Westernbass Magazine August 2011, Page 37

Westernbass Magazine August 2011, Page 37

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