Fishing Techniques

Salmon
Starting in March, the Spring Chinook Salmon arrive. They are the most desired of all the fish for their excellent taste. The average fish weighs 15-20 pounds. Arriving in August, the Upriver Brights are hard fighting and a joy to catch. By mid to late September, Fall Chinook are making their way upriver. The largest of the salmon species, the Fall Chinook will certainly get your heart pounding. Finally, in Fall, the Coho Salmon make their way up river, a great fighting fish that are fun to catch and taste terrific.

We will use a variety of techniques depending on water conditions and the river fished. Some of the techniques include back-bouncing bait, hovering, bobber-bait, drift fishing, pulling plugs and back trolling plugs or bait.

Steelhead
Winter Steelhead season begins in December and goes through March. These fish are strong and will burn line off of a reel. With many rivers to target, the Winter Steelhead is a fantastic fishery. April is the start of Summer Steelhead fishing, these fish are the most acrobatic fish in Oregon and Washington rivers. The fish fight hard and with light-weight tackle it makes for an exciting hook-up.

To catch Steelhead, we use a variety of techniques on Oregon and Washington rivers depending on water conditions and the river fished. This includes side drifting bait or corkies, drift fishing bait or corkies, bobber and jig or bait, back trolling bait or plugs, and occasionally pull plugs.

Sturgeon
Keeper sturgeon can be caught year-round in the Columbia River and Willamette River near Portland. State law sets the retention limit at 38-54 inches. Not only do sturgeon provide fast action and great fun, they will also provide quite a memorable experience.

There is only one word to describe Oversize Sturgeon; AWESOME!. Fishing for these monsters happens in May and goes into August. Ranging in length from 7-12 feet and weighing up to 500 pounds, these fish will test your will and provide arm-burning action.

We anchor in a variety of depths, For bait we use small sand shrimp or we can use large five pound Shad. Sturgeon often bite softly, but fight hard.

Shad
This is a great fishery for a family fishing trip with the kids. With multiple hook-ups throughout the trip, these hard-fighting fish are fun for everyone and keep you busy all day.

Shad fishing involves anchoring in 10- 20 feet of water with small spoons, jigs, and spinners.

Shad are a brightly colored fish: Silver bodies, green back, with large scales and a deeply forked tail. The bucks run from 1-2 pounds in size. Females often weigh 3-6 pounds. They begin entering the Columbia in good numbers in mid-May and by the middle of June a flood of hundreds of thousands of fish pass over Bonneville Dam.

Walleye
The Columiba River offers one of the best Walleye fisheries in the USA. The average Walleye weighs 8-10 pounds and can be caught year round. Prime season is March-June and September -October.

We troll worm harness and pull plugs and when we find fish we hover over the top and jig for them both methods are deadly for Walleye.