Spring on the Columbia River is always worth the wait - Guest Writer!
Spring on the Columbia is always worth the wait, the bass are hungry from the long, cold winter, and the carp are just starting to wake up and move into the shallows in search of warmer water. This spring was a little different: the first carp were caught on March 1st, and the first bass on the 23rd. Usually, it’s the other way around, with carp coming later.
I won’t go into detail about how we managed to get into early-season carp, but I will tell you what you need to know to catch early-season bass on the fly.
First off—do NOT trespass onto private property. Second, don’t let train tracks be the barrier between you and a good time. Be aware of your surroundings, use common sense, and always look both ways.
Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about where to fish and how to present your fly.
Personally, I don’t think there are many bad spots on the Columbia River for smallmouth fishing. But as a general rule of thumb, when the water is in the mid to upper 40s, I like to focus on steeper banks with medium-sized boulders and vertical structure—like barge pilings and weed lines.
Presentation mid 40s: I use a leech underneath a bobber, adjusted to a depth between 6–9 feet depending on depth, weeds, and structure. Cast within 30 feet of the bank, and strip in close to the rocks. The cracks between the rocks make great places for bass to hold and ambush prey.
Google Maps, OnX, and USGS are all super helpful tools for finding fishing spots and tracking water temperature and height.
Don’t waste too much time casting in an area that doesn’t produce. Sure, you might luck into a straggler, but those aren’t the numbers we’re after. When you find fish, you’ll know—usually in the first few casts. That typically kicks off a feeding frenzy that can last up to an hour. More often than not, you’ll get a solid 20 minutes before the fish wise up. That’s when it’s time to start moving—probe up or down the bank until you find another school.
Presentation Upper 40s-Low 50s: When water temps hit the upper 40s to low 50s, I shift gears and start stripping flies. At this point, I focus on more gradual banks with mainly gravel substrate and medium-to-large, softball-sized rocks mixed in. A long, slow strip works very well here. A lot of the time, they’ll hit on the pause. As water temps rise, you can speed up your retrieve. As they say, let the fish tell you what they want.
Over the years, the Bonneville Pool has been slowly getting choked by weeds, so finding clean spots can be tricky depending on where you're fishing. But with nearly 50 miles of shoreline on the Washington side alone, there’s more than enough room for anyone who wants in on this fishery.
Gear & Flies
The rod and line setup may be a little different from what you’d typically use for this species. No single-handed rods here. My go-to is an 11-foot 3wt trout spey, paired with a short, heavy integrated Scandi line (though a Skagit with a floating tip works just fine), a long tapered fluorocarbon leader, and a matching reel. Any 3–5wt short spey setup will work great. This makes a huge difference when casting into the wind with big, air-resistant bobbers and heavy flies.
Smallmouth bass are not line-shy. I’ve used 16lb fluorocarbon tippet religiously with great results. A bass will not break 16lb fluoro unless it’s badly frayed.
They’re also not picky about flies—but one pattern stands above the rest: The Hoover.
This is white leech wrapped with a generous amount of Spawn Fly Fish - Spawn Dub Mega in Smolt Belly and Chum Fry, topped with a silver Spawn Super Bead. This fly lives on my bass rod from March through May. Whether I’m stripping it or fishing it under a bobber, I don’t change it. I don’t need to.
If you’ve ever been up the Columbia River Gorge, you know that 20 mph winds are the norm. Don’t let a slight breeze stop you from floating a fly underneath of a bobber. This will present your fly perfectly for sluggish fish not willing to expend a bunch of energy to chase down a meal.
I hope this helps anybody wanting to start smallmouth bass fishing on the Columbia river. I hope to see some new faces out there!
Guest Writer - Jonathan Servellon
Check him out on Instagram today! https://www.instagram.com/dachshundbmx/
