Pick #1: coluMbia river
The mighty Columbia River is the 4th largest river in the United States. originating in the Canadian rockies at Columbia lake, this scenic and bass-filled river snakes 1,214 miles before emptying to the Pacific ocean. although the bass fishing is exciting year round, autumn is the best time to fish for both numbers and size, especially for bronze bass.
The state record smallmouth bass was caught from the Columbia
(in the Hanford reach area), which hit the scales at 8.75 pounds! it is
not uncommon to catch multiple 4 pounders, and even 5 to 7 pound
bass when the mornings begin to fog.
Smallmouth spread out after the spawn, and prefer to be
near main river current. The late summer and fall is not the time
to spend in backwater sloughs or other still water regions.
The best way to discover hotspots is to look at a map of
the river and find every hump, island, ridge, or rock bar you
can spot in the middle of the main channel, or nearby.
These rocky features disrupt the river current, creating
eddies and current seams that are preferred holding
areas for predatory bass. Note both the upstream tip
and downstream tip of every island or rock feature,
and you will find a honey hole. Bridge pilings are always
dependable, as are river channel markers.
The preferred forage will include both baitfish
and crayfish at all these locations. Crankbaits and
topwaters both produce well in the shallow zones, as
do spinnerbaits. dropswimming light colored 4” plastics
always get a lot of attention. towards late summer you can’t
beat the lipless rattlers like a lucky Craft lV-100 or lV-500
in any shad color. Water temps are colder than you would
think since this is a river fed by snowmelt, so many bass stay
by Marc Marcantonio
inthePacificNorthwest
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