2018 Springer Fishing – Hail Mary

Springer season on the lower Columbia is officially closed, but the WDFW/ODFW once again has blessed us with an additional day of post season springer fishing on the lower Columbia and everyone with a seat in a boat was out there.

With all these fishermen in the area, how do we not have a greater influence on the mis-management of fish and control of the sea lions?  That is a topic for another blog.

I started my day bright and early at 4 am.  Had a bit of a drive up to Ridgefield where my boat is residing and some prep before I met my crew at the Ridgefield ramp.  We were in line to launch about 6 am.  This was the first time I had to wait in this long of a line at this ramp.  I was above the RR tracks.  As we crept down to the ramp, it gave me time to unstrap and plug the boat getting ready to launch.  Overall, most people knew what they were doing and the process went smoothly.

I am not a firm believer of fish flash colors, size or shapes.  I have caught fish on just about every color, size and shape.  I even have a crew member that has caught more fish without fish flash.  I think it is more of what you believe in.  I am more of a believer of if the bait gets in front of a fish, it will bite it.  If the fish are there, we do tend to land a fair amount.

That all being said, I do have a go to fish flash, I call my “Hail Mary”.  On days when nothing seems to work, I will put this fish flash on and more times than not, I have gotten a bite.  Now, if I try to go out targeting fish with this go to fish flash, I usually get disappointed.  There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, but it does what it does.  Today was a different day.  We have been given this additional day on the lower Columbia and I have not landed a Springer yet.  It was time for the “Hail Mary” for sure.

My crew lineup today was Alex, “Dredger” Bob and Emery.  Good people and always fun to hang out with.  Sometimes, we even catch fish together.  🙂

Bob starts by telling us that we will not catch a fish unless we put a wager on it.  I am like “I have $5.  I am game.”  Bait on the hooks and lines in the water.  It is time to get this party started.

About an hour and a half into the day, I see two boats hook in shallow water.  I steer over to see what is over there.  We see a few other boats hookup around us.  It looks like a good school is coming through.  Bang!!!  My rod goes down.  I had my drag a little loose, so it took some time to get it to the boat.  As it rolls close to the boat, I can see it is a hatchery.  I am thinking to myself, “You better not loose this F@#$!% fish.”  I was finally able to get it into a nose up and led it to the net.  Emery with the awesome net job and we had one on the deck.  Pay up boys.  I won the wager and “Hail Mary” worked on this day.  🙂

Unfortunately, we could not find that same school on the next couple passes.  The bite turned off as fast as it turned on.

We tried another location and saw a couple fish caught.  We even had another bite, but it was gone after a quick little fight.

Now we turn our focus on the Willamette Springer fishing.