Willamette Bass Before Work - 2011

[Spade]

Here we go, the water dropped enough for me to get on it in the morning! FINALLY!



Game on! Packing the car now!

Spinners, Spoons and Rapalas = Check
9'6" 6-10# Lamiglas with Shimano 2000 and 6# line = Check
Duo-lock tied to the front for quick changes to find what the fish want to bite = Check
Rubber boots for the muddy rocks = Check
Loaded in the car = Check

Tide is predicted to be 7.25 at 6am tomorrow but it's 1 ft lower than prediction right now so possible that I'll have a nice amount of bank room to cover some ground!

[Twise95]

Knock 'em dead Gabe!

I just recently discovered that my spot on the Willamette near my house is finally low enough for me to get down there and walk around a bit, when previously it was so high I had a very small amount of room to work with. Fished it for 4 hours the other day, didn't get any bass on conventional bass gear but I did get a small smallie, 6 perch, and a catfish on a worm plunking system.

[Spade]

Ugh...sand everywhere...all the nooks and crannies on the rocks is filled with this crappy sand. I felt like I was on the Sandy! Fish rolling, Carp belly flopping, Beaver cruising on by, little fingerling fish getting scared out of the shadows and swallowed up by bass right in front of me.....nothing hooked. No signs of crayfish.

I hate having to resort to hook and worm but it looks like that might be the case.

[Twise95]

Nothing wrong with a little worm action every now and then! I just have ridiculous confidence plunking a worm that I KNOW i will catch something, because pretty much everything eats worms. Plus you get a very good variety of fish that way too; catfish, perch, bass, crappie, bluegill, starry flounder, pikeminnow, chubs, carp, suckers, sturgeon :P you get the idea...

I'm wondering if the structure of the area I like to fish has changed since the flooding as well... I don't think it has (pretty large rocks in the area on the bottom there) but I never really know.

If you're witnessing bass for sure feeding on fingerlings right in front of you, I recommend getting a pack of those 3'' Powerbait shiner/shad scented artificial bait things. You can find them at Fred Meyer in the fishing section, they are a little on the spendy side but they do work. I caught some bass up in the upper gorge on them a few weeks ago, just hooking them on a standard drop shot rig. They actually have glitter that looks like scales and are pretty real looking.

[Matt H]

3" senko wacky style, 3" berkley power minnow dropshotted. These rigs will decimate small and largemouth!

[Spade]

I totally agree and will be trying that next round.