting the hook.  Just treat the bite the same as you would when using a herring or bait-wrapped Kwikfish or Flatfish.

The novel alternative: Another effective but less used fishing method employed by some at the Wind River mouth or Drano is to boat bobber (just use your boat as the bobber) and suspend an egg cluster or 3-inch scent-filled PowerBait or other salmon size tube under your boat when locating concentrations of salmon. 

Rigging a salmon size tube jig is as simple as installing a 1 to 1-1/2 ounce bullet-shaped jig head into your scent-filled tube and connecting your line to it. Just like when fishing other jigs, it’s important to position your line tie such that your jig will be presented horizontally. Paramount to success for salmon is to tip your jig hook with a wedge-shaped fillet of sardine. 

Finding schooling salmon can be as easy as watching your fish finder while trolling normally used gear. A quality unit, like those made by Humminbird, can locate fish and let you know the exact depth to suspend your bait.

Once a concentration of salmon is found (this requires you to believe all those blips on your screen are indeed salmon) stop trolling and switch to rods pre-rigged with tubes and drop them to the salmon schooled below your boat. A baitcasting reel equipped with a line counter, like those made by Abu Garcia, can help in positioning your bait at the right depth.

The bite will be subtle and require you to immediately set-the-hook at the slightest movement. This method can yield lightening fast limits when locating tight concentrations of fish – at least for those that give the boat bobber method a try.

-Buzz Ramsey