Scott Garner of Seattle, With the one "hawg" and one good size smallie.  These fish were caught using Pumpkin Sweepers in early May jUst prior to the spawn.  All bass were released to spawn and fight again.

The upper river, in Washington, is what I would call a reservoir with current. As the river passes the mouth of the Snake it slows and widens to a more typical reservoir. The John Day Pool is the largest impoundment on the mid Columbia. The pool is 78 miles long and offers just about every type of water bass fishermen could think that he would ever want to fish. Just below McNary Dam there is a strong current and the smallies like to hang out close to the vertical walls and behind huge boulders. The mouth of the Umatilla River is a popular location to fish, but not consistent. All the above locations are typical smallmouth water, rocky and with current.

The next location down stream, on the Washington side, is nontypical. Paterson Slough, as it is called, is largemouth country with weed-beds, logs and cattails. The pleasant surprise is many of the locations back in the slough also hold some huge smallmouth. As the Columbia reaches the Boardman area it flattens out. Early spring fishing with shallow running crankbaits can be fast. From Crow Butte to the John Day Dam there are many long shallow points that bass fishermen continuously fish and are rewarded. These early fish can be hawgs with many being four pounds plus. Six pounders are caught yearly during the early spring.

Going down stream past The Dalles and Bonnieville dams the smallmouth fishery continues. I have personally done well as far down the river as St. Helens. I am sure there are bass further down the river, but I have not personally fished any lower.

Loyd and Mary Lou Russ with three good size smallmouth using the right techniques can put fish like this in the average bass fishermen's livewell. These smallies were caught in August using four-inch Sweepers.

So what methods work on these hoards of smallmouth in the Columbia? Each piece of water has its own best method. Along with the season, water temperature, water management and especially direction of wind the same location can be hot one day and void of fish the next. To further explain I’ll take a typical point on the main stem of the river. Go through three of the four seasons with varying conditions and help you put these critters in the boat. If the wind is blowing over 20 MPH, stay home and drink beer! This is not the place to be, even with a 20-foot bass boat when the wind is blowing out of the Gorge.

The Washington side of the river seems to have more of the better locations. (The grass or bass in this case, always seems to be better on the other side.) Spring usually finds the Columbia high with runoff. This means cool water usually in the upper forties to low fifties. Large females move into the shallow water looking for warmer water and food to build up body fat for the spawning process. The long shallow points offer protection from the current, slow the water so it can warm and active the crayfish and other food fish that have pretty much have been dormant during the winter. The water will also be off color as both the runoff and irrigation contributes to the water clarity. Shallow running crankbaits in chartreuse work best for me. If the wind is less than 10 MPH, I’ll face the boat into the current and crank the point. It is important that you cast a long, a cross and caddy corner on all these points. Riprap, especially if it is facing south or southeast seems to hold fish. The riprap warms faster during the nice days and the fish are attracted to the warming water.

As spring goes into summer the bass spawn and the large females move off into deep water. The males are now guarding the nest and young and are just as aggressive now as the females were earlier. Shallow running crankbaits still work. The points are still the best location, but the quality of fish is about one third as it was earlier.

Summer on the Columbia presents a whole new ball game. Water temperatures may be as high as the high 70’s. The small fry are tight to heavy cover and most of the better fish are in the deeper holes where there is some protection. Early morning and late evening are the times to fish. Still hot days can produce some fantastic catches, but you have to really know where and what you’re doing. The best locations during the summer are steep rocky banks. Put the crank baits away and break out the plastic. The best lure in my arsenal is a lure called a Sweeper. It is nothing more than a flat, four inch, salt impregnated leech type lure. I fish them with a Carolina rig and especially long leader. I never use a swivel to stop my sinker. The sinker rig is adjustable and I use sinker stops that will slide up and down my line. Again this is a topic for a future column. The Sweepers float. They are rigged with an Owner Rig’N hook. 1/0 to 2/0 is right for the four-inch size and 1’s and 2’s are used with the three-inch size. Since the Sweepers float they will suspend off the bottom and do not get hung up in the rocks. Sinkers are another subject. Depending on the steepness of the bank and the depth of water I usually cast into 15 to 20 feet of water. The boat is positioned in at least 40 to 50 feet of water. The Carolina rig is sweeped down the bank slowly, stopping every four or five feet letting it settle to the bottom. The bite, as such, is nothing more than a pressure or unnatural feeling of your line. Owner hooks don’t need much of a hook set.

Fall finds a different situation. Shad migrate up river in the spring as far as McNary. When their young start moving down stream in the late summer they present an abundant food source for the bass. Again the bass move to the points, but they seem to hang off the deeper points with more current, other than the shallow points they used during the spring. As the migrating shad round the points the smallies are there to ambush them. Here again sweepers work well. Also jigs and deep running crankbaits come into play.

This is a very general over view. Since it’s my first column for goosepit.com I would appreciate any comments, suggestions or subjects you would like to see in the "pit" in the future. Please forward them to the goosepit or phil@goosepit.com. See you on the water.

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