shallow all summer on the Columbia.
as the Fall season progresses, smallmouths can be found in both shallow and deep water, though still related to current. The best fishing occurs when the dams are spilling water and baitfish are struggling against the current. Juvenile shad start their out- migration to the ocean in the fall, and the bass will be in the current seams waiting for their meal.
dropswimming a nose-hooked soft plastic worm on a Gamakatsu #4 dropshot hook is deadly, as is dragging a crawfish imitator such as a Yamamoto Hula Grub over rock bars. Start fishing 4-12 feet deep in the mornings with reaction baits or topwaters, particularly if aquatic vegetation is adjacent to the rocks. as the sun penetrates the water, work out to as much as 35 feet deep with football jigs or worms fished on the bottom.
another sure bet is to drift or twitch the new Yamamoto d-Shad. This soft plastic minnow bait is shaped like a fluke, but contains the salt and soft plastic of a Senko. Bass find this combination irresistible. The d-Shad is shaped and weighted to fall horizontally, and provide great action when twitched or when falling vertically with no action
imparted by the angler. The body and tail wobbles like a Senko as it drops through the water column.
My favorite place to work this bait is next to weed
beds, particularly on the main channel side of the
weed beds during the Fall. With the heavy salt
concentration you can cast the d-Shad a mile
without adding weight, and when bass get a
taste they won’t let go until you pop your
Gamakatsu 4/0 G-lock hook from its
mouth!
as long as the wind behaves, you
cannot fish better water than the
mighty Columbia river, particularly
this time of the year
Pick #2: PoTHoles reservoir
The plentiful largemouth bass are the reason I recommend Potholes in the Fall. Most of the year this is the most confusing to
fish bass haven in the west. The
geography looks more like the
beach, studded with sand
dunes and willow-filled
shallow water in between.
There is so much water
that at first glance looks
the same, so a novice is
overwhelmed and often does
poorly.
By the time autumn arises,
this irrigation impoundment
Issue 3 August 2011
37